Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) declared his support today for the Respect for Marriage Act (RMA, S.598), a bill that would repeal the so-called federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Senator Menendez is the 32nd U.S. Senator so far to co-sponsor the RMA and joins a growing list of senators — currently totaling 13 — who originally voted for DOMA in 1996 as a Senator or Representative.

Peter King (R-NY), a frequent guest on News Corp’s cable news properties (up to this point), just called for an FBI investigation into allegations that the company hacked into the voicemail accounts of 9-11 victims. Given King’s constant invocation of 9-11, only rivaled by Rudy Giuliani, this isn’t all that surprising.

King is not alone. Today, Senators Frank Lautenberg, Robert Menendez and Jay Rockefeller have sought investigations from the Justice Department or Congress.

Democrats unveiled their legislation to repeal Big Oil tax subsidies today, giving the high-profile legislation to three Senators with elections next year in tough states (Claire McCaskill, Sherrod Brown and Jon Tester) along with Bob Menendez, who appears to be the point person on oil-related issues in the caucus. Given that he was so successful in getting the oil spill liability cap lifted- oh wait, he didn’t, and I suspect that this legislation will end up somewhere on the same shelf with that one.

The Senate has passed this bill a half-dozen times, sometimes attached to other bills, and more recently as a standalone. The pay-for that the Senate uses differs from the House’s. But instead of a House-Senate conference, the Senate, unbelievably, will vote on the House bill today.

It’s very interesting to see how things are lining up in the Senate. You had the food safety bill pass with 73 votes. Scott Brown came out today in favor of repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. The DREAM Act will get a vote next week, with somewhat persistent White House backing. The new START arms reduction treaty appears to have picked up legitimate Republican support, with 9 Republicans publicly signaling support. If you didn’t know better, you’d say there was an outbreak of bipartisanship in the Senate.

But all of this is happening under a threat of total obstruction.

If you haven’t been on facebook, twitter, or following the news, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced yesterday that he would be introducing the DREAM Act as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. Univision anchor Jorge Ramos tweeted last week that Reid wanted to move the DREAM Act before November. Now we know how Reid wants to move it. The DREAM Act could come up for a vote as early as Tuesday of next week.

Practically the entire Senate Democratic caucus has written a letter to BP CEO Tony Hayward, asking the company to create the same kind of $20 billion dollar escrow account that the President will reprortedly seek to pay for economic damages and clean-up costs associated with the Gulf oil spill. The letter was signed by 55 of the 59 members of the caucus: only Mary Landrieu, Robert Byrd, Jeff Bingaman and Kent Conrad failed to add their names.

Looks like the Democratic establishment is going to triangulate against labor now. Unlike their bullshit claims about “standing up to Wall Street,” at least this one is from the heart.

Well, if Robert Menendez thinks the money that went to Halter was tainted, why is he taking it himself? If it’s coming from a “DC Special Interest Group,” he should give it back.

The idea that David Vitter can say with a straight face that he supports legislation to “remove” the liability cap for BP’s oil spill, and hold them accountable, only makes sense on the surface. You have to ignore a host of past experience, as well as the flawed legislation he’s actually pushing, to arrive at that conclusion.

What are the long-term solutions to the ongoing crisis in the Gulf of Mexico?