http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/senate/ en-us Sat, 11 Oct 2008 05:38:59 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2102950/posts In a huddle with reporters earlier this week in Washington, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) acknowledged that his party's chances of reaching the 60-seat plateau were "better than they were two weeks ago" -- the result of an across-the-board collapse in Republican numbers due to the economic crisis and handling of the bailout bill by Congress. (Yes, we know Democrats control the House and Senate. But, the American public overwhelmingly blamed President Bush and House Republicans for the initial failure of the "rescue" legislation.) And, respected non-partisan observers are also beginning to openly speculate about the possibility.... Washington Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2102950/posts#comment Sat, 11 Oct 2008 05:38:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2101718/posts Senator Charles Schumer says he feels confident that the Dems will have a super majority - 60 senators - after this election. Let's not allow this to happen! A super majority can stop any judicial picks by John McCain, and IF (horrors) Barack Obama becomes president, his judicial picks would breeze right through. As an example, I just heard a tape on the radio where Senator McCain said that Justice Thomas was a good pick, and Senator Obama said he would not have picked him. Please support the Republicans in the senate race, even if they are not from your... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2101718/posts#comment Thu, 9 Oct 2008 21:42:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2101385/posts The Democratic Party announced this spring a major drive to elect a “filibuster-proof” 60-seat-majority Senate. According to the recent Democratic National Committee newsfeeds, the DNC is confident of picking up six seats and hopeful of getting nine. Will that make a Democratic-controlled Senate “filibuster-proof?” American Sentinel http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2101385/posts#comment Thu, 9 Oct 2008 15:11:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2100419/posts According to Realclearpolitics, there is going to be a shift of five -- and perhaps six -- Senate seats to the Dems. I find this as alarming as an Obama presidency, because without a sustainable fillibuster in the Senate, there is nothing to stop a President Obama from running roughshod over the country. According to RCP, senate seats being flipped to the Dems include AK, CO, NH, NM, NC, and perhaps OR. I live in MA, where there is zero chance of defeating the traitor John Kerry. Ted Kennedy is dying, and I am sorry for that because no one... Realclearpolitics http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2100419/posts#comment Wed, 8 Oct 2008 14:13:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2100686/posts Sauerberg backs down when forced to confront Durbin Wednesday, Oct 8, 2008 by Rich Miller * Way back in April, Republican US Senate candidate Steve Sauerberg laid out his battle plan against incumbent Democrat Dick Durbin… “You win by showing the people of Illinois who Dick Durbin really is,” [Sauerberg] said. “He is a divisive, partisan politician who has spent 37 years on the government dole.” * In that same interview, Sauerberg also revealed why he initially decided to run against Durbin… Sauerberg said he first considered running after Durbin compared the alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners to atrocities... The Capitol Fax http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2100686/posts#comment Wed, 8 Oct 2008 18:54:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2098938/posts You've read the quote. You've heard the rumors. Now, hear the audio of Mark Warner calling the NRA, people of faith, home schoolers and people who believe in the right to life "a threat to what it means to be an American." When this issue first surfaced in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, then gubernatorial candidate Mark Warner "angrily denied the claim" and called it "inaccurate." But the audio will tell you a different story. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpicD6UIq8A Gilmore for Senate http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2098938/posts#comment Mon, 6 Oct 2008 20:29:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2098509/posts (October 18, 2004) North Carolina poll: Bush 50%, Kerry 47% [Actual Result: 56% to 44% for Bush] SurveyUSA http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2098509/posts#comment Mon, 6 Oct 2008 09:43:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2097217/posts Warner came to be Virginia’s governor by a path that was purposely political, including the decade he spent becoming a high-tech venture capitalist. Along the way, his four years at GW (1973 to 1977) were crucial in his political development. When he got to D.C. in 1973, Warner immediately started working in the office of Sen. Abe Ribicoff (D-Conn.). “I’ll always remember my first job on Capitol Hill. I would ride my bike every day—I had to be there at 7:15 to open the mail. Here I was, a freshman in college, I thought it was pretty cool.” From that... http://www.gwu.edu http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2097217/posts#comment Sat, 4 Oct 2008 04:21:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2096868/posts The Tax Foundation has reviewed the 474 page Senate bailout bill and found a lot more pork and entirely unrelated spending in it than previously reported. The full list is below. I’d still like to know why, if we’re in the midst of such a crisis, our politicians are putting race track pork, disaster relief and “mental parity” spending into the bailout. All the more reason to just forget about this bailout, which the politicians themselves clearly aren’t taking seriously, and ride out these tough economic times. It’d be hard, no doubt, but we’d be the better for it. Energy... Say Anything Blog http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2096868/posts#comment Fri, 3 Oct 2008 19:12:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2096743/posts Washington - While crafting a bill intended to rescue the U.S. economy this week, lawmakers couldn't stop themselves from adding billions of dollars in tax breaks that have little to do with restoring confidence in financial markets. Senators quietly tucked a number of earmarks into the tax package of the 451-page bill that was passed Wednesday night and is expected to be put to a vote in the House today: a $2 million tax benefit for makers of wooden arrows for children; a $100 million tax break to benefit auto racetrack owners; $192 million in rebates on excise taxes for... SFGate.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2096743/posts#comment Fri, 3 Oct 2008 16:52:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2096736/posts Let me see if I have this right. We the People express our overwhelming disdain for a government manufactured, taxpayer-funded bailout of semi-coerced greed merchants on Wall Street and the Senate’s answer is to leave the offending legislation intact and entice weak politicians into voting for the package by adding sweetheart tax legislation to it. Can this possibly – in the most incredible of circumstances – be correct? Just as I finished setting up my new television I found myself clearing away the debris and dust from a bazooka shot that destroyed it. You see, I felt the destruction needed... The New Media Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2096736/posts#comment Fri, 3 Oct 2008 16:44:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2096162/posts Insurers knocked by senator's warning Reid retracts statement; MetLife, Hartford say it doesn't apply to them By Alistair Barr, MarketWatch Last update: 4:46 p.m. EDT Oct. 2, 2008SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Insurers' shares tumbled Thursday after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said a well-known company in the sector was close to bankruptcy. Reid didn't identify the insurer and the senator retracted the statement through his spokesman Jim Manley. "Senator Reid is not personally aware of any particular company being on the verge of bankruptcy," Manley said in an email that was sent to MarketWatch. "He has no special knowledge about... MarketWatch http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2096162/posts#comment Thu, 2 Oct 2008 22:33:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2096120/posts The piece of excrement that passed the Senate last night was another orgy in the mud for those sows on Capitol Hill. They are nothing but a bunch of crack-whores who simply cannot resist spending hundreds of millions of dollars of our money on ridiculous projects in a time of economic hardship. And the only unanswered question is what the hell do these projects have to do with bailing out the mortgage industry that the Democrats f'ed up in the first place. This bill is a made-to-order issue for McCain. He is not the president, so he had to... The Patriot Room http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2096120/posts#comment Thu, 2 Oct 2008 21:37:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2096032/posts Rep. Steve Latourette has an amendment to the Senate's bailout bill. He and his allies have just been briefing it on CSPAN. It preserves the good changes in the Senate bill while stripping away the egregious pork. Call your Representative as well as Speaker Pelosi and, most importantly, the Rules Committee. The amendment doesn't get consideration unless they say so. Tell them all to support the Latourette Amendment.Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise M. Slaughter New York James P. McGovern Massachusetts David Dreier California Alcee L. Hastings Florida( You gotta be kidding!?!) Lincoln Diaz-Balart Florida Doris O. Matsui California Doc Hastings Washington... Paine in the Neck http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2096032/posts#comment Thu, 2 Oct 2008 19:49:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095988/posts The Senate Finance Committee has published a summary of some of the additions to the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. There are many provisions in the bill that will directly benefit millions of Americans -- what's called the "AMT patch," for instance, which will protect 20 million middle class Americans from seeing a tax increase in 2009. Or tax deductions for tuition, and for teacher expenses. Corporations will see extensions of popular tax cuts -- for research and development, or renewable energies. But there's also some other stuff. My colleague Z. Bryon Wolf points out that it bears mentioning that all... ABC News Political Punch http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095988/posts#comment Thu, 2 Oct 2008 18:53:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095935/posts Has anyone read the bill, or at least parts of it? Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095935/posts#comment Thu, 2 Oct 2008 17:51:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095902/posts (C) in paragraph (4)(A)— (i) in the first sentence, by inserting after ‘‘insured loan’’ the following: ‘‘and any payments made under this paragraph,’’; and (ii) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘Such actions may include making payments, which shall be accepted as payment in full of all indebtedness under the eligible mortgage, to any holder of an existing subordinate mortgage, in lieu of any future appreciation payments authorized under subparagraph (B). Senateconservatives http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095902/posts#comment Thu, 2 Oct 2008 17:18:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095859/posts Lawmakers and lobbyists who favor mental health parity legislation have said for months that the 110th Congress is the best chance in more than a decade to get a bill to the president’s desk. But the inclusion of the parity provisions in a financial bailout package is another in a series of high-risk gambles that could fell the parity legislation yet again, depending on whether the House clears the Senate’s new package this week. However, now that the mental health provisions have been added, at least one House member — key parity advocate Jim Ramstad , R-Minn. — is reconsidering... CQ Politics http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095859/posts#comment Thu, 2 Oct 2008 16:27:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095803/posts DIVISION A--EMERGENCY ECONOMIC STABILIZATION SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS. (a) Short Title.--This division may be cited as the ``Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008''. (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this division is as follows: Sec..1..Short title and table of contents. Sec..2..Purposes. Sec..3..Definitions. TITLE I--TROUBLED ASSETS RELIEF PROGRAM Sec..101..Purchases of troubled assets. Sec..102..Insurance of troubled assets. Sec..103..Considerations. Sec..104..Financial Stability Oversight Board. Sec..105..Reports. Sec..106..Rights; management; sale of troubled assets; revenues and sale proceeds. Sec..107..Contracting procedures. Sec..108..Conflicts of interest. Sec..109..Foreclosure mitigation efforts. Sec..110..Assistance to homeowners. Sec..111..Executive compensation and corporate governance. Sec..112..Coordination with foreign authorities and central banks.... Library of Congress http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095803/posts#comment Thu, 2 Oct 2008 15:29:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095758/posts Mark Levin spoke with Congressman Scott Garrett (R-NJ) last night about the bailout bill (passed by the Senate last night, 74-25). While Garrett voted against the House version Monday, he says that fear is winning out over freedom: Senate Conservatives Fund: Bailouts are bankrupting our countryIf the bill that passed in the Senate last night is signed into law, Congress will have added $1.4 trillion dollars in bailouts to federal spending this year alone. On top of that, the bill is packed with pork. Here is the breakdown of that money, what is already law, plus what is in the... MarkLevinFan.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095758/posts#comment Thu, 2 Oct 2008 14:43:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095761/posts You've got to love brutal honesty, especially when it comes from the financial media. The Senate's version of a bailout bill, which passed last night by a margin of 74-25, included "sweeteners" - or obscure tax breaks - including benefits for the manufacturer of wooden arrows used in children's toys and another for litigants in the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. Melissa Francis, co-host of CNBC's "The Call," and "Squawk on the Street" co-host Mark Haines called it all "crap" on their Oct. 1 special coverage of the vote on the network. Their description was similar to the one used... NewsBusters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095761/posts#comment Thu, 2 Oct 2008 14:44:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095735/posts Let’s boil this ‘new and improved’ bailout bill that just passed the Senate down to its bare bones. Then, if you’re moved to do so, it might just be time to pick up the phone and call your congressman, urging him to really ‘stand up for the American taxpayer’ (not to mention do what is right). Admittedly, the do what is right aspect of this whole thing would represent a complete aberration where any decision-making in Washington is concerned, but you may just sleep better tonight, having at least engaged in a personal effort to revive that archaic concept.... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095735/posts#comment Thu, 2 Oct 2008 14:14:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095730/posts Mr. DeMINT. Mr. President, I have friends and colleagues whom I respect deeply who are on all sides of this bailout issue. One of them just spoke. We all to want do what is right for America, and I believe those who have crafted this plan had pure and noble motives. They want this country to succeed. They want prosperity. I just do not believe that this bill gets the job done. In fact, in the long term, I am convinced it will do more harm than good. We are the Nation that has been called the bastion of freedom,... Congressional Record http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095730/posts#comment Thu, 2 Oct 2008 14:03:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095725/posts PIGGY POLS IN HOG HEAVEN WITH PORK-PACKED PACT By DAPHNE RETTER, Post Correspondent Last updated: 5:59 am October 2, 2008 Posted: 3:50 am October 2, 2008 WASHINGTON - Here, little piggies! Congressional deal-brookers yesterday slopped a mess of pork into the $700 billion financial rescue bill passed by the Senate last night - including a tax break for makers of kids' wooden arrows - in a bid to lure reluctant lawmakers into voting for the package Stuffed into the 451- page bill are more than $1.7 billion worth of targeted tax breaks to be doled out for a sty full... NY Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095725/posts#comment Thu, 2 Oct 2008 13:58:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095667/posts A friend in the MSM whose entire newsroom was spammed by the DSCC sent me this: DSCC - Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Dear Friend, I know the DSCC has been asking a lot of you lately. And I want to thank you personally for all that you have done. I also know we have great Democratic Senate candidates this year. They are hitting their stride at just the right time. But your generous support has been the game changer. We exceeded our September fundraising goal by $204,875. Why is this important? Because you've enabled us to compete in more states... Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095667/posts#comment Thu, 2 Oct 2008 12:39:13 GMT