Free Republic

San Francisco - Over the last two years, three-quarters of San Francisco's uninsured adults have enrolled in a public program that guarantees access to medical services, an effort that is being touted as a national model during the rancorous debate over healthcare reform. More than 46,000 adults have enrolled in Healthy San Francisco since it was launched; this first-in-the- nation, city-run universal healthcare effort has received high marks in recent independent studies. The program is funded in part by an employer mandate, a controversial component of the plans under discussion in Washington. One analysis has concluded that this mandate on...

Today the Senate Finance Committee voted 12-11 to approve another amendment sponsored by Washington's Maria Cantwell. This one would allow states to use federal money to bargain with private insurers to provide low-cost health care to low-income Americans. That's quite a mouthful, I know. It's also quite an accomplishment. Cantwell's office is calling it a "public plan," and while the senator should be proud of slipping it through Finance, "public plan" is probably going a bit too far. As Ezra Klein writes, Cantwell's amendment.... ...allows states to negotiate with insurers on behalf of people between 133 percent and 200 percent...

Two sources mention that she will be available August 14th somewhere in Pend Oreille County. http://www.pendoreilleco.org/documents/Commissioners/07-13-09.pdf http://pugetsoundblogs.com/kitsap-caucus/2009/08/07/by-the-way-there-will-be-an-in-person-town-hall/

An upcoming speech on health care was touted last week by Sen. Maria Cantwell's press office. It was then delayed by a few hours. Then, the speech was deep-sixed as Cantwell flew to Spokane for the weekend. No mention of the speech has come this week, as the Senate wrapped up its work before the August recess. Has Washington's junior senator adopted a long-ago motto of Virginia Sen. Harry Byrd: Silence is golden? Cantwell is a member of the Senate Finance Committee. A bipartisan group of six committee members - not including Cantwell - is trying to hammer out a...

WASHINGTON – A Democratic senator on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee inadvertently explained why her colleagues have no intention of ending the moratorium on offshore oil drilling or increasing the areas open for exploration and production – no matter how popular the idea might be with gas prices soaring. In an interview with Bloomberg TV's "Money and Politics" last night, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., explained Democrats don't want to increase supplies of oil and gasoline because they want to wean Americans off of petroleum products. Asked point-blank if Democrats in the Senate would consider how increasing the supply of...

The first refuge of a politician panicked by rising prices is always to blame "speculators." So right on time for this election season, Congress has decided to do something about rising oil prices by shooting the messenger known as the energy futures market... And who are these "speculators"...? The ...Intercontinental Exchange says that an increasing share of its customers are not financial houses but commercial firms that need to manage oil-price risks – refiners, airlines, and other major energy consumers... the leaders of Capitol Hill's shoot-the-messenger caucus are among those most culpable for the lack of domestic oil supplies. Senator...

Before Congress left for this year, lawmakers in Colorado's delegation put down their markers for next year. "You can never start soon enough," said Alan Salazar, chief of staff to Rep. Mark Udall, D-Eldorado Springs. With the presidential election next year, he said, passing bills could become difficult. "So the sooner you get things done, the easier it is," Salazar said. Udall is one of those who introduced a bill in the last two weeks before the congressional session ended. Sen. Salazar's bill asks to study ways to protect the open space in and around Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests....

A former aide to Sen. Maria Cantwell, arrested on federal sex charges last week, had worked for the 2004 presidential campaigns of Democrats Dick Gephardt and John Kerry. James Michael McHaney, 28, of Washington, D.C., was ordered held without bond following a brief hearing Wednesday in federal court. Dressed in an orange jumpsuit and blue jacket, McHaney responded "Yes, sir," when questioned by Magistrate Judge John Facciola. McHaney was fired Friday from his job as a scheduler for Cantwell, D-Wash., hours after he was arrested by FBI agents. The FBI said in a charging document that McHaney tried to set...

An aide for Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) was arrested last Friday for attempting to sexually exploit a minor...

A U.S. Senate aide was arrested Friday after allegedly arranging a lunchtime sexual encounter with a teenage boy, according to federal court records. James McHaney, 28, was nabbed by FBI agents after he arranged the afternoon liaison via a "cooperating witness" working with investigators. According to the below felony complaint and an accompanying statement of facts filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. Until his arrest Friday, McHaney had worked as the D.C. scheduler for Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell. A caller to Cantwell's office was told late today that, as of last Friday, McHaney no longer worked for the...

  Home | Previous Page | Source URL: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/sep/07092403.html LifeSiteNews.com Monday September 24, 2007 Priest Blasts 'Usual Suspects' For Votes Against Pro-Life Policy FRONT ROYAL, VA, September 24, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, STL, president of Human Life International, (HLI) today blasted a gang of 16 Catholic senators for their votes on an amendment to HR 2764 to overturn the Mexico City Policy instituted by President Reagan to prevent U.S. taxpayer dollars from funding overseas abortions. "For the most part it's the usual suspects who claim to be Catholic while their consistent pro-abortion votes amount to...

On Monday, August 27, news services broke the story that Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, pleaded guilty in early August to lewd conduct in an airport restroom... Craig is hardly the only member of the Senate with a propensity for dropping his pants at inopportune moments... Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, has allegedly sexually harrased or abused at least 10 women. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., reportedly engaged in a sexual affair with an engagd lobbyist, Ron Dotzauer,then gave him a personal loan to help him with his subsequent divorce and threw cash his way... Gerry Studds (re-elected six times after having sex...

Cindy Sheehan, Tom Hayden, and the Hate America Left meet with pro-Ba'athist members of the Iraqi parliament to discuss “peace.” TO FIND PEOPLE WHO HATE AMERICA AS MUCH AS THEY DO, the Fifth Column Left had to go halfway around the world to meet with Iraqi political leaders who call terrorism “honorable national resistance” and say foreign jihadists “are guaranteed Paradise” – and at least one of whom has ties to militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr. By the end of the trip, the American leftists would echo these sentiments. Somehow most of the media – occupied with interminable coverage of Hurricane...

A longtime friend and adviser to U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell is fighting the unsealing of his divorce case to hide his "bad behavior and possible illegal actions," his ex-wife has alleged in a court filing. Angela Douglas, the former wife of lobbyist Ron Dotzauer, also suggested that the improper sealing of the case in 1994 "led to improper practices that would not have otherwise occurred." Her declaration was filed last week and provided to reporters after a Snohomish County Superior Court hearing Tuesday. "I believe Ron is trying ... to prevent public disclosure of incidents of his poor judgment, bad...

One must be careful to make too much of a given Senate candidate appearing broke at the 3rd-quarter FEC filing time. After all, the national parties and major donors can rescue a strong candidate’s foundering finances. And certain costs, such as advertising, may even still have been paid up front. But when so many candidates from one party, who have been very strong, are suddenly out of cash, while the other party is cash-rich, something may be afoot. In this case, the Republicans continue to use their strategy which produced surprise wins in 2002 and 2004: They are keeping their...

In Sen. Maria Cantwell and challenger Mike McGavick, Washington has two fully qualified choices for the Senate. The better choice is the Republican, McGavick. Some see this election as a referendum on George W. Bush. If we did, we would be for a solid Democratic ticket. But like most Washington voters, we take our candidates one at a time. Mike McGavick is an unusual businessman-politician. He managed the multibillion-dollar turnaround of Safeco Corporation, sacrificing some jobs but saving many others. He showed a sense of social purpose in his stress on racial inclusion at Safeco. He knows politics, having worked...

Democrat vs Democrat Connecticut sees primary victor, Ned Lamont, facing off against the loser, and former Veep candidate, Joe Lieberman. Lamont is against the war, and seems to have solidified his lead among Democrats, but in the general election independents and Republicans can vote too, so Lieberman retains a small lead. Confusingly, the Republican candidate is against the war, probably why his support is in single figures. Democrats did not want this fight, as it puts Democrat divisions on national security at the top of the news, but now they are stuck with it. Tossup. Republican targets New Jersey, sees...

During the same period that Cantwell advisor Ron Dotzauer was found in contempt (even jailed briefly) for failing to meet his financial obligations to his ex-wife and daughter, having his earnings garnisheed to satisfy other debts, and borrowing money from Maria Cantwell, he was also making tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions. How could he justify making political contributions while courts found him in default on his debts? In his November 1994 divorce trial brief, he called political contributions a "necessary business expense": Click the source for the graphic.

Dotzauer is working in Cantwell's campaign, and has been Cantwell's boss in the past. Dotzauers divorce had been sealed, which is unusual. Stephan Sharkansky at Sound Politics is THE conservative blogger in the Pac NW. He got the divorce papers unsealed (all 14 volumes of them . . .) and the rest is at the link provided. Here's a bit of it: "The Seattle Times has recently reported on the close ties between Sen. Maria Cantwell and former boyfriend, boss and campaign consultant, lobbyist Ron Dotzauer. Begging explanation is a $15,000-$50,000 personal loan to Dotzauer reported in Cantwell's financial disclosures...

The Seattle Times has recently reported on the close ties between Sen. Maria Cantwell and former boyfriend, boss and campaign consultant, lobbyist Ron Dotzauer ...

Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate Bruce Guthrie is mortgaging everything he can to change the dynamic of the race. Guthrie, a former college instructor who hopes to go back to school to get a high school teaching certificate, filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission today saying he will loan his campaign $1.18 million. Up until now he had raised $33,000. Guthrie said he had not planned to spend his own money but changed his mind after campaigning around the state.

19. If the election for United States Senate were held today and the candidates were Maria Cantwell, the Democrat or Mike McGavick, the Republican, whom would you vote for? Maria Cantwell 49% Mike McGavick 40% Undecided 11%

To oust incumbent Sen. Maria Cantwell, it's said that Republican challenger Mike McGavick needs to run a virtually perfect campaign and then hope for Cantwell gaffes and other developments beyond his control. Lately, though, he's making missteps and Cantwell forces are rushing to blunt his insurgent campaign. But on Friday, the Democratic senator suffered a setback of her own when The Associated Press reported that she helped line up more than $11 million in federal money for projects benefiting the clients of a lobbyist pal who owes her money.

This is a Rasmussen poll that's still on the premium portion of Rasmussen's site but got leaked to Leip's site. Cantwell 52% McGavick 35% Undecided 13% MOE +/- 4.5 percent from a sample of 500 likely voters.

Washington Senator Maria Cantwell helped arrange more than $11 million in federal money in the past year for projects benefitting clients of a lobbyist who is advising re-election campaign and still owes her money from a personal loan.

WASHINGTON - Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell (news, bio, voting record) helped arrange more than $11 million in federal money in the past year for projects benefiting clients of a lobbyist who is advising her re-election campaign and still owes her money from a personal loan. Cantwell, a Democrat who is in a tight re-election race, has reported for years that former campaign manager Ron Dotzauer owes her between $15,000 and $50,000 for a personal loan predating her first Senate election in 2000. Dotzauer now runs a lobbying firm. The loan was still listed as outstanding on the financial disclosure report...

In a November Head-to-Head, Cantwell Defeats McGavick: In a hypothetical head-to-head matchup in Washington today, 8/30/06, incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell beats Republican challenger Mike McGavick, 53% to 36%, according to a SurveyUSA poll of 669 Registered Voters conducted exclusively for KING-TV Seattle. Independent Robin Adair, Green Party candidate Aaron Dixon, and Libertarian Bruce Guthrie each get 3%. Another 3% are undecided. Cantwell leads by 30 points among women and by 4 points among men, a 26-point "gender gap." Cantwell gets 85% of Democrat votes. McGavick gets 84% of Republican votes. Independents favor Cantwell by 21 points. Those who...

In a November Head-to-Head, Cantwell Defeats McGavick: In a hypothetical head-to-head matchup in Washington today, 8/28/06, incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell beats Republican challenger Mike McGavick, 56% to 39%, according to a SurveyUSA poll of 808 Registered Voters conducted exclusively for KING-TV Seattle. Cantwell leads by 29 points among women and by 4 points among men, a 25-point "gender gap." Cantwell leads among Democrats 15:1. McGavick leads among Republicans 7:1. Independents favor Cantwell 3:2. Those who approve of President George W. Bush's job performance choose McGavick 80% to 16%. Those who disapprove of Bush's performance choose Cantwell 81% to...

You know how a candidate's campaign blog is usually very staid and dull because the politician can never go off message? Well, this is something a little different. Mike McGavick, the Republican candidate for Senate in Washington used his blog to 'fess up to every bad thing he's done that is likely to become a campaign issue or already has. He addresses a divorce, a DUI, a nasty campaign ad, and a controversy over his management of a company during a time of lay-offs, all in an open letter on his blog. He closes with this thought: I have no...

BREMERTON, Wash. -- For months, both backers and adversaries of U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell anxiously waited for the embattled Democrat to get home and start campaigning in earnest in what is considered one of the country's most competitive races. When Cantwell finally staged a whirlwind multi-city campaign kickoff tour during her August recess, it turned out to be rather subdued and anticlimactic. Rather than a traditional rah-rah fly-around or marathon series of flashy events to stir the troops and get the attention of the sleepy electorate, this down-tempo tour had the wonky feel of Senate field hearings. Seldom did Cantwell...

Cantwell (D) 46% McGavick (R) 40%

Anti-war liberals blast Cantwell But her supporters say senator is no Lieberman By NEIL MODIE P-I REPORTER While anti-war liberals were high-fiving Sen. Joseph Lieberman's defeat in Connecticut's Democratic primary, mainstream Democrats here were busy explaining Wednesday why Washington's Sen. Maria Cantwell is no Joe Lieberman. Yes, she is, insisted Cantwell's two anti-war election opponents, at least when it comes to support of the Bush administration's Iraq war policy. The reality, however, is that Lieberman's loss to Ned Lamont, a wealthy, anti-war businessman who won the primary Tuesday by spending $4 million of his own money, bears little resemblance to...

Welcome to the "Checklist for Change" website! As the nine Democratic women in the U.S. Senate, my colleagues and I believe that it is time for a change in Washington: change in agenda, change in tone, and change in direction. That's what our "checklist for change" is all about. This is what we women do - we need our checklists. And we challenge Majority Leader Bill Frist to make the issues on our checklist priorities for the American people this year. This is by no means a complete list of priorities, but these are challenges that Congress can meet right...

WASHINGTON - Antiwar critics running against Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., lost one of their candidates this month when the Washington Democrat hired him to work in her campaign for $8,000 a month. In a contest that was always one of the Republicans' better opportunities to beat an incumbent, the big story of the summer was Cantwell's decision to hire (and silence) anti-Iraq War candidate Mark Wilson, one of several war critics whose candidacies threatened her bid for a second term. With polls showing Republican business executive Mike McGavick in a near dead-heat with the liberal lawmaker, as antiwar Democrats attacked...

A prominent Seattle lawyer and a scion of a prominent Seattle family are suing a prominent politician -- U.S. Senate candidate Mike McGavick -- over his lucrative retirement package from a prominent Seattle company, Safeco. The intriguing cast of characters came together Tuesday in a shareholder lawsuit, heavy with political overtones, against Safeco's board of directors and McGavick, a Republican who was its chief executive. It was filed in federal court in Seattle. The complaint said Safeco paid the candidate $28.4 million in early 2006 in an illegal "waste of corporate assets" after he resigned to run against Democratic Sen....

Bill Clinton in Seattle to raise money for Cantwell, McDermott 10:22 PM PDT on Monday, July 31, 2006 Associated Press SEATTLE - Former President Bill Clinton came to town Monday night to raise money for freshman U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, who has struggled to get her re-election campaign in gear while fielding complaints about her stand on the Iraq war and the hiring of a former challenger. "She has proven she will stand up and be counted" and is a Senate leader in energy independence, the former president said of Cantwell. "You have a clear choice," Clinton said. "Are you...

UNNYSIDE, Wash. — Hispanics need to become more involved in the political process to ensure their voices are heard on issues facing the nation, including immigration, the nation's only Hispanic governor said during a weekend visit to the state. Registering to vote and going to the polls are critical parts of that process, Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico said in a Saturday speech at the Sunnyside Community Center in Eastern Washington. ''The more we register, the more politicians on both sides of the aisle are going to listen to us,'' Richardson told the largely Hispanic crowd of about...

The fight for control of the House is getting more ink than the battle for control of the Senate, but several recent shifts in individual Senate races merit attention. All year, talk about the Democrats' chances of taking the Senate has focused on the five most endangered Republican incumbents. They are, roughly in order of vulnerability, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, Conrad Burns of Montana, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, Mike DeWine of Ohio, and Jim Talent of Missouri. The discussions then turn to the second tier of vulnerable Republicans, speculating whether Democrats can perhaps pick up a sixth seat (the...

Dwindling voter support for U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell's re-election bid has put her in a statistical toss-up with her Republican opponent, according to a new poll announced Wednesday. Rasmussen Reports, an independent national polling firm, said a survey of 500 likely Washington voters June 13 showed the Democratic incumbent leading challenger Mike McGavick 44 percent to 40 percent. The margin of error was plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

Thanks largely to her support for the war in Iraq, electoral support for Senator Maria Cantwell (D) has slipped once again—for the fifth survey in a row. In the latest Rasmussen Reports poll of an increasingly competitive U.S. Senate race, Senator Cantwell now leads former Safeco CEO Mike McGavick (R) 44% to 40%. She led by five points in May, eight in April, thirteen in March, fifteen in January.

16. If the election for United States Senate were held today and the candidates were Maria Cantwell, the Democrat or Mike McGavick, the Republican, whom would you vote for? Maria Cantwell 47% Mike McGavick 42% Undecided 11%

From :  Senator Elizabeth Dole <news@gopsenators.com> Sent :  Friday, May 19, 2006 8:49 PM To :  <Brilliant> Subject :  Important Immigration Update | | | Elizabeth DoleChair, NRSC Hello folks, The Senate has been debating various aspects of immigration this week to strengthen border security and reform our nation's immigration policy. I thought I would take this opportunity to let you know what's really been going on, and where Republicans and Democrats stand on these critical issues. When given the opportunity to vote for true border security--including 370 miles of triple-layered fencing and 500 miles of vehicle barriers along our border with Mexico--15 Democrats voted against the proposal....

May 16, 2006--Senator Maria Cantwell (D) from Washington has been on the defensive lately. She has antagonized some of the political left with her stand on Iraq and her vote on the Alito nomination. The state's Democratic Party Chairman raised doubts about her campaign last week and her GOP opponent ran an early ad blitz. Add it all together and Cantwell's support has fallen for the fourth consecutive month and the fifth time in the last six months. The incumbent began the new year with a fifteen percentage point lead over challenger Mike McGavick (R). Now, that lead has fallen...

Sen. Cantwell's immigration related congressional votes Voted against amendment to provide funding for additional Border Patrol agents in 2005 Sen. Cantwell voted against the Ensign Amendment (SA 1219) to H.R. 2360, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill. The Ensign Amendment transfers appropriated funds from the Office of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection for the purpose of hiring 1,000 additional Border Patrol agents. The amendment failed by a vote of 38 to 60. Voted in favor of amnesty for agricultural workers in 2005 Sen. Cantwell voted in favor of a procedural...

The Talk Shows Sunday, April 30th, 2006 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten; incoming White House Press Secretary Tony Snow. MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman; American Petroleum Institute President Red Cavaney; Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. THIS WEEK (ABC): Rice; Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.; petroleum industry lobbyist Bennett Johnston; actor George Clooney. LATE EDITION (CNN) : Rice; Sens. Trent Lott, R-Miss., and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.;...

The latest Rasmussen Reports election poll of Washington state's Senate race shows Republican Mike McGavick continuing to chip away at the incumbent's lead. Democratic U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell now leads McGavick 48% to 40%. In March, Cantwell led 49% to 36%. The new poll is the third in a row in which the incumbent has lost a percentage point of support. And it's the second poll in a row showing her at less than 50% support. Meanwhile, McGavick, the former Safeco CEO, has made his strongest showing yet, and is firming up support among Republicans (now 86%) and conservatives (79%)....

The Libertarian Party Washington has nominated Western Washington University instructor Bruce Guthrie to run against U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. Guthrie, 42, a candidate for Congress in 2004, teaches marketing at the university in Bellingham. He also teaches ice speed skating. He can be reached at 360-647-5372 and spdsk8@aol.com. Party members also voted to get rid of its $25 annual membership fee to make it more accessible to voters, said Travis Wright, the party’s executive director. The party’s convention, which was held in Bremerton this past weekend, also delegated the power to nominate congressional candidates to its executive board, Wright...

In the latest Rasmussen Reports poll of Washington state's Senate race, Democratic U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell leads Republican Mike McGavick 49% to 36%. The rolling average of our last three polls shows Cantwell with a 50% to 36% lead. Beginning this month , Rasmussen Reports is releasing data for a three-poll rolling average on our state election polls. Used in conjunction with individual survey results, this tool will help determine whether shifting poll results are due to changes in the race or are merely statistical noise. The data shows a slight but steady decline in Cantwell's support. She earned 52%...

REPUBLICANS HAVEN'T WON a statewide election in Washington state for a top-tier office (president, Senate, governor) since 1994. President Bush lost the state by five percentage points in 2000, seven in 2004. Over the past 75 years, Republicans have won Senate races in Washington only five times. And three of those victories were achieved by a single person, Slade Gorton, who was defeated for reelection in 2000. "This is a miserable state" for Republicans, Gorton says. And 2006 "isn't a good year." It gets worse. Washington has none of the attributes of a red state. Traditional values are not a...