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By Theodore Roszak
$12.89
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Flickr / Center for American Progress Action Fund
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Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid and Senate and House Republican leaders have announced their selections for the deficit-reduction “super committee.” The 12-person council will attempt to cut about $1.5 trillion in federal spending over the next decade. (more)
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Flickr / asterix611
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Still foggy on the basics of this week’s debt and deficit deal? The Guardian has published a no-nonsense guide explaining the meaning and function of the congressional “super committee,” the “trigger,” the “balanced budget amendment” and more, including the deal’s potential future.
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White House / Pete Souza
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Less than two hours after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a Republican-drafted debt plan Friday evening, the Senate voted to freeze the legislation in hopes that a better deal will be worked out.
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By Eugene Robinson — Nevada’s leading Senate candidate, who wants to return to the barter system, makes Sarah Palin sound like an intellectual, but they share a nostalgia for a golden age that never was.
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senate.gov
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With more Senate Democrats urging Harry Reid to revive the public option and pass health care reform through budget reconciliation, the Senate majority leader said Republicans “should stop crying about reconciliation as if it’s never been done before.” Reid said the maneuver is used nearly every year, usually by Republicans.
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White House / Pete Souza
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By Eugene Robinson — Forgive me if I am neither shocked nor outraged at Harry Reid’s comments about Barack Obama’s skin. What I would find stunning is evidence that his assessment was anything but accurate.
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The progressive Democrats in Congress have had just about enough of all this bipartisanship, especially if it means scrapping a public health care plan. Rahm Emanuel recanted his hint of compromise to a room full of hopping-mad House liberals Tuesday night. Earlier, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made it clear that losing a public option was a deal-breaker for 10 to 15 Senate Democrats.
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Yes, Keith Olbermann and other pundits (paging Anderson Cooper) had a field day with the right wing’s adoption of “tea bagging” as the driving metaphor behind their Tax Day protests. But no, the double entendres didn’t start “on the blogs,” as Bill O’Reilly’s “nice lady” guest Amanda Carpenter suggested on his show.
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The New York Times / Susan Etheridge
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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Wednesday afternoon that congressional leaders have finally agreed on a $789 billion economic stimulus package, pushing the plan to a final House and Senate vote by Friday at the earliest.
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AP photo / Charles Dharapak
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Although a majority of his state’s voters are opposed to his appointment (according to a recent poll), Roland Burris will be seated as the junior senator from Illinois. Senate Democrats had promised not to seat Burris but, true to tradition, promptly caved.
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newsweek.com
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After weeks of deliberation about former Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Joe Lieberman, congressional leaders from his former party came to some conclusions Tuesday about his political future.
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speaker.gov
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Nancy Pelosi isn’t as showy as some of her predecessors, but according to a profile in the Politico, the most powerful woman in American political history is firmly in control of her domain. Tom “the Hammer” DeLay says she is “the most powerful speaker in a generation—she will be able to do anything she wants.” As one anonymous lawmaker put it, “Whatever Nancy wants, Nancy gets.”
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Shades of McCarthyism? In her televised rundown of practically all of the anti-Obama talking points conjured up this election season, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., calls the Illinois senator (and other “liberals” in Washington) “anti-American” on Friday’s “Hardball.”
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AP photo / Lauren Victoria Burke
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Early Sunday morning brought word that the end of the drawn-out bailout negotiations between warring factions of the federal government might finally be at hand, although the House and Senate had not yet officially approved terms of the proposed plan. Updated
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flickr.com/photos/ttoes
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After yet another big push—and facing more of the same—Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are, unsurprisingly, feeling the strain of the long campaign trail. Meanwhile, top Dems Harry Reid, Howard Dean and Nancy Pelosi may make their own push—to urge superdelegates to make their presidential preferences known by July 1.
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AP photo / Duane A. Laverty
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Despite some congressional resistance, it seems Gen. David Petraeus’ recommended “pause” in U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq will take effect after July. On Thursday, President Bush (whose approval ratings have plummeted to a new low) essentially deferred the withdrawal issue to his successor.
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Flickr / moose.boy
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The Political Wire’s Taegan Goddard argues that Howard Dean and Harry Reid’s big idea for settling the Democratic nomination should have Democrats worried about a lack of leadership in their party. Reid and Dean both have called for superdelegates to make a decision by early July—a little under two months before the convention in Denver.
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wikipedia.org
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In a cryptic conversation with a Las Vegas paper, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Democratic nomination would be resolved before the convention: “It will be done.” “Magically?” the reporter asked. “No, it will be done,” Reid repeated. “I had a conversation with Governor Dean today. Things are being done.”
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AP photo / Manuel Balce Ceneta
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The reputation of the U.S. on the world stage might be further colored by President Bush’s veto of a bill that would have limited the CIA’s (and other intelligence agencies’) array of interrogation techniques to those in the Army field manual. In defending Saturday’s veto, Bush once again invoked 9/11.
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aftonbladet.se
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The White House’s latest request ($46 billion) for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was greeted with fighting words by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid: “President Bush should not expect Congress to rubber-stamp his latest supplemental request. We’re not going to do that.” For those keeping track at home, Bush has now asked for $196.4 billion so far for the budget year that began in October.
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AP photo / Nabil al-Jurani
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The British government is planning to downsize its military presence in Iraq this May by 800 to leave a total of 7,000 troops, a move Defense Secretary John Reid insists is not meant to signal a “handover of responsibility” to Iraqi forces, according to the BBC. Updated
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foxnews.com
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President Bush may not have done his party any favor in coming elections by exercising his veto privilege—the fourth time he’s done so—to deep-six a bipartisan bill passed by Congress that would have renewed the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
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anniemayhem.com
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He’s certainly not famous for his magnanimity, but this time Rush Limbaugh’s sharp tongue seems to have gotten him into a real pickle. The conservative radio talk show host is under fire from congressional Democrats for his recent statement that U.S. troops who oppose the war are “phony soldiers.” Limbaugh’s ill-conceived rant also caught this active-duty soldier’s attention, judging by his blog.
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As divers continue their search for bodies in the Mississippi River after Wednesday’s bridge collapse in Minneapolis, federal transportation officials are calling for a review of some 700 similar structures.
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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has announced that Senate Democrats are going to force Republicans to filibuster all night long if they want to continue to block Iraq troop withdrawal legislation. Previously, the Democrats politely allowed the opposition’s formal promise to filibuster to stand in for the action itself.
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AP Photo / Ron Edmonds
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Although the legislation is sure to be shot down by President Bush if it survives in the Senate, the House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday calling for the majority of U.S. troops in Iraq to be withdrawn by April 2008.
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So much for “supporting our troops”: A bipartisan proposal sponsored by two combat veterans to give exhausted U.S. troops more time between their military deployments overseas was defeated by Republicans in the Senate, the first vote of a two-week congressional debate on Iraq.
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zablanc.blogspot.com
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The Democrats in Congress know Americans are frustrated with their failure to change Iraq policy and have devised a new strategy to try to convince voters to keep them in the majority. The plan includes weekly war votes to put the hawks on the defensive, along with more aggressive legislation that would set a binding withdrawal deadline, raise troop readiness standards and close Guantanamo.
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needlenose.com
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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Bush are determined to push through the ailing immigration reform bill, despite heavy opposition from both sides of the aisle. Reid, who has partnered with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, said Democrats would work through the July 4 recess if necessary.
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Top congressional Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid sent President Bush a pre-emptive strike in the form of a letter Wednesday, prior to a meeting with him later in the day, declaring that the “surge” strategy in Iraq was a failure on several fronts. Reid and Pelosi’s challenge came on the same day as news broke about an “indefinite” curfew imposed in Baghdad.
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Sen. Russ Feingold, Majority Leader Harry Reid and eight other Senate Democrats have decided to respond to Bush’s veto with an amendment that would halt war funding if troops were not safely withdrawn from Iraq by March 31, 2008. Exceptions would include operations against terrorist organizations, training for Iraqi soldiers and protection of U.S. infrastructure and personnel.
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The president says the Democrats are trying to substitute political opinions for military judgment (he should talk). House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the president wants a blank check for the war and he’s not going to get one (at least for now). On Wednesday they meet to debate the issue in person. Here’s a preview.
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varifrank.com
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President Bush may still be in denial, but Sen. Harry Reid is at least telling him the raw truth: The surge isn’t working, and the Iraq war is not likely to result in any kind of victory. The Democratic majority leader says he told Bush on Wednesday that the war “is lost,” judging by the “extreme violence” in Iraq lately.
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Senate Democrats have given up pushing a nonbinding anti-escalation resolution, and instead will try to limit the scope of military operations in Iraq, the first step, they say, in ending the war. Meanwhile, the House plans to pursue a different strategy altogether, hoping to choke off the supply of troops to the Iraq grinder.
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Republicans managed once again to block debate on the anti-escalation resolution that continues to stall in the Senate. Democrats had billed the Saturday vote as a referendum on the war and, as Majority Leader Harry Reid rightly pointed out, “A majority of the United States Senate just voted on Iraq, and a majority of the United States Senate is against the escalation in Iraq.”
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bradblog.com
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During a 30-minute conference call, Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., told bloggers he was disappointed that his party was “playing it safe” by refusing to end the Iraq war: “The problem is a whole lot of middle-of-the-road Democrats who refuse to pull the trigger, who refuse to do what needs to be done.”
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nytimes.com
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House and Senate Democrats are planning a symbolic vote on Bush’s escalation of the Iraq war, partially to force Republicans to take a stand on the issue. While they haven’t ruled out more aggressive—and meaningful—measures, the Dems agreed that demonstrating their opposition was the least they could do.
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Nancy Pelosi, appearing on “Face the Nation,” said the Congress will not fund a troop escalation without justification. Pelosi maintained that the Dems have no intention of cutting off funds for the war in general, although she insisted a “new direction” is necessary.
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npr.org
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Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid sent a joint letter to the president on Friday, warning him that they would fully resist any effort to send more troops to Iraq: “Adding more combat troops will only endanger more Americans and stretch our military to the breaking point for no strategic gain.”
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nytimes.com
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Democrats are set to blitz Congress with a legislative agenda that tackles stem cell research, the minimum wage, ethics, 9/11 commission recommendations, oil subsidies, education and prescription drugs—all before President Bush arrives at the capital for the State of the Union address Jan. 23.
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mnpublius.com
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Now that they’re in the majority, Democratic leaders have promised to step up oversight of the war in Iraq and demand a timetable for troop withdrawal.
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Pulling this off would be the ultimate hat trick. Republicans reportedly need only one more Democrat on their side to force a vote. | story
People for the American Way are supplying a form letter urging key senators to join Kerry in his filibuster.
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