Helloooooo out there…. Senator asks if anyone paying attention to speech
Senators go to the Senate floor and make speeches about issues near and dear to their constituents all day long — but whether anyone is actually listening is another matter.
Making speeches on the Senate floor gets the words into the official record, but often they are made to a near-empty chamber so it is never quite clear whether the words are heard.
That can be frustrating for politicians used to getting plenty of attention.
Democratic Senator Barbara Mikulski got fed up when she was speaking about the budget fight and how a government shutdown would hurt port and airport operations. As she talked, she saw the senator who was presiding over the chamber, another Democrat, apparently checking her BlackBerry.
“I’m telling you, Madam President, this is not going to be good. But you know what’s not really good? Not only the consequences but the way we’re functioning here. Madam President, Hello? Madam President? I don’t know if my speech is not that attention-getting but could I have your attention?” Mikulski said.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand responded dutifully: “The senator has consumed ten minutes.”
Mikulski replied: “Well then my time is up. Maybe the Senate’s not paying attention, but the American people are paying attention.”
Boehner confident on getting budget deal, but admits it won’t be easy
House Speaker John Boehner, facing somewhat of a revolt in Republican ranks, says “it is not going to be easy” to craft and win passage of a bipartisan deal to cut spending and fund the government for the rest of this fiscal year.
But the top U.S. Republican said he remains confident that it will be done — somehow, some way.
“We never thought it was going to be easy,” Boehner said a day after the House passed a short-term funding bill that 54 of his 240 House Republican colleagues opposed.
Many of these Republicans — some veteran conservatives along with a number of newly elected lawmakers backed by the Tea Party — voted no because they felt that the $6 billion in proposed cuts over three weeks are woefully inadequate.
They also worry that the major policy changes they’re hoping to attach to a spending-cut bill this year will be thrown overboard. They include preventing the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases blamed for global warming and stopping implementation of President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul.
The Senate is expected to give final congressional approval to the House-passed measure by Friday, clearing the way for Obama to sign it into law. The House, Senate and the White House would then have until April 8 to reach agreement on another funding measure or face a government shutdown.
Democrats are hoping that Boehner leaves his Tea Party activists behind and cuts a deal with moderates to fund the government through Sept. 30.
This man makes me sick!! The only cuts that matter to him and the GOP are those that affect the poor and elderly. They take NOTHING from the rich.
Another one heads for the exit: Senator Ensign won’t seek reelection
UPDATES with Ensign announcement.
At this rate, the Senate will be overrun by freshmen in 2013.
Republican Senator John Ensign, once considered a potential presidential candidate in 2012, said he won’t seek reelection next year.
The decision comes nearly two years after he admitted to having an affair with a female staffer whose husband also worked for him.
“There are consequences to sin,” he said at a news conference in Las Vegas. Ensign said the campaign was likely to get especially “ugly” and he did not want to put his family through that.
Ensign becomes the third Senate Republican to announce he won’t seek reelection, following Assistant Senate Republican Leader Jon Kyl of Arizona and Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas.
Five members of the Senate Democratic caucus have said that they won’t seek another term next year: Democrats Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, Jim Webb of Virginia, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico and independent Joe Lieberman of Connecticut.
How much you want to bet Sharron Angle goes for this job?
Robert Pozen says not running for Senate – but perhaps could be convinced
Boston correspondent Ross Kerber interviewed mutual fund industry veteran Robert Pozen and they talked politics.
Pozen says he’s not running so far for the Senate seat from Massachusetts once held by the late Edward Kennedy. But he does appear to be positioning himself as a possible centrist candidate for Democrats mulling how to defeat Republican Senator Scott Brown in next year’s election.
“I’m not running for Senate unless the Democratic Party asks me to, if they want someone who is socially liberal and fiscally disciplined,” Pozen told us in an interview at his office at MFS Investment Management, the Boston fund company where he is now Chairman Emeritus.
If, however, the party wants a more confrontational figure to take on Brown next year, “then they shouldn’t choose me because I won’t be that type of candidate,” said Pozen, a former vice chairman of Fidelity Investments.
Much of the speculation about potential Democratic rivals for Brown has so far centered on possible candidates like Democratic Congressman Michael Capuano and Alan Khazei, co-founder of the City Year public service organization for young adults.
Both lost a Democratic primary contest to Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, who, in turn, lost to Brown in a special election.
Pozen, once an economic adviser to Mitt Romney when he was Massachusetts governor, has been a steady Democratic donor (including to Capuano in 2009) and his enthusiasm for politics was clear in the interview. But so was his interest in more wonkish matters: Pozen has just finished a book on how the fund industry works.
Budget-cutters take aim at nuclear modernization funds
In hardball negotiations over the START nuclear arms treaty last year, Senate Republicans wrested a commitment from the White House to redouble work to overhaul the nation’s nuclear infrastructure.
President Barack Obama agreed to spend an additional $5 billion over 10 years on the effort, including some $650 million in the 2011 fiscal year.
The funds would be used to refurbish facilities and upgrade technology to provide safer and more secure devices, for example by making it impossible for them to be detonated if they are stolen by extremist groups. Obama and Senate Democrats even agreed that if it became necessary to cut discretionary spending in the future, the funding for nuclear modernization would be considered on the same basis as defense spending, making it harder to trim.
Somebody should have told House Republicans.
House budget-cutters working on the resolution to fund the government through the end of the current fiscal year in September have eliminated the increased funding for nuclear modernization.
That’s not the last word on it though. Jon Kyl, the No. 2 Senate Republican who led the fight for nuclear modernization, says he will work to add the money back in when the Senate takes up the resolution.
“I’m confident that the commitments to fully fund the modernization program made by the president and leaders from the Senate Appropriations Committee during debate on START will bear fruit and enable us to work with our House colleagues to rectify this issue,” he said. For more Reuters political news, click here.
FBI releases files on ex-Senator Stevens, little on corruption case
The FBI released some of its expansive files on former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens who died last year in a plane crash, offering tidbits about threats against him, accusations of corruption and some correspondence he had with the FBI.
There was very little in the thousands of pages about the federal corruption investigation into Stevens beyond press clippings and court filings previously made public. The senator was initially convicted by a jury in October 2008 but the case was later dropped after a federal judge found that federal prosecutors withheld critical evidence from Stevens’ defense team.
Still, there were a few interesting tidbits, including details of contacts with foreign officials, several threats against him and also his work dating back to the 1950s when was a federal prosecutor in Alaska.
One FBI note talks about allegations that an attorney made a contribution to the Alaska Republican Party but it was allegedly illegally directed to Stevens’ re-election campaign and later the attorney received an appointment to be a federal judge with the senator’s support.
Another memo talked about an allegation that the former owner of the Fairbanks Daily News Miner who died and gave Stevens a $400,000 yacht in his will in exchange for his past help winning federal funds for projects in the city. The files do not offer details of investigations into the allegations. Stevens was never charged in those incidents.
One interesting document in Stevens’ FBI file included correspondence about the senator’s contacts with a diplomat from the Chinese Embassy in 1982, Ji Chaozhu, and the FBI’s request for advance notice of meetings in the future. (page 334 in this file)
“As you know, your letter is very helpful to us in fulfilling our counterintelligence responsibilities,” then FBI Director William Webster said in a letter to Stevens. “Edward J. O’Malley, Assistant Director of our Intelligence Division, has suggested to me that if you have an opportunity to do so, similar notification of future meetings you may have with officials of the People’s Republic of China would be of interest.”
As ghostwriter of Ji Chaozhu’s autobiography, “The Man on Mao’s Right,” I was fascinated to find that the FBI had to ask Sen. Stevens to keep the Bureau in the loop on Mr. Ji’s contacts with the Senator. I always thought the relationship, which Ji described as quite sincere and useful to both sides, was a classic case of odd bedfellows: the conservative and the communist breaking bread instead of heads. Ji was a product of America as well as China, having spent most of his youth until Harvard here, then returning to China out of a sense of duty. I hope more details of the US interest in this relationship turns up. I had always wanted to interview Sen. Stevens about it but never got the chance. — Foster Winans
Webb’s retirement could loosen Democratic grip on U.S. Senate
Things just got a lot harder for Democrats.
First-term Senator James Webb announced on Wednesday he will not run for re-election in Virginia next year, making Republicans the early favorite to recapture the seat the Democrat narrowly won in 2006.
The decision by Webb, an author and a former secretary of the Navy, set off a celebration among Senate Republicans and a scramble to find a replacement among Democrats with no clear good options.
The name most frequently mentioned was former Governor Tim Kaine, head of the Democratic National Committee, who says he has no interest in the seat. Other possibilities among Democrats include former Congressman Tom Periello, who lost in November after one term, former Congressman Rick Boucher and former DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe.
Republicans were gleeful at the turn of events. Former Senator George Allen, who lost a close battle with Webb in 2006 after his famous “macaca” moment, already has signed up for another shot. Other Republicans are expected to enter the race as well.
Democrats, meanwhile, face a potential free-for-all.
“Democrats will have great difficulty finding an electable candidate for this open seat,” said Brian Walsh, a spokesman for the Republican Senate campaign committee. “We can only hope that Democrats succeed in recruiting President Obama’s number one cheerleader in Washington — Tim Kaine.”
Is Rand Paul a U.S. Senate action hero?
It didn’t take Rand Paul long to become Captain America of the U.S. Senate. He’s tough-minded, strong-willed and he’s ready to battle the most dangerous titans on the political landscape, like Social Security and Medicare.
In fact, the Republican Tea Party favorite from Kentucky tells MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that a courageous and comprehensive plan for fixing America’s public finances will soon be on the march. And if all goes as planned, much may be accomplished before the start of this year’s Major League Baseball season.
“Within two to three weeks, I’m going to propose a fix for Social Security,” says Rand, son of Ron, who has already far surpassed the fiscal aims of the Republican leadership on Capitol Hill by proposing $500 billion in budget cuts.
“We’re going to fix the budget the first week. The second month, I’m going to fix Social Security and then the third month, we’re going to work on Medicare,” he adds, with tongue somewhat in cheek.
At the moment, his blueprint for Medicare still amounts to “a secret plan.” But on Social Security, we can expect what other Republicans are avoiding: an increase in the retirement age and means testing for wealthier beneficiaries.
Paul says the difference between him and other Republicans is that he’s “unafraid” of voter reaction: “If you talk frankly and speak boldly, you’ll get more people to vote for you.”
Another important difference is that his brave ambitious plans are unlikely to succeed at a time when congressional leaders seem increasingly unwilling to consider large-scale reductions. Look at it this way: the GOP’s bold campaign pledge to cut 2011 spending by $100 billion shrank first to about $50 billion and now to $32 billion.
Comedy that’s a good analogy, the whole political system in america is rife with comedians. Yet perhaps we need more goofballs like Rand Paul and his father. The last time the economy and the country was in this type of shape. Huge corporations extremely wealthy individuals no middle class. Teddy roosevelt became president. He was most definitely a waco and a goofball but he got the job done. So for me bring on the mental cases, what the hey that can’t do any worse then the rational sane politicians that america has….
Former Senator Allen trying for a comeback, but he’s got competition
Former Republican Senator George Allen is trying for a comeback for the Senate seat from Virginia that he narrowly lost to Democrat Jim Webb in 2006, following comments that critics said were racist.
“Friends, it’s time for an American comeback,” Allen said in a video on his website. “Today, I’m announcing my candidacy for the U.S. Senate. You know me as someone willing to fight for the people of Virginia and I would like the responsibility to fight for you again.”
He promised a campaign for the 2012 election based on “foundational” principles that included reining in government spending and creating jobs.
Allen won’t have a clear field to the Republican nomination. Tea Party leader Jamie Radtke, for one, has announced she will seek the party’s nod for the Virginia Senate seat.
Conservative blogger Erick Erickson on RedState.com endorsed Radtke. “Once someone has been beaten, I tend to think we need not run them again for the same seat,” he wrote.
Allen had been favored to win the 2006 Senate race over Webb, but his campaign took a hit when he called a young man of Indian descent who was affiliated with his opponent “macaca,” a word for monkey. Allen denied he had intended an offense but critics said that and remarks he had made when younger were racist.
Democrats have already gone on the attack.
A Senate Christmas tale
(UPDATES with new Reid comments).
Christmas bells are ringing. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid doesn’t seem to be listening. Much to the chagrin of staffers and more than a few senators, Reid is threatening to keep the Senate in session until Christmas Eve and beyond to finish all the legislative work that Congress failed to complete before the November elections.
That amounts to just about a whole year’s worth of lawmaking. Congress never got around to passing any of the 12 spending bills that fund the government. So the Senate is expected to take up a $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill after senators voted to extend Bush-era tax cuts by two years and extend jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed for a year.
Reid earlier this week said “…we are going to complete our work, no matter how long it takes, in this Congress.”
Republican Leader Mitch McConnell vowed to fight the spending bill and Senator Jon Kyl suggested a Christmas reality check.
“It is impossible to do all of the things that the majority leader laid out … frankly, without disrespecting the institution and without disrespecting one of the two holiest of holidays for Christians and the families of all of the Senate, not just the senators themselves but all of the staff,” Kyl said.
Reid was not about to take questioning of his Christmas spirit quietly.
You can say what you want…and you can spin it, as usual, to your point of view…after all, you are paid for your diatribes…
As you know, this is the worst slaughter for the democrats since the 1930′s. No matter who you spin it, the American people do not want government to intrude in their lives…and they spoke loud and clear…
You have been wrong for over two years. You were so smug and confident for so long. I told you what the American people would do and they did it. They totally rejected this congress and this president. If the American people wanted this progressive agenda, they would have kept this bunch in power…they didn’t…
You are wrong..about everything you have written. I was right and I am right.
So long chump.
Senator Mikulski, if you and the rest of the legislators are interested in us listening to you, you might try listening to US. I don’t know you, and you are not my “representative.” (No one really is, it would seem.) It matters not if you are Democrat, Republican, or something else. You are a politico, and the lot of you are running our nation and our people into the ground. The only audience you seem to turn a receptive ear to are those who fund your campaigns, Big Pharma, oil, banking and insurance interests. Rather than despairing that your speech isn’t being listened to, try listening instead. I think you would get a lot farther that way.