YEEEAAAHHHH! Obama admin survives first round of hazing!

Any bets on who the good faith republicans are?
I’m going to guess Snowe at least.
As for Limpy G. Feh, whatever. TARP much?

FunnyDiva

If Harry is good at anything, it’s counting votes. I hope the republicans have lots of tissues.

And dems of bad faith?

If Graham is throwing a fit, the bill must be fairly good in what it does, even if it doesn’t do enough. btw, did Graham mention Dick Cheney’s latest?

But where are the “moderate” Senators, who are supposed to be putting together a batch of amendments to chop $100 to $200 billion from this bill?

“Scaring people is not leadership. Writing an editorial that if you don’t pass this bad bill we’re going to have disaster — we’ve had enough presidents trying to scare people to make bad decisions,” Graham said.

THAT IS FUCKIN’ RICH!

Popcorn! Getcha popcorn right heah!

Yeah, unreal.

“he criticized the president for giving TV interviews and writing an editorial touting the package, rather than addressing the complaints of lawmakers. “

Kiddo, he addressed the legitimate complaints of lawmakers. He listened to and then ignored the baloney that was coming out of the Republican scare machine. If you want to be taken seriously, then offer up serious suggestions, not talking points and bumper stickers based on an ideology that has been shown by experience to have failed and failed miserably.

From BT’s first link:

Democratic leaders also cast doubt on an effort negotiated by centrists such as Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) to strip as much as $200 billion from the bill.

Schumer said a price tag of $650 billion, which Collins supports for the package, is inadequate.

“If they think they’re going to rewrite this bill, President Obama is going to walk away,” said Reid, when asked about efforts by about 20 centrists to lop off $100 billion to $200 billion from the cost of the package.

Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) said such a large cut in the bill’s size would cost Americans hundreds of thousands of jobs.

More spine stiffening, please.

“Scaring people is not leadership. Writing an editorial that if you don’t pass this bad bill we’re going to have disaster — we’ve had enough presidents trying to scare people to make bad decisions,” Graham said.

I wonder what he would have said if someone asked him who he meant when he said that

graham is an asshole, but i still appreciate him giving me a good laugh.

I’d love to fund your business, but my disposable income is a little tight right now! :P

the enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend. will wait for details on what it is reid thinks he can pass.

Best. Posters. Ever.

http://www.freewayblogger.com/index.htm

I figure if can sell a hundred of them, that’s
airfare to Israel.

Linseed Graham Crackerbox. It’s already a DISASTER…just go and look at the jobless figures. Go into any town back home and ask people, Linseed. It’s already happened, is happening and will only get worse and for longer if you don’t act. And part of the problem is you and your party are so embedded in ideology, rather than doing things that will work…short and long term(screw the mantra of “it doesn’t produce jobs “now”" – we need both). Building military housing and barracks in your district is all well and good – but why are the Republicans only calling things “pork” when it’s outside their districts, or evenly applied across the country?

These folks received so much pork during the Bush era that they forget that there were other parts of the country, it seems.

Hissy-Fits, Tantrums, piss-all-over themselves…and then scream “trickle-down” ECONOMICS. This and the Laffer Curve is all these dopes got!

“Do we have the votes? I believe we do,” said Reid,

Of course with Reid, that just means he’s ready to compromise more desperately now.

I want everyone to know that the GOP is saying NO to everyone back home like their own governors and mayors who want this bill passed. This isn’t a game of foosball, FGS.

Even Charlie Crist wants it passed! good on him for saying so on national tv. I’m not a fan of Crist, but a fan of reality based talk.

Since when was Lyndsay Graham tired of a president who uses fearmongering?

What a grade A pud.

-G

love your way with words. :]

The GOP messagemeisters are ramping up the next play. The bill passes and THEN the economy is in the dumper. They are simply trying to move the connection of the crappy economy to AFTER the bill passes. My dittohead told me the stock market dives everytime Obama opens his mouth. It’s his fault!

I love the Widowmaker sign. Why didn’t I think of that? Well, now we have Viet Name Redux in Afghanistan so gonna hafta start looking for words beginning with O.

I see the president is going to talk to the country on monday night I believe 2-9-09,good for him I didn’t read his op-ed yet but that will be done when I do this.

OK, don’t just say it, DO IT. PASS it ASAP before the GOP can hand your asses to you again. They WILL do it if given 5 minutes because it is what they do best (and taking possession of their own asses is what Dems do best).

Oh fer Christ’s sake – Viet Name Nam

“we’ve had enough presidents trying to scare people to make bad decisions,”

That would be Chimpy Bush. Is he being counted as a president? He is well known for bad decisions.

“Scaring people is not leadership.”

That would be Darth Cheney. Is he being counted as a president? He is well known for scaring people.

But who stinks? I vote for Stinky Lindsey.

Stimulus Mushroom Clouds…nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Lindsey just wants whine with his cheeseshitburger.

“head ditto head”;

“I hope obama fails”

head ditto head:

“make sure he fails by telling everyone his policies will fail”

excuse me, if ditto wanted obama to fail he would tell everyone to vote FOR the package if he thought it would indeed fail

quite a heavy accent leaking through the toobz!

whoa whoa whoa, that is way too much logic, not enough emoting!

WRONG! The rich and over-privileged (ALL GOP, and most Dem Senators and House members) don’t eat cheese(shit)burgers unless they are in campaign mode and trying to “connect with the little people”. They have whine with their grade-A prime (shit)steak, or Maine (shit)lobster.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has undergone surgery for pancreatic cancer, apparently at an early stage.

Send her good thoughts.

ROFL. sh*tlobster. Is that a B52s song?

so true. how do you pump gas? how do you pick out that sh*t steak at the grocery store?

She’s not one that needs replacing, but it is best (we can hope) that Obama is there to appoint any replacement rather than McInsane…unless Obama’s lust for post-/bipartisanship gets the better of him and he seeks the “council” of the Rethugs on who to nominate.

The judges that need to be replaced by whatever means it takes is Scalia, Roberts, Alito, Thomas, and Kennedy.

Why YES, I believe the B-52’s did have a song by that name!

Hoping they can put some stimulus, like contraception, condoms, family planning and resodding the National Mall, back into the Jobs Bill in conference committee. People don’t understand that one dollar in family planning saves between six and ten dollars in state social services spending down the road.

And why do the GOPs keep saying that resodding the National Mall creates jobs for bureaucrats? Have you ever seen a bureaucrat rolling out sod? I haven’t — these are working peoples’ jobs: raking, hoeing, grading, rolling out sod.

The GOP simply despises working people.

And his head didn’t explode in a fiery ball of flame?

Are on the list of “senators who need particular attention” on Ian’s (?) and Scarecrow’s posts about hit the phones to avoid a depression.
The R’s of good faith are more rare, so I thought it would be more fun/less depressing to think about them…
If Harry says he only needs 2 R’s though, doesn’t that imply the Ds are ready to toe the party line this time?

FunnyDiva

Those four don’t simply need replacing — they need impeaching!

Ive heard there may not be a conference, people think there’s no time. We may just have to eat whatever the Senate comes up with.

I’ve been feeling blue about the republican’s hijacking of the conversation about economic recovery (notice i am using the politically correct term). With Schumer’s assertion that the moderately conservative senators will not be able to gut the bill, I am feeling a little more pink.

Good point!

I’m having a hard time reconciling Harry’s numbers. If he’s got the votes but Collins and Nelson still aren’t committed, where is the “60?”

Josh says the centrists were meeting at 12:30 today:

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.c…..update.php

No word on whether he said that last part with a straight face.

Not that there’s anything wrong with straight faces, of course.

Marcy has Biden repeating Obama’s message:

So my message today is this: The economic policies of the past eight years are proven failures

rinse. repeat.

Maybe they got a direct call from The One.

Let’s look at the map. Gregg has recused himself; that means that other than Snowe and Collins (increasingly unlikely) there are no likely prospects in the northeast.

There is Arlen Specter in PA, who knows how he will come down on this.

There is Dick Lugar in IN. Possibly.

Norm Coleman is out of the picture. MN has only one Senator.

In Iowa, there is Grassley. Like Snowe and Collns, unlikely.

In NC, Burr is definitely unlikely. As is Martinez in FL. As is Kyl in NV (unless Reid has found some way to put a chokehold on him), yep, unlikely

In Ohio, there is lame duck Voinovich. As unpredictable as the Scottish Haggis

I think that just about exhausts the suspects.

And Schoolhouse Rock officially bites the dust….

These are the GOP folks up for re-election in 2011 (though not all are running again):

Bennett, Robert F. (R-UT)
Bond, Christopher S. (R-MO)
Brownback, Sam (R-KS)
Bunning, Jim (R-KY)
Burr, Richard (R-NC)
Coburn, Tom (R-OK)
Crapo, Mike (R-ID)
DeMint, Jim (R-SC)
Grassley, Chuck (R-IA)
Gregg, Judd (R-NH)
Isakson, Johnny (R-GA)
Martinez, Mel (R-FL)
McCain, John (R-AZ)
Murkowski, Lisa (R-AK)
Shelby, Richard C. (R-AL)
Specter, Arlen (R-PA)
Thune, John (R-SD)
Vitter, David (R-LA)
Voinovich, George V. (R-OH)

My guess is that some of the folks on this list from economically hard-hit states might find it difficult to vote against the stimulus bill. Voinovich and Specter come to mind as possible Yes votes, and perhaps even Murkowski if she’s looking at the trends in Alaskan politics (or is scared of being primaried by Palin). If word gets around that this is going to pass, others might jump on the Yes side also.

The British Government has recently learned that Iran has purchased significant quantities of stimulus from Africa.

-G

In NC, Burr is definitely unlikely. As is Martinez in FL. As is Kyl in NV (unless Reid has found some way to put a chokehold on him), yep, unlikely

Take it from me, Kyl is not from Nv, but from AZ.

Seats expire in Jan 2011, that is. The election would be in Nov 2010.

The GOP simply despises working people.

It’s all about exploitation, Teddy. How can I exploit someone if they unionize, vote, and make a decent wage. What’s an overlord to do? I must have someone to crap on. I simply must.

/s

Nelson and Senate Republicans have charged that the current bill is too larded with wasteful spending and he met with Republicans Thursday to talk about slashing it. The moderate group has been dubbed the “job squad” by President Obama.

Nelson’s draft is a window into the thinking of moderate and centrist Democrats. It would cut $5.185 billion dedicated to wellness and health care prevention; $15 billion from education, including cuts to Head Start; $150 million from the Violence Against Women Act; $50 million from the Victims of Crime Act; $100 million dedicated to upgrading law-enforcement wireless communications; $2 billion for child care; $14 billion for college-tuition grants; one billion from energy efficiency and renewable energy programs and $4.5 billion from a loan guarantee program to encourage use of greater energy-efficiency technology.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..64323.html

Presumably we count Kennedy, so without Collins and Nelson, that’s 56. In the voting on the amendments, the Republicans voting with us the most (besides Collins) are Snowe, Specter, and Bond. Maybe Harry is counting on some combination of these with perhaps Voinovich or Hutchison thrown in, as they’ve given a vote or two for us this week, too.

What’s all this crap about Judd Gregg recusing himself from a vote on the stimulus even though he favors it? Is that because some stimulus money might be going to Commerce, where he’ll oversee it? Or is he simply torn between his current corporate masters and That One?

And will those conflicts, between his corporate masters and That One, persist in the Cabinet?

Thanks, Tarheel.
I was guessing Snowe because iirc she’d offered a halfway decent amendment–not to mention her state is very hard-hit right now.
FunnyDiva

You pop up with the goofiest shit! Love it.

Refresh my memory, though — is the requirement to shut off debate 60 votes or 3/5ths of those voting? With neither Kennedy nor Gregg is voting, and Minnesota having one Senator, there may only be 97 voting. In which case, 3/5ths to shut off debate is 58.2.

PS, how the fu*k does one “recuse” onesself from something this important?
FunnyD

just look at all the freeloading going on! Wow, I’m glad the Party of Family Values is on it! /s

OT: Harken Backs Dean (Huffpost)

And will he even be confirmed if he doesn’t vote yea?

There is noting “moderate” or “Democrat” about these pols. Time for them each to grow a pair and run under the R’s banner.
Grrrrr.
FunnyDiva

Perhaps the Rethuglicans should copy the Taliban, and start an insurgency against Obama.

I’ve seen references in the M$M today of the need for 60 having been agreed to by both sides. I agree with what you’re saying about Gregg and wonder if he will pop up as the 60th vote. That would even be a cynical explanation for Obama’s haste: getting this done before Gregg resigns.

Only one project cut under defense ($100M), but six under Energy and Water ($6B).

Two projects cut under Homeland Security ($136.5M), but under Labor/HHS/State Stabilization (counted mostly as education) there are nine cuts ($60B)

I’m sensing a pattern . . .

It’s 3/5 of the membership of the Senate, not of those voting.

Why is it so hard to get this type of hard-number comparison out to the general public?
Nevermind, rhetorical (and silly) question.
This is just amazing, and not in a good way.

FunnyD

Welcome to bipartisan Washington, Mr. President.

There is absolutely NO QUESTION…this is Obama’s economy…his hatred for business cannot restart the economy can and he’ll soon find out command and control does not work…

Wouldn’t that be wonderful! Unlikely, though. Rahm and Howard are not close.

Yesterday, with four ammendments yet to be voted on, Sen Reid and Sen Mitchell both addressed the senate stating how pleased they were with the way the process was going.

If Obama doesn’t get enough dough through the stimulus bill perhaps he can take the TARP bribes and hand it over to The People.

Why do you rethugs hate America?

I’m sensing a pattern . . .

The pattern is that people who don’t know what they are doing are doing it again.

my sediments ‘zactly.

Panetta hearing starting now.

Lindsey actually said about Obama that he was “AWOL”? After supporting the AWOL in time of war, GWBush?

He is as stupid as my Republican friends say he is.

So, what if it’s “pork”? WWII was the biggest economic boondoggle imaginable, but it got us out of depression and got the economy going.

Kagro X says there will be a conference, since that’s where COBRA (missing from Senate version) will need to be restored. It’s in the House version.

Those are the magic legislative words: Insist on the House position on COBRA in conference.

One additional note: the House bill does not actually allow people 55 and over who are laid off to continue COBRA coverage at a subsidized rate until they’re 65 and eligible for Medicare. It in fact allows only for unsubsidized coverage. The only subsidy in the bill turns out to be a 12 month, 65% subsidy for people who are “involuntarily separated” from their job after Sept. 1, 2008. The Senate bill provides for just nine months.

Getting back to the process, the pressure here needs to be about how the differences in the bill are reconciled. Given the desire to finish this bill and get it signed ASAP, it’s not even very likely that the formal conference process will be the method chosen, although the ask is essentially the same. What that means from a practical perspective is that the pressure brought to bear here should be on Senate and House leaders, but also on the White House, which will obviously be a key party to the negotiations. And it’s going to be the leadership and the relevant committee chairs — Ways & Means, Appropriations, and Energy & Commerce in the House; Finance and Appropriations in the Senate — who will be present in the room. Insist on the House position on COBRA.

Anyone heard anything about this afternoon’s scheduled HELP Committee vote on Hilda Solis?

He even had the nerve to accuse this president of being AWOL…never would have used those two owrds in a sentence during the last 8 years of misrule.

Answer:

WASHINGTON — The husband of President Obama’s Labor secretary nominee paid about $6,400 Wednesday to settle tax liens that had been outstanding for as long as 16 years against his business, the Obama administration told USA TODAY this afternoon.

The disclosure came shortly before a scheduled 2 p.m. meeting of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which will vote on Rep. Hilda Solis’ nomination as labor secretary. The hearing was postponed; no reason was immediately revealed.

At a press conference, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said of Solis: “I read the story in USA TODAY and it quotes somebody who works here. Obviously we know about the story. We reviewed her tax returns and her tax returns are in order.Her husband had an issue.”

“She’s not a partner in that business,” Gibbs said. “We’re not going to penalize her for her husband’s business mistakes.”

Gibbs said he thought Solis’ husband, Sam Sayyad, paid the liens back because he owed the taxes, not because of White House pressure. “The White House believes that if you owe taxes you should pay them,” Gibbs added.

The COBRA provision is essential. This will prove to be a giveaway to insurance companies if not included. For all the unemployed who can’t afford COBRA and suffer a lapse in insurance coverage, they end up with preexisting conditions. Therefore, the any future coverage through an insurer will eliminate pmt for chronic conditions for several years, while the insurer still reaps the policy premiums.

I’ve weighed in with Sen Voinovich. He should vote yes. He’s a moderate and he’s retiring. There’s nothing to lose.

And exactly what kind of leadership are you exhibiting, Senator Graham? Whining on Fixed News? Obama’s been on Fixed News (only he didn’t whine). And aren’t you trying to “scare people” by complaining about a “waste of money”? We’ve had enough Senators scaring the American people with their Herbert Hoove theory of economics.

The way I know the President is a better person than I is that he is polite to people like Lindsay Graham. And I wouldn’t be.

The Constant Weader at http://www.RealityChex.com

Jeeez, you’re right. Or particularly with a hint of the missing “W” and draft dodger Dick. Hysterical.

Yep, my bad. I meant Ensign. I just can’t tell those two jokers apart.

People have been pinning their hopes on Snowe for eight years now, and she’s always gone with the Republican leadership. Hard to see this changing if the vote is close.

Recusing is fine with me. It takes away one “No” vote. And I’m not sure what the math is with 98 senators. I think it drops the cloture vote to 59 votes.

America? People like FreedomNow don’t hate America, they merely think of it as a land, or maybe more clearly a political entity, where they are “free” to spew their hatred of people and forward thinking, inclusive ideas of government and society.

Rethugs seem to have all the compassion and reasoning of meth addicts.

As to Lindsey Graham, Obama isn’t scaring anyone, he’s advocating for those who are truly frightened as their worlds come crashing down around them due to Republican malfeasance and greed.

“Lindsey Graham, pearls firmly clutched, is about to hit the fainting couch.”

Be still, my heart!