Today the House of Representatives passed a war funding bill without troop withdrawal provisions. The roll call vote was 280 to 142 in favor of the funding. Only one of the Democratic Representatives from Colorado voted against the funding without a time table for withdrawal, Representative Perlmutter. Representative Udall voted for the funding (must be looking ahead to his Senate race). Representative Salazar voted for the funding (he represents one of those mindless conservative districts) The most surprising vote other than Udall is the no show of Representative DeGette, she better have been in the hospital.
Category Archives: National
DNC Supports Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean voiced Democrats’ strong support for comprehensive immigration reform. While Democrats are working for tough and smart reform, Republicans are only offering more of the same failed leadership, including the GOP presidential candidates who according to the New York Times are “falling over themselves to convince voters where they stand is not where they stood” as they pander to the right-wing of their Party.
Filed under Multicultural, National
Senate Bill #3 prevented from moving forward
The Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2007 was Killed by invoking cloture, although the vote in favor of the bill moving forward was 55 to 42 with 3 not voting. In order for Senate Bill #3 to move forward the Senate needed a super majority vote to continue its progress. All 42 votes against the bill were Republicans except for Harry Reid of Nevada. Five Republicans voted to proceed with the bill along with all the Democrats except Reid D-NV. There were three Senators that didn’t vote- Brownback R-KS, Johnson D-SD, and McCain R-AZ.
Filed under National
The Plot Against Medicare
The plot against Social Security failed: President Bush’s attempt to privatize the system crashed and burned when the public realized what he was up to. But the plot against Medicare is faring better: the stealth privatization embedded in the Medicare Modernization Act, which Congress literally passed in the dead of night back in 2003, is proceeding apace.
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E-mail may be lost, including Rove’s
Some online emails, possible related to the U.S. attorney firings may have been sent through private email accounts. Official Government emails are for public record, and should not be sent through private accounts.
Filed under National
House panel issues first supoena over firings
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 11, 2007; Page A01
The House Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena yesterday to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, demanding that the Justice Department turn over hundreds of pages of new or uncensored records related to the firings of eight U.S. attorneys last year.
The subpoena is the first served in connection with the dismissals, and it escalates the legal confrontation between Democrats and the Bush administration, which has resisted demands for more documents and for public testimony from White House aides. The order comes just a week before the embattled attorney general is scheduled to testify in the Senate, a hearing widely considered crucial to his attempt to keep his job.
Filed under National
Defining the Mission
This is a quote from Democratic chairman Howard Dean: “Our object was not to get you into power because you are Democrats-our object was to get you into power so you actually do something” Dean said. Dean stated: “We want change. It wasn’t about the Democratic Party. It was about the country.”
Senate goes on record for troop withdrawal date
By a vote of 48-50 the Senate rejected a Republican effort to strip from the Military Spending Bill any reference to a American troop withdrawal date. As usual Senator Allard voted for striking the language and Senator Salazar voted for the withdrawal date. Another vote of interest was Senator Lieberman, who vote for removal of the language.
House passes Iraq Funding Bill with date certain
The House of Represititives passes on Thursday a bill that set a date for the removal of combat troops from Iraq. It was part of a supplemental funding bill for the war in Iraq and Afganistan. Part of the bill states that the combat troops must be withdrawn by the end of 2008.
Iraq War Hearings Schedule
From Joe Biden’s office, here’s the tentative schedule for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearings on Iraq:
(hat tip to BobGeiger.com !)
Filed under National
