Congress Approves $410 Billion Spending Bill

Another victory for President Obama and the Democrats as the Senate approved the $410 billion funding measure to keep the government running for the rest of the year. The White House announced that President Obama will sign the measure on Wednesday, where he will also announce steps aimed at curbing lawmakers' penchant for pet projects.

Now personally I believe that earmarks are getting a bad name, and are not as evil as Republicans are making them out to be. Earmarks should be a tool that Representatives and Senators use, to specifically meet their states needs. Its just that earmarks should be above board, clear who has submitted the earmark, and not tied to any lobbyist. Earmarks should be done in conjunction with state and local government to ensure they meet the needs of the state.

The media has been too willing to confuse pork barrel projects and earmarks. A pork barrel project is usually an earmark, but not every earmark is pork barrel.

I don't understand why the media is trying to say this bill is an embarresment for President Obama. He argued against wasteful spending, not earmarks (that was McCain who has priven to be an idiot). In addition, what this economy needs is spending, and that is what this bill delivers. And the bill was written mostly over the course of last year, with support from key Republicans such as Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, the Senate's No. 3 Republican, so the belly-aching by Republicans has been humorous. By the way even though McConnell was very active in writing the bill, he voted against it. Can you say covering his butt?

The spending measure chips away at several leftover Bush administration policies. It clears the way for the Obama administration to reverse a rule issued late in the Bush administration that says greenhouse gases may not be restricted to protect polar bears from global warming. Another Bush administration rule that reduced the input of federal scientists in endangered species decisions can also be quickly overturned without a lengthy rulemaking process.
The big increases — among them a 14 percent boost for a popular program that feeds infants and poor women and a 10 percent increase for housing vouchers for the poor — represent a clear win for Democrats who spent most of the past decade battling with Bush over money for domestic programs.

Generous above-inflation increases are spread throughout the bill for initiatives that the Bush Administration underfunded, including a $2.4 billion, 13 percent increase for the Agriculture Department and a 10 percent increase for Amtrak passenger rail system.

Key Stimulus Motion Passes 61-36 In Senate

Senate Democrats on Monday advanced the $838 billion economic stimulus bill past Republican filibusters. The Senate Democrats were able to pass the vote, by 61 to 36, to close debate on the stimulus, gaining 3 Republican votes. The final roll call is online, and as expected Republican's Collins, Specter, and Snowe were the only senators to break party ranks. Interesting note that Senator Cornyn of Texas, who was a major opponent of the stimulus plan, did not vote.

If the Senate approves the measure tomorrow, as expected, negotiations to resolve differences with the $820 billion bill passed by the House are expected to focus in part on the Senate's decision to cut $40 billion from a state stabilization fund.

Another interesting fact was that Ted Kennedy was on the floor for the vote. For the first time since Inauguration Day, where he collapsed. He left the chamber soon after his "Aye" vote was recorded.

Senate Democrats got a victory, but it was at a cost.

Last night Rachel Maddow had Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska on her MSNBC show to discuss the stimulus package. Senator Nelson was one of the lead "centrists" who worked out the deal in the Senate. His argument with Rachel was that if there were no cuts, than there would be no Senate bill. He argued that spending on schools was still in the bill, and would be in other bills. He made a passioned argument, I just don't believe he made a compelling argument, though I do believe his work did get the 3 moderate Republican votes.

Watch it here:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

The Senate is Expected to Approve SCHIP Legislation

The Senate is expected to approve SCHIP legislation today. This paves the way for President Obama to claim another early legislative victory. This bill will make an additional 4 million children eligible for discounted care but it will still leave President Obama about 5 million children short of his promise to insure all kids.

Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand is the new Senator-designate from New York

I have to say this story never interested me. I really did not care if Caroline Kennedy was the next Senator of New York, or if it was someone else. The only reason I would have cared about Kennedy is that she is a true liberal progressive, and the Senate can really use more liberal progressives. However it was not to be.

Now Governor Patterson has named Representative Kirsten Gillibrand to be the new Senator-designate from New York to fill the seat vacated this week by Hillary Rodham Clinton.

I don't know much about Kirsten Gillibrand other than that she is a two-term Democratic congresswoman who is described as a relentless politician with a centrist brand of politics. This concerns me a little as I think we have too many centrists in the Democratic party.

Now the good thing is she is a Democrat who won in a very conservative district. She is also a Democrat from New York who is not from New York City. Her district extends from the flatlands of the Hudson Valley to the mountainous North Country.

Her politics are across the board. One red flag for me is she earned a high rating from the National Rifle Association, because that organization has become a cesspool for loons and she opposed efforts to extend state drivers’ licenses to illegal immigrants, though I have to admit I never understood what people were trying to do with that bill. At the same time, Ms. Gillibrand favors abortion rights, voted to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq and to extend middle-class tax cuts, and she has opposed privatizing Social Security.

Her history is that she raises large sums of money from Wall Street, but voted against the first bailout bill last fall; that vote angered some Democratic leaders in Congress. Her ability to raise money, and get votes in upstate New York are the reasons she was chosen in my opinion.

Senate passes wage discrimination bill

We now know what will be the first bill that President Obama will sign into law. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act passed through the Senate yesterday. The Senate voted 61-36 — with all 16 female senators voting “yea” for the measure. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is a wage discrimination bill that heralds the pro-labor policies of the Democratic-controlled Congress and White House. The House passed the bill earlier this month.

This legislation reverses a terrible 2007 Supreme Court rightwing ruling that narrowly defined the time period during which a worker can file a claim of wage discrimination, even if the worker is unaware for months or years that he or she is getting less than colleagues doing the same job. It has been a priority for women's groups seeking to narrow the wage gap between men and women.

The Ledbetter bill would clarify that every paycheck resulting from discrimination would constitute a new violation, extending the 180-day statute of limitations for filing a claim. The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision denying Ledbetter's complaint, ruled that a worker must file a claim within 180 days of the initial decision to pay a worker less, even if the worker did not discover the pay disparity until years later.

Change We Can Believe In

In a great sign of the change that is coming, President-elect Barack Obama has shown over the past few days that he has the ability to hear critiscm, and can change. For example Obama had heard widespread Democratic skepticism over his suggested tax cuts as part of the stimulus package. Now President-elect Barack Obama will drop his bid to offer a $3,000-per-job business tax credit in his stimulus proposal.

Senator Tom Harkin had called the tax cuts an ineffective "trickle-down" measure, and Senator John Kerry said he’d prefer to invest in infrastructure and energy, the "kinds of things that much more directly, much more rapidly and much more certainly create a real job."

Shame on America

Proving again that the US Congress is populated by cowards and idiots, the United States House of Representatives voted 390-5 in favor of H. RES. 34, voicing their support for the Israeli military effort in the Gaza Strip. Seriously do our Representatives ever bother to actually look at what's going on? Can we for once as a nation decide to do what's just, and not what is politically expediant? There will never be peace in the Middle East as long as we unconditionally support the Israeli government, no matter how insane their actions are, or barbaric their deeds.

The bill demanded that Hamas end its rocket fire against Israel despite the fact they went 6 months without attacking Israel, and it was Israel who broke the cease-fire and did not live up to any of it's obligations. It of course called on Hamas to renounce violence while expressing “vigorous support and unwavering commitment” to Israel's violence. They of course declared that its two weeks of attacks on the Gaza Strip were rightful acts of self-defense. What total asses. The vote echoed a similar vote in the Senate.

I am thoroughly disgusted.

Minnesota Election Update

Today Minnesota’s state canvassing board will start inspecting as many as 1,500 disputed ballots one-by-one. The five-member state canvassing board now steps up to the plate to see if a winner can finally be decided in this race. Just so you know the Minnesota state canvassing board is made up of the Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, two state Supreme Court justices and two Ramsey County judges.

Both campaigns had pledged to abandon many of the challenges that they lodged during the recount, which means this phase of the recount should not take nearly as long as some had feared. The Coleman campaign said it would keep about 1,000 of its challenged votes, while the Franken campaign said it would retain about 500.

Even if the board meets the goal of finishing by Friday, it seems unlikely to amount to a final resolution of this election. There will still be a major dispute over the handling of absentee ballots that were improperly rejected on Election Day. Currently the number of estimated at around 1,600. The canvassing board earlier told counties to sort and count such ballots, but the Coleman campaign on Monday asked the state Supreme Court to block that. The high court scheduled a hearing on the matter Wednesday.

Currently Norm Coleman leads Al Franken by 188 votes at this time.

Where is the media?

Last week's bipartisan Senate report on the abuse of detainees in U.S. custody at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and elsewhere doesn't just lay out a clear line of responsibility starting with President Bush, it also exposes the administration's repeated explanation for what happened as a pack of lies.

The report notes that in early 2002, not long after the Defense Department legal counsel's office started exploring the application of the sorts of abhorrent practices later documented at Abu Ghraib, Bush signed a memo exempting war-on-terror detainees from the Geneva Conventions. "[T]he decision to replace well established military doctrine, i.e., legal compliance with the Geneva Conventions, with a policy subject to interpretation, impacted the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody," the report states. And the report concludes: "The abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib in late 2003 was not simply the result of a few soldiers acting on their own. Interrogation techniques such as stripping detainees of their clothes, placing them in stress positions, and using military working dogs to intimidate them appeared in Iraq only after they had been approved for use in Afghanistan and at [Guantanamo]. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's December 2, 2002 authorization of aggressive interrogation techniques and subsequent interrogation policies and plans approved by senior military and civilian officials conveyed the message that physical pressures and degradation were appropriate treatment for detainees in U.S. military custody. What followed was an erosion in standards dictating that detainees be treated humanely."

Yet where is the U.S. media? Where is our corporate media? Not covering this major scandal, that's for sure. No our TV pundit class has been consumed with righteous indignation over the titillating, sleazy, and in the end rather petty Governor Blagojevich and his Soprano-like scandal. Each talking head has seemed more intent on competing with one another over who could sound more righteous, and spew the most derision and scorn for this apalling figure. And while Blagojevich was brazen his crimes in the end were relatively inconsequential.

Bush lawbreaking and war crimes scandals gets no coverage, while a corrupt Illisnois governor gets 24/7 coverage. What is wrong with our media?

Yes Blagojevich was vulgar and reckless but the media fixation on this ultimately irrelevant scandal, when compared to their steadfast ignoring of the Senate report documenting systematic U.S. war crimes, is perfectly reflective of how our political establishment thinks.

Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball dig into the supporting documents and write for Newsweek: "The Bush administration approved the use of 'waterboarding' on Al Qaeda detainees after receiving reports from government psychologists that it was '100 percent effective' in breaking the will of U.S. military personnel subjected to the technique during training, according to documents released today by a Senate Committee. . . .
"'Use of the watering board resulted in student capitulation and compliance 100 percent of the time,' wrote Jerald F. Ogrisseg, the Air Force's chief of psychology services, in a July 24, 2002 memo released as part of the Senate report. . . .
"Much of the report, including the role top White House officials played in approving such methods, is based on material made public in two previous hearings by Levin's panel and other government reports. But it also includes some recently declassified documents, as well as new evidence showing how critical the use of SERE methods was in persuading senior officials to adopt interrogation techniques the U.S. government previously found strongly objectionable."

Why Do I Think Republicans Are Idiots

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell joined other Republican lawmakers in opposition to the White House-backed rescue bill passed by the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
He and other Republicans said wages and benefits for employees of Detroit's Big Three should be renegotiated to bring them in line with those paid by Japanese carmakers Toyota, Honda and Nissan in the United States.

This is a stupid argument, and dishonest. Hourly wages for UAW workers at GM factories are actually less than those paid by Toyota Motor Corp at its older U.S. factories. GM says the average union laborer makes $29.78 per hour, while Toyota says it pays about $30 per hour. But the unionized factories have far higher benefit costs. So the Republicans are asking UAW workers to take wage cuts that put them even further behind. Could this be because they want more workers to migrate south? There are plans for 18 more state subsidized factories to be built in the south, could they be trying to build their pool of workers?

GM says its total hourly labor costs are now $69, including wages, pensions and health care for active workers, plus the pension and health care costs of more than 432,000 retirees and spouses. Toyota says its total costs are around $48. The Japanese automaker has far fewer retirees and its pension and health care benefits are not as rich as those paid to UAW workers. In fact the only country that Toyota has to pay health care benefits is the United States, so they are working at great advantage over GM. Toyota's plants in the U.S. are so new they have few pensions to deal with.

So when you see those sanctimonious windbags of the right on the cable shows, know they are lying assholes who are threatening the economy of the country to break an ally of the Democratic party.

Here is what Katrina Vanden Heuvel of the Nation Magazine had to say about it on MSNBC's Morning Joe:


LibertyAir Blog

Get Ready

It is going to be a bad day on Wall Street. This is what we can expect now that the $14-billion emergency bailout for U.S. automakers collapsed in the Senate. The deal to help the auto industry fell a part last night as Republicans tried to break the UAW. Don't believe those lying Repuglicans, this had nothing to do with some principle, it is all about breaking the union. The collapse came after bipartisan talks broke down over union wage cuts, the Repugs wanted the union to basically handover the farm.

Markets oversea's are already falling hard on the news. U.S. Markets are expected to fall. Harry Reid has said he hopes Bush will tap the $700 billion Wall Street bailout fund for emergency aid to the automakers. General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC have said they could be weeks from collapse. Ford Motor Co. says it does not need federal help now, but its survival is far from certain, and if GM and Chrysler fall it will need help.

The implosion followed an unprecedented marathon negotiations in Washington among labor, the auto industry and lawmakers who bargained into the night in efforts to salvage the auto bailout at a time of soaring job losses and widespread economic turmoil.

The group came close to agreement, but it stalled over the union's refusal to agree to wage cuts before their current contract expires in 2011. Republicans, in turn, balked at giving the automakers federal aid.

Leave it to the Repuglicans to put ideology above country.

Senate Republicans Threaten to Throw Nation into another Great Depression

Republicans are idiots.

Its that simple.

Only these idiots could think that this is a wise course for the nation. If I have to listen to one more sanctimonious windbag from the right come onto the radio or TV and say that the auto companies should just file for bankruptcy, I am going to scream. Do any of these idiots even know the laws that govern bankruptcy? To file for Chapter 11 you have to be able to get banks to offer lines of credit to back up the company. If these companies could get lines of credit, they would not be asking for the bailout.

Now the idiots in the Republican party are ready to force this nation to lose another 2 million jobs, while in the throes of a massive recession, so they can break the unions. And that's what this is about folks, this is a play to break the unions. Remeber these are the same Republican idiots who were happy to throw the stock market into a tail spin because they didn't want to bail out the banks, which lead to the credit crisis that is now bringing down the auto industry. Now they don't want to bail out the car industry.

Yesterday the House passed a bill to speed $14 billion in loans to Detroit's automakers. But it does not look like it will get past the Senate because Republican opposition could derail the emergency aid in the Senate. The Republicans still hold 49 seats, and it looks like they plan to use this number to challenging lame-duck President George W. Bush on the package. They are lamely arguing that any support for the domestic auto industry should carry significant concessions from autoworkers and creditors and reject tougher environmental rules imposed by House Democrats.

See this has nothing to do about the economy, or basic values, it's all about destroying the unions and the environment.

Who Will Be The Next Junior Senator from Illinois?

This question is very much up in the air.

According to the Illinois constitution, the Lt. Governor is first in line to take over as Governor, "[i]f the Governor is unable to serve because of death, conviction on impeachment, failure to qualify, resignation or other disability." Should Blagojevich be subject to any of these conditions in the near future, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn would assume power and be responsible for appointing Obama’s successor. Lt. Gov. Quinn has said Blagojevich should step down.

Illinois Rep. Tim Hare (D) says the allegations are serious enough that Blagojevich should resign if they are true:

Today is a sad day for the state of Illinois. It is important that we let the justice system run its course and remember that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. But if these allegations are even remotely true, they would represent a shameful breach of the public trust and be cause for the Governor’s immediate resignation.

This is very important because Blagojevich could name himself, and cause all types of issues.

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois has called for a special election: "The General Assembly should enact a law as quickly as possible calling for a special election to fill the Senate vacancy of Barack Obama. No appointment by this Governor could produce a credible replacement," he said.

New from Minnesota - The recount goes on

The ever-increasing number of challenged ballots in Minnesota is making it more and more difficult to determine the extent to which Al Franken is in fact gaining, though the evidence is that he has been gaining on incumbent Norm Coleman. The Minneapolis Star Tribune (Minnesota's largest paper) says the margin is now 136 votes, but there are a lot of numbers being thrown about. The Franken campaign has made claims that the margin has dropped into double digits, and the majority of ballots left to recount are from Franken-skewing precincts in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

An analysis by FiveThirtyEight.com of precinct-by-precinct returns available on the Secretary of State's website, however, suggests that Franken's position is really good. This analysis points to the fact that in precincts where no challenges have been issued (these are the only precincts in which, in some sense, the results of the recount can be considered to be final and "official") Franken has gained a total of 34 votes, and Coleman a total of 6 votes, for a net gain by Franken of 28 votes. Moreover, in precincts where just 1 challenge has been issued, Franken has gained a net of 31 votes on Coleman, and in precincts where exactly 2 challenges have been issued, Franken has gained a net of 32 votes on Coleman. By contrast, in precincts where 5 or more ballots have been challenged between the two campaigns, Coleman has gained a net of 57 votes on Franken. Basically the more challenges there are, the longer this process will be. Because it is now apparent that Norm Colemans strategy is if they don't like a ballot, they're going to challenge it.

But are these challenges legitimate?

Here's a video from the Uptake detailing some of the ballots the Coleman campaign is claiming should count for Coleman. This falls under desperate much?

LibertyAir Blog

Republican Strategy

Remember when Senator Mitch McConnell opposed an open amendment process for legislation in the Senate? Remember when Republicans were in the majority and they thought the worst word in the English language was "filibuster"? Remember when Mitch McConnell and every Republican would go on the cable news shows and threaten the nuclear option if Democrats tried to work within the rules and put their stamp on legislation, or block hardcore conservative judges. Remember how George W. Bush used to believe "up or down vote" were the four most important words in the English language?

Its pretty hard to remember, isn't it? Considering the record of the Republicans the last two years when they as the minority party, with 49 seats, filibustered more legislation than any Senate minority in congressional history.

Now Senator McConnell, the highest ranking Republican in the Senate speculated about another two years of filibusters.

A feisty Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) warned Friday that while he looks forward to working with President-elect Barack Obama in the coming months, Republicans will continue to demand that they be given the ability to amend legislation or will filibuster bills as they move through the Senate.

McConnell released a letter signed by the entire GOP Conference to Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) calling on him to use a more open process for advancing legislation in the 111th, a clear warning to Reid that Republicans will be looking to stand together over the next two years.

"The 42 Republican Senators represent 157 million Americans. Their voices are entitled to be heard, and the way to be heard in the Senate is an open amendment
process," a clearly rejuvenated McConnell told reporters.

The thing is I don't think Senator McConnell has thought through this threat. There are a few things working against him.

First, Democrats will have at least 58, probably 59 Senators in their caucus. While I hated not punishing Lieberman, the way Obama handled it, he has effectively neutered Lieberman, there will be no crossing the line by him anymore. I know a lot of people think that Lieberman will feel free to cross the line, but a President Obama and his Chief of Staff Rahm Emanual will know how to smack him down.

Second McConnell will not be able to keep Republicans in line, like they were for the last 8 years. Senators like Luger, Specter, Collins, and Snow will be convinced to cross the ailes often, and on specific issues like SChip particular Senators like Hatch will cross the line. There is no central leader in the Republican party, and the in-fighting will ensure there is no united minority.

Third, and most important the Republican's no longer have the bully pulpit. President Obama will have the biggest bullhorn, which will drown out McConnell, and a debate between President Obama and Senator McConnell is a no brainer.

Last, McConnel completely screwed up by making the threat. You don't bluster if you have the power, you stay quiet, and use your power when needed. Now he just looks like an obstructionist.

So you go McConnell, make your threats, keep proving what a pathetic politician you are.

Al Franken, Down Just 136 Votes

In Minnesota, Norm Coleman's lead over Al Franken is down to just 136 votes. As of last night, about 46% of the 2.9 million ballots had been counted as part of the statewide recount.

Breaking News: AP Calls Alaska for Mark Begich

Mark Schuester subbing for Keith Olberman on Countdown has just reported that the Senate race in Alaska has been called for Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich. Senator Ted Stevens, known as "Uncle Ted" to Alaska, has been unseated, and the Democratic Majority has grown stronger (even as they gut themselves over Lieberman).

This is good news for the Senate and for Alaska, as we will be spared Senator Sarah Palin.

Now hopefully Franken can win.

Robert Greenwald: Lieberman Must Go Once and for All

Robert Greenwald is sick and tired of Joe Lieberman, and I have to agree with him. Joe Lieberman is a lying backstabbing bastard. He didn't just support John McCain, but shit on his own party.

Robert Greenwald writes:

Joe Lieberman has launched consistent, deeply partisan attacks on President-elect Barack Obama, questioning his patriotism and fitness to lead. While Lieberman campaigned for John McCain and spoke on his behalf at the Republican National Convention, he spread some of the GOP's nastiest smears.

Think Progress has provided thorough evidence of Lieberman's partisan politics. Lieberman should not be allowed to have subpoena power to investigate the Obama administration as chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. In fact, he should not be allowed to remain chairman of this or any other committee.

Watch the video:

Lieberman has proven he cannot be trusted to hold a high rank within the Democratic caucus. That is why we launched Lieberman Must Go last summer, a campaign that caught Congress' attention when we delivered a petition with over 43,000 signatures.

Now, we ask you to help us escalate the pressure by contacting members of the Senate Democratic Steering Committee. Tell them to strip Lieberman of his chairmanship in the Democratic caucus. We have included a sample script and phone numbers below for you to use, and we ask that you be polite when you explain why Lieberman Must Go.

Senator _________, my name is _________.

I'm a registered Democrat and a [your state] resident. I urge you to vote to strip Joe Lieberman of his committee chairmanship when the Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee meets to discuss his future. A man who spent the entire election season demeaning Senator Obama's patriotism and his qualifications for office cannot be trusted with oversight authority over the Obama administration. Joe Lieberman is not a Democrat, and he should not enjoy the privileges of being a member of the majority party. Will you vote to strip Lieberman of his committee chairmanship?

LibertyAir Blog

BREAKING: Dems pick up Oregon Senate seat

Jeff Merkley in, Gordon Smith out.
Democrats have now picked up 6 Senate seats.

Keep fingers crossed about Georgia, Minnesota, and Alaska.

Tom Udall (D) wins Senate seat in New Mexico

That is a Plus 5 for the Democrats in the Senate.