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Blogs Eric Reads
A Case of the Mondays
(Sorry if all these bulleted-list posts seems like cop outs. It’s a busy time of the year.)
- The Senate Democratic caucus vote on whether Holy Joe Lieberman keeps his committee chairmanship is coming up soon. Kagro X reminds us that the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has jurisdiction over the District of Columbia, 93% of whose residents voted for Barack Obama, so it would be awfully shitty to let John McCain’s best buddy run the place. Since the Lieberman vote will be done by secret ballot, a fully expect the Democratic Senate majority to cave, just like they’ve been doing for the past couple years. (DailyKos)
- Still-President Bush has the high honor of being the first U.S. President to ever call Libyan dictator Muammar Qadhafi. Bush called Qadhafi to thank him for agreeing to a claims settlement agreement between the two countries. How dare Bush speak with a foreign leader with preconditions! Surrender!! (First Read)
- Right before the election, Barack Obama sent a letter to a bunch of federal employees telling them about change they can believe in. Basically, the letter explains all of the Bush administration policies that Obama would rescind, like outsourcing government work and censoring science. If it’s undoing something George Bush did, I’m for it. (Washington Post)
- Barack Obama met with John McCain today because he wanted to hear McCain call him “Mr. President-Elect” several times to his face. Oh, and they also released the world’s most generic joint statement. Seriously. It’s only two paragraphs long but it uses a lot of words to say absolutely nothing. On the plus side, there’s a hilariously awkward video of the two talking. Look how hard it is for Obama not to gloat. (Ben Smith/YouTube)
- Lots of racist white people are pissed off that we elected a black man to be president. They can’t handle that the rest of us don’t hate minorities as much as they do and they’re getting angry and violent. Obama has already received more death threats than any other president-elect in American history, and I’m willing to bet that some of that can be blamed on the vitriol of Sarah Palin. It’s not going to be an easy four years for President Obama. (Christian Science Monitor/Austin American-Statesman/Federal News Radio)
Senate Race Wrapup
Of course, Obama’s wasn’t the only big election last night. Let’s take a look out how things are shaping up in the Senate.
- Democratic pickups by Mark Warner (VA), Kay Hagan (NC), Jeanne Shaheen (NH), and the brothers cousins Udall (CO and NM) put us at a respectable 56 seats (55 if Joe Lieberman is politely asked to get the hell out of the Democratic caucus). Is there any way to the magical 60? It’s going to be hard without Kentucky. Bruce Lunsford put up one hell of a fight, but Mitch McConnell managed to hold on to his seat by a 53%-47% margin.
- Oregon is still too close to call, although the polls had been trending towards Democrat Jeff Merkley. Incumbent Republican Gordon Smith ran a campaign of tying himself to Barack Obama, and, with a 15,000 vote lead and 75% of precincts reporting, it just may well have worked.
- In Minnesota, GOP Sen. Norm Coleman has delcared victory, but the AP is uncalling the race for him. With a roughly 1,000 vote margin, this race is going to a mandatory recount, so it will be a few days before we know whether Al Franken managed to edge Coleman out.
- Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss holds a three point lead in Georgia, but this is still one to watch. Chambliss has 50% of the vote to Democrat Jim Martin’s 47%, but if Chambliss drops below 50% this race will go into an automatic runoff.
- Convicted felon Sen. Ted Stevens looks poised to defeat Mark Begich, thus proving that Alaskans are entirely batshit crazy. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, NRSC Chairman John Ensign, and the McCain-Palin ticket all have called on Stevens to resign. Harry Reid has said that if reelcted, Stevens would almost certainly be expelled, which would allow Gov. Sarah Palin to appoint his replacement–and maybe herself!
Lindsey Graham Thinks Obama Has Missed Too Many Senate Votes?!
McCain attack dog Sen. Lindsey Graham must be suffereing from some pretty serious cognitive dissonance after going on ABC This Week and proclaiming that Barack Obama has missed too many Senate votes:
That’s a pretty outrageous claim when you consider that the most absent member of the United States Senate is… John McCain. Obama has missed fewer than half of this year’s Senate votes (compared to McCain’s 63.8%), which makes Graham’s claim that Obama has “been gone more than he’s been here,” well, false.
Webb GI Bill Passes Senate
Sen. Webb’s bill to increase education benefits for Iraq War vets, which passed in the House last week, was passed by the Senate today in a vote of 75-22.
Senate Republicans have broken with President Bush to help Democrats add help for veterans and the unemployed to a bill paying for another year of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
The 75-22 vote also adds billions of dollars in other domestic funds such as heating subsidies for the poor and money for fighting wildfires to the $165 billion for the military operations overseas.
The vote is a rebuke to Bush, who has promised to veto the measure if it contains the domestic measures. However, the president still has enough GOP support to sustain a veto.
While both Senators Clinton and Obama were present to vote “yes” on the bill, John McCain decided that his time would be better spent elsewhere. (Others not voting were Sens. Coburn and Kennedy.)
Mazal Tov! Senate Republicans Break Filibuster Record
It’s a wonderful day for the Senate’s Republican majority! Err, minority, I meant to say Republican minority. I guess I was confused since the Republicans seem to be unilaterally deciding what does and doesn’t get done in the Senate–and, of course, I could have picked dozens of other examples. That’s because Senate Republicans broke records today by filibustering their 62nd bill only half way through the session of Congress.
The record of Republican obstruction in the U.S. Senate is unbelievable.
The Republican Senate minority today filibustered an omnibus budget bill, setting a modern-day record for blocking the most legislation during a congressional session. A new report [PDF] released today by the Campaign for America’s Future details the 62 times conservatives have used the filibuster to block legislation (or force modification of bills) in the first session of the 110th Congress. In just the first year of this two-year Congress, their use of the filibuster in the Senate topped the previous record, reached during the entire 107th Congress.
…
In just one session, a minority in Congress has prevented a mind-blowing 62 pieces of legislation from going to the floor for an up or down vote,” said Campaign for America’s Future co-director Roger Hickey. “Our report shows how over and over again, the uncompromising minority has thwarted the will of majorities in Congress and of the American people, holding the Senate floor hostage to a radical right-wing agenda.”
That includes ethics reform, wage reform, immigration reform, energy reform, and Iraq reform. All were prevented from coming to the floor for an up or down vote by GOP obstruction. There’s even an entire blog dedicated to their obstruction, and, naturally, they’ve got something to say about this report.
Last night, the Roadblock Republicans accomplished a feat no ordinary group of obstructionists could have pulled off. No, it takes a special brand of legislator to actually break the Roadblock record in less than half the time of the previous record. Only a group with a near-pathological disregard for the actual health of our democracy, only a group with a single-minded focus on the cynical political strategies of their consultants, only a group with a imperious disdain for the people of the country could’ve pulled off such a feat.
Right on.
Time to Ditch Harry Reid?
To clarify, that dismal poll (for Harry Reid, at least) was posted at 11:10 AM Eastern. The screenshot above was taken at 5:15 PM Central. Yikes. And while that certainly isn’t scientific, it is from DailyKos, a site dedicated to electing Democrats. Chris Bowers at OpenLeft has enough links to keep you busy for a while.
Ah, the Democratic controlled Congress. Republican Senate holds are respected, Democratic Senate holds are not. Republicans need 50 votes to pass legislation in the Senate, while Democrats need 60. Only one Democrat is needed to pass a renewable energy bill, and that Democrat is in serious danger of defeat in her next election? Forget applying pressure on her, just roll over and gut the bill. Bush threatens to veto Iraq war funding? Just roll over and give him a blank check. Challenge the Bush Dogs who vote with Republicans? Nah, they will just withhold funds from the DCCC if anyone dare to even suggest they face primary challenges, while other Democrats continue to just pour money into their campaign coffers. Use more aggressive tactics to challenge this situation? Nah, those would just hurt Democrats at the voting booth (and we are doing great in special elections as a result of this timidity). Can’t end the war or change its direction? Well, at least we can condemn opponents of the war, and make others apologize. And so, we end up in a situation where Democrats and Independents, the same people who voted for new leadership in Congress, approve of the Democratic-controlled Congress as much as Republicans do.
Unless Reid is going to step up and, I dunno, show some leadership, I think it’s time for him to step down.
Chris Dodd for Majority Leader, maybe?