Senate Republicans, joined by three conservative members of the Democratic caucus, blocked a floor debate on a key portion of President Obama's jobs bill, which would have provided states $35 billion to hire or retain teachers and emergency responders.
Sens. Mark Pryor (D-AR), Joe Lieberman (I-CT), and Ben Nelson (R-NE)
Nelson…that figures. I don’t know why Harry Reid allows these guys to walk upright in the Senate chamber — Lieberman in particular. Reid should strip Lieberman of all of his committee assignments tomorrow.
But that would mean that Harry Reid would have to grow a pair of balls.
They all make unicameral legislatures look better each time their name appears in a news item from the Senate.
The largely symbolic vote demonstrated the deep GOP opposition to the bill, but all day political observers expected it to put Democratic divisions over the President’s approach to bolstering the economy into sharp relief as well. In the end, two Democratic senators, Sens. Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Jon Tester (D-MT) voted with Republicans to continue the filibuster.
With Democrats like Ben Nelson, who needs Republicans? The way Majority Leader Reid lets Nelson and Leiberman go scot free with all of the transgressions they’ve commit against their reputed caucus makes Reid look flaccid and inept.
Subsidies Continue Because Republicans Sold Their Votes To Big Oil
In American politics it is a fact of life that members of both parties are recipients of campaign contributions from special interest groups and lobbyists, but it is unfortunate that politicians feel beholden to repay their donors with policy decisions and votes that are not always in the best interest of America or its citizens. With the country’s economy making progress at a slower than desired pace, Republicans are making drastic spending cuts to crucial programs and refusing to find new sources of revenue necessary to keep the government running and pay down the debt. The Republicans though, belie their concern over the debt or spending by continuing to give precious funds to the oil industry in the form of subsidies, tax breaks, and incentives for exploration and drilling.
Oil Companies have Yet More Constitutional Protections
This is the part of the story that broadcast media missed because they have been off of their adderall for most of the week:
Article 1, Section 7 of the U.S. Constitution: “All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives.”
O K: I didn’t remember that part of The Constitution, either. It really is unfair of me to expect national journalist enterprises to remember that, too.
Back to the politics of it: Democrats Begich of Alaska, Landreiu of Louisiana and Nelson of Nebraska voted against the bill. Alaska and Louisiana being oil states explains Begich and Landreiu doing their masters’ bidding, but it might surprise you that the oil industry has invested in Nelson (the Senate Democat I find most distasteful) a comparative amount — about a quarter million dollars — over his career.
GAO Examines Individual Mandate Alternatives – Well, Some of Them
Ah, 2009. (photo: eiuhealthcare775nw)
At the request of Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE), the Government Accountability Office put out a report examining several alternatives to the individual mandate that could be used alone or in combination to increase the number of insured if there were no mandate. Nine of the possibilities looked at by the GAO….
…none of the possibilities included Single Payer
Nelson!!!!
Selling out the sick and un-employed proves to be very profitable.Please refer to the failed unemployment extension as H.R. 4213
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I like the idea of knowing how to discuss legislation in legislatures that account to me by the bill number. A few responsible journalistic enterprises report the bill number , but most do not — no broadcast concerns come to my mind. Wouldn’t you figure that my favorite whipping boy voted against it, too? Cornhuskers must be blessed to be perpetually healthy and employed. |
from the washington post - not noted as a bastion of liberal thought/argument:
…conclusions: 1. the actual number of available jobs is demonstrably smaller than it used to be, by a significant magnitude. 2. the jobs that would need to be created to turn this around and bring up employment…
30 Pieces of Silver for Nebraska
Sen. Ben Nelson (NE - D) is still a target of mine. The more that you look at Nelson, the more you see a career politician who does the best he can to stay under the radar. The current attempt to reform the nation’s health care system has made it too hot for Nelson act like a mole.
Try as he might to whitewash it, Nelson has sat on his hand(s) and got many concessions from other Democrats; while it’s been widely reported that Nelson pushed a very hard anti-choice line, it’s barely made a ripple that Nelson got a very lucrative concession benefiting political cronies back home on the plains. Never mind platitudes spoken by other members of congress, pundits and others that have knowingly been near a microphone and uttered the phrase free market, this has been proven to be red meat for partisan operatives who, by all appearances, are beyond the control of their corporate masters.
While I know of no way how the (working) poor will benefit by this reform package that the U.S. Senate will probably vote on tomorrow, I hope that Nebraska is satisfied with the bacon that Nelson brought home to his cronies, if not constituents.
Nebraska Pastors Urge Nelson To Support Health Care Reform
