RIP, Senator Byrd

Senator Robert Byrd Dies at 92

For more than a third of its 144-year existence, the state of West Virginia was represented in the U.S. Senate by one man: Robert C. Byrd. So encompassing was Byrd's 50 years of service in the Senate and so encyclopedic his institutional knowledge that by the time he died early Monday morning, he had become not just the political personification of West Virginia in the nation's capital, but the embodiment and ambassador of the Senate itself to the rest of the country. Byrd was admitted to hospital last week for dehydration, and his condition worsened over the weekend as he became critically ill. Twice its majority leader, a master of its all-powerful rules and a fierce defender of its prerogatives, Byrd was as much a part of the place as the wooden desks, steep-sloped galleries and soaring speeches that filled it. Byrd was 92.

Senate Passes Financial Reform

Today, the Senate passed H.R. 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 by a 59 to 39 vote.

The bill, as amended: "calls for new ways to watch for risks in the financial system and makes it easier to liquidate large failing financial firms. It also writes new rules for complex securities blamed for helping precipitate the 2008 economic crisis, and it creates a new consumer protection agency."

The House passed its version of the bill on December 11, 2009, by a 223-202 vote.

The Senate bill will now have to be merged with the House version before going on to the President's desk for signing into law.

Jobless Benefits Extended

Tuesday evening, the Temporary Extension Act of 2010, H. R. 4691, which includes in its provisions the the extending of unemployment and COBRA benefits, pay for Medicare doctors, funding for federal highway project programs and rural satellite TV, was passed in the Senate by a 78 - 10 vote.

Senate Votes Unemployment Benefits, Highway Funds

Senate approves extended unemployment benefits, highway money after Bunning backs down

Big Eddie: To Senators Deciding Health Care

Big Eddie challenges Senators to get out and see the real people who are affected by lack of health care.

Senators Should Visit a Free Health Care Clinic to Really See the America They Represent... and Deny

Ed Schultz:

On Thursday, I hosted my MSNBC "Ed Show" from the Kansas City Convention Center. There have been few days in my thirty year broadcasting career that have moved me as much as this experience did. I saw the real America. In the middle of the country, two thousand miles from the beltway, I witnessed middle class Americans standing in line for hours waiting to see a doctor. Some had not seen a doctor in years. They have jobs, some working two jobs, but can't afford the cost of insurance and basically are on the GOP plan: pray you don't get sick.

The stories were gut wrenching. I couldn't help but think this is where the Senate needs to do their business. Do it right in front of the eyes of the people in their own country who are struggling to make ends meet and live in dignity. The Senate should do business in front of the families that have played by the rules and have been dealt a personal set back for one reason or another. Have the guts to tell these people to their face that they aren't worthy of health care because they don't have money. They may see these faces briefly on the campaign trail, but they make no decisions in front of them when they are standing in line in pain, in agony and in desperate need.

America has a heartless side to it as well. That is demonstrated when U.S. Senators put the God Almighty Dollar in front of people who put them in office. How any law maker could deny full access and full health care coverage is beyond me. Senators who put themselves ahead of the people and who have been spoiled by the Washington good life have lost their soul and what it means to be an American. We throw billions of dollars at wars, often without hesitation, but some in the Congress are willing to treat humans in their own country like a piece of machinery that can be left in a junk yard.

My God, what has happened to America ?

In the arena of despair and need, I saw first hand the best of America. Over 1600 volunteers and more than 600 medical personnel and fifty five doctors willing to take the personal time and care about this crisis. Care about their fellow countryman and neighbor. Heroes, that's what they are. Not selfish lawmakers who have best health care in the world. These were real heroes who hoped for a better America and were willing to take the time to do their part. The National Association of Free Clinics and the people who work in this organization are the best of the best. They should be doing the voting, making the policy and writing the rules. Not heartless self indulged Senators who we have been trusted to be the care takers of our country.

I beg the Senate: please make the correct decision for this country and pass the torch to a new generation with compassion and moral compass with a health care bill that never falls short of any need for any American.

---

The Ed Show @ MSNBC

12-10-09 video: Free health clinic arrives in Kansas City

Republican Clown Car Fail

When Republicans try to pull off stunts and fall out of the clown car, they might end up getting run over:

Coburn/Vitter plan goes awry

Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and David Vitter (R-La.) no doubt thought they were being clever. They crafted an amendment that would force members of Congress to get their coverage through a public insurance plan, if the public option were included as part of health care reform. If it's good enough for American consumers, it should be good enough for their elected representatives, right?

They had no idea how much Democrats agreed with the sentiment.

As we talked about this morning, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) not only loved the idea, he wanted to join the right-wing senators as a co-sponsor on their amendment. When they refused -- this was supposed to be a conservative stunt, not a real idea -- Brown used procedural tactics to make himself a co-sponsor of the Coburn/Vitter measure, whether they like it or not.

Then, Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) said she, too, wanted to join. Soon after, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) endorsed the Coburn/Vitter amendment and also asked to be a co-sponsor. [...]

The fun part of this is that it's a stunt gone awry. Coburn and Vitter were probably whispering to themselves, "We'll show them." It didn't occur to them that Democrats would call their bluff.

Heh.

Health Care Bill Moves Forward

This evening, the Senate voted 60-39 on the (cloture) Motion to Proceed to the consideration of H.R. 3590 [pdf], the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Floor Schedule:

Monday, Nov 30, 2009

2:00 p.m.: Convene and begin a period of morning business.

Thereafter, resume consideration of H.R.3590, regarding health care reform.

Sotomayor Confirmed

Senator Al Franken presided over the Senate chamber as Judge Sonya Sotomayor was confirmed as the newest Justice on the United States Supreme Court in a 68 to 31 vote.

Only nine Republican Senators -- Alexander (R-TN), Bond (R-MO), Collins (R-ME), Graham (R-SC), Gregg (R-NH), Lugar (R-IN), Martinez (R-FL), Snowe (R-ME), Voinovich (R-OH) -- joined the the two Independents -- Sanders (I-VT), Lieberman (ID-CT) -- to vote with the Democrats for the confirmation.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

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LA Times: Senate confirms Sonia Sotomayor for Supreme Court

From Washington, DC, It's Senator Al Franken!

Sen. Al Franken Sworn Into Office

Eric Kleefeld:

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) has now been sworn into office as the junior Senator from Minnesota, six months and one day after his term would have otherwise begun if not for the super-close election and resulting litigation that kept his victory bottled up.

2:07

The former Saturday Night Live performer, author, radio host and Democratic activist, was administered the oath of office by Vice President Joe Biden, and was accompanied by his senior Senator from Minnesota, Amy Klobuchar, and former Vice President Walter Mondale.

Franken Lands Plum Committees, to Debut at Sotomayor Hearings

Deborah White:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and top Senate Democrats have reserved high-profile committee assignments for Sen. Franken, including:

* Judiciary, headed by Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, and

* Health, Education & Labor, headed by ailing Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts

Sen. Franken was selected for these plum yet challenging committee assignments because he's both unusually bright and quite conversant on the issues. And because he's an unabashed, unashamed progressive Democrat who will undoubtedly be a reliable liberal vote and voice. [...]

Look for Sen. Franken to make his public debut as political leader on July 13th, when Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee to being hearings on her confirmation.

Senate Passes Stimulus Bill

The Senate has passed H.R. 1 (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) in a 61 - 37 vote.

Measure Title: A bill making supplemental appropriations for job preservation and creation, infrastructure investment, energy efficiency and science, assistance to the unemployed, and State and local fiscal stabilization, for fiscal year ending September 30, 2009, and for other purposes.

Senate Bailout: Bad News For You

Bailout Passes Senate;
9 Reasons That's Bad News for You

Forcing each American to fork over $2,200 at a time when median family income has declined by as much is no way to improve the economy.

Sen. Bernie Sanders:

This bill does not effectively address the issue of what the taxpayers of our country will actually own after they invest hundreds of billions of dollars in toxic assets. This bill does not effectively address the issue of oversight because the oversight board members have all been hand picked by the Bush administration. This bill does not effectively deal with the issue of foreclosures and addressing that very serious issue, which is impacting millions of low- and moderate-income Americans in the aggressive, effective way that we should be. This bill does not effectively deal with the issue of executive compensation and golden parachutes. Under this bill, the CEOs and the Wall Street insiders will still, with a little bit of imagination, continue to make out like bandits.

This bill does not deal at all with how we got into this crisis in the first place and the need to undo the deregulatory fervor which created trillions of dollars in complicated and unregulated financial instruments such as credit default swaps and hedge funds. This bill does not address the issue that has taken us to where we are today, the concept of too big to fail. [snip]

This bill does not deal with the absurdity of having the fox guarding the hen house. [snip]

This bill does not address the major economic crisis we face: growing unemployment, low wages, the need to create decent-paying jobs, rebuilding our infrastructure and moving us to energy efficiency and sustainable energy. [snip]

Most importantly, we have seen the financial services industry lure people into mortgages they could not afford to pay, which is one of the basic reasons why we are here tonight.

In the midst of all of this, we have a bailout package which says to the middle class that you are being asked to place at risk $700 billion, which is $2,200 for every man, woman, and child in this country. You're being asked to do that in order to undo the damage caused by this excessive Wall Street greed. In other words, the "Masters of the Universe," those brilliant Wall Street insiders who have made more money than the average American can even dream of, have brought our financial system to the brink of collapse. Now, as the American and world financial systems teeter on the edge of a meltdown, these multimillionaires are demanding that the middle class, which has already suffered under Bush's disastrous economic policies, pick up the pieces that they broke. That is wrong, and that is something that I will not support.

If we are going to bail out Wall Street, it should be those people who have caused the problem, those people who have benefited from Bush's tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, those people who have taken advantage of deregulation, those people are the people who should pick up the tab, and not ordinary working people.

Senate Passes Economic Rescue Bill

The Emergency Bailout bill ( H.R.1424* ) has been passed by the Senate in a 74-25 Vote.

* Note: On 10/1/2008, the Senate plans to use H.R.1424 as the vehicle for the economic rescue legislation. See Senate Majority and Minority notices and documents from the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Banking Committee. On the Banking Committee website, Division A (pp.2-113) of the draft legislation is referred to as the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008; Division B (pp. 113-261) is referred to as the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008; and Division C (pp. 261-451) is referred to as the Tax Extenders and Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008.

Banking.Senate.Gov:

Oct 1, 2008 - - Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

The latest version of package legislation which includes the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act can be found here: Click link

For one-page summary of the EESA: Click link

For section-by-section analysis of the EESA: Click link