| The House had a short session today at noon to appoint members to the Holocaust Memorial Council with Rep Donna Edwards D-MD gaveling the session in and out.
As for the Senate, it was the junior Senator for Virginia, Mark Warner, who had the honor today to gavel in the 129 minutes. Nine minutes in is Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse D-RI following the theme of Sen. Patrick Leahy's D-VT floor speech yesterday in disagreement with some recent SCOTUS writings.
The bonus is that CSPAN video includes some of former Prime Minister Blair in front of an inquiry commission. More on that later.
And to complete the trifecta branch mention early, there was a meeting at the White House, and Senate Rules were discussed.
In the latest installment of the Pew Research Center's News IQ Quiz, just 32% know that the Senate passed its version of the legislation without a single Republican vote. And, in what proved to be the most difficult question on the quiz, only about a quarter (26%) knows that it takes 60 votes to break a filibuster1 in the Senate and force a vote on a bill.
But you already knew that. Not everybody read Congress Matters. That's a lot of explaining that needs to be done
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Chilcot inquiry grew out of anti-war British public, and disdain. The Downing Street papers you may have heard about made an impression on the other side of the pond. Tony Blair was questioned about the justification for Iraq at public inquiry.
His testimony came to an uncomfortable conclusion as Mr. Chilcot twice asked Mr. Blair if he had any regrets about his decision, given the loss of British troops and the great loss of life in Iraq. Mr. Blair did not budge. He said he felt, "responsibility, but not a regret for removing Saddam Hussein." His reply was met with an angry shout from the gallery, where relatives of some of the 179 British soldiers killed in the war were sitting.
How refreshing. Hint, hint. Just a reminder, Rep. Pete Hoekstra R-Holland is still wrong.
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We have a Fed Chair, the same as the last Fed Chair. The case against Mr. Bernanke being made as he was being confirmed does not mean we should not keep the musing of Joseph Stiglitz, Paul Krugman and Simon Johnson in mind as the financial reform in the Senate winds its treacherous path. Read on.
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As we mentioned yesterday POTUS is off to Charm City. Evidently today must be not fun enough for the House Republicans because Fox cuts away.
And cut to Matt!
"It was sort of like Prime Minister's Questions and it revealed, simply put, that Barack Obama is a lot smarter and better-informed than his antagonists. A lot. He very calmly and coolly dismantled them."
My memory of visiting my grandmother there was the smell of cinnamon in the morning.
So pop your own popcorn, gather up the chill-drenz, and the blue and yellow dogs, and watch the invisible pink unicorn teleprompter at work. Don't let me have all the fun!
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PAYGO got no GOP Senate votes, all three times. Robert C. Byrd was there so the votes were 60 - 40, 60 - 40 and 60 - 39. Sen. Clair McCaskill D-MO was an very early supporter of Obama and made the argument for him over and over.
That effort won just 16 Republican votes and several Republicans who had co-sponsored it ended up voting no after getting pressure from anti-tax groups, McCaskill complained.
She took aim at Republicans who, she said, have been hypocritical in casting votes over the years to run up the deficit but are more intent now on criticizing Democrats that reducing debt.
Co-sponsors of deficit commission in Senate voted against its passage. Deficit scolds can seem shrill, especially in a recession. Who is serious now?
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The Pentagon plans for a change in policy.
The plan, as far as I can tell, is still to complete the change through an amendment to the Defense budget, not through a free-standing bill -- the same way policymakers approved expanded hate-crime protections last year.
The Republicans may acknowledge that we have lost valuable translators. Don't suggest holding your breath.
President Obama said in his first State of the Union address Wednesday night that he would work with Congress and the Pentagon this year to repeal the law that prohibits military members from acknowledging openly that they are gay.
According to the Senate Web site, the Senate Armed Services Committee has scheduled an hour to discuss the issue at Tuesday's hearing on the fiscal year 2011 defense budget, which Gates will attend.
Those patriots over at FreedomWorks will try to be an obstacle to repealing DADT. QB Tebow allies Focus on The Family did not make a dent in the passage of Mathew Shepherd Hate Crimes Act.
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And now for the Most Important News of the Day TM: Recruit chick spies at Speaker Pelosi's and HHS Sec. Sebelius's alma mater!
One of four men arrested on Tuesday for attempting to interfere with the telephones at the New Orleans office of Sen. Mary Landrieu previously worked for a U.S. intelligence-funded program to train would-be American spies, Declassified has learned.
Now those would be some oversight hearings. How about, Congress? Best use of the taxpayer dollars? |
