GOP Senators vs. the Transportation Security Administration
Shorter GOP : there has never been a more important time than the aftermath of a failed terrorist attack on an airplane to ensure the Transportation Security Administration doesn’t have a leader. Apparently someone told Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) that it’s bad optics to keep a hold on Errol Southers, the TSA administrator-designate, because of DeMint’s hostility to organized labor . So now they’re turning to a more legitimate basis for the hold: Southers’ inconsistent answers about the time in the late 1980s when he inappropriately accessed a federal database to spy on the man his wife cheated on him with. Southers, a former FBI agent, both alerted the Senate to his inconsistencies and called them “inadvertent.” He clearly needs to explain further. But are we to believe the GOP is actually concerned that the TSA chief might be inappropriately aggressive in violating terror suspects’ privacy? That this is something the Republicans in the Senate, who lined up behind the Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance programs, ever cared about? And let’s be real: are they not going to cut some slack to a guy who abused his power one time to spy on his wife’s boyfriend? Whatever happened to the defense of marriage! Still, watch the Democrats miss an opportunity to nail the GOP for putting hostility to working Americans ahead of national security. Read the original post: GOP Senators vs. the Transportation Security Administration
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GOP Senators vs. the Transportation Security Administration
Letters: Graves comments were low – Bennington Banner
Letters: Graves comments were low Bennington Banner … are working hard to be in a position to get rich at everybody else's expense from the Obama-Sanders cap-and-trade scheme now bogged down in the Senate. … See the original post: Letters: Graves comments were low – Bennington Banner
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Letters: Graves comments were low – Bennington Banner
Thompson Calls on DeMint to Lift TSA Chief Hold
How long will Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) go after the Northwest Airlines Flight 253 incident before allowing the Transportation Security Administration to have someone running the place? Chris Good at The Atlantic has a statement from Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the chairman of the House homeland security committee, calling for the administration’s nominee to run TSA, Erroll Southers, to receive an up-or-down vote in the Senate : Erroll Southers, an experienced, highly-qualified nominee, continues to be held up in the Senate by someone who obviously puts process ahead of progress. If TSA is to become the kind of nimble, responsive organization the American people deserve in times like this, it will need a Senate-confirmed administrator. If nothing else, the events of last week highlighted this lack of leadership. Remember: DeMint is holding up the new TSA chief not because of any concerns over Southers’ qualifications. He’s holding Southers up because Southers is too pro-labor . Because the last thing you want for the safety of the nation’s airports is for the individuals responsible for their security to earn a fair wage. Go here to see the original: Thompson Calls on DeMint to Lift TSA Chief Hold
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Thompson Calls on DeMint to Lift TSA Chief Hold
8. Harry Reid
If things had gone smoothly for Democrats this year, the Senate Majority Leader from Nevada wouldn’t have made this list. But the Democratic caucus devolved into a civil war of sorts over health care reform legislation, and the blame for the intraparty conflict has fallen squarely on Reid. He faced attacks on health care from the left (by Howard Dean, for example) as well as from moderates who found fault with the legislation. The passage of the Senate health bill on Thursday marks a huge victory for Reid, but comparisons to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who passed a more progressive health bill with less feuding, are not flattering for Reid. Amid the health care slog, Reid was forced to put off other pressing Senate business until 2010. And outside of Washington, things are no better for the senator. He faces a potentially difficult reelection race, though the GOP thus far has failed to produce a top-tier challenger. Next — 7. William Jefferson Go here to read the rest: 8. Harry Reid
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8. Harry Reid
Republicans Look for Mechanisms to Halt Health Insurance Bill
Congress may be gone for several weeks enjoying a winter holiday, but Republicans have vowed to keep up the pressure on Democrats who succeeded in getting their Senate health insurance overhaul bill passed before Christmas — if just barely. Original post: Republicans Look for Mechanisms to Halt Health Insurance Bill
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Republicans Look for Mechanisms to Halt Health Insurance Bill
Sanders Withdraws Single-Payer Amendment
Guess that historic first vote on single-payer health coverage won’t happen this year after all. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today withdrew his Medicare-for-all amendment after Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) launched a procedural move forcing a Senate clerk to read the entire 767-page text. The Hill has the rest: “The day will come, although I recognize it’s not today, when the U.S. Congress will have to vote to stand up to … all those who profit every single year off of human sickness,” Sanders said. “That day will come.” Senate aides estimated that the bill reading would have taken eight to 10 hours, which would have sidelined the healthcare debate as Democratic leaders are attempting to pass the overhaul by Christmas. Follow this link: Sanders Withdraws Single-Payer Amendment
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Sanders Withdraws Single-Payer Amendment