Roadblock Blog
ANWR? ANWR?!?!?!?
So, the Democrats are pushing energy legislation as part of their broad effort to combat the energy crisis years of political mismanagement have brought us. And the Republicans, in response, push for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
What?!?!
It’s like the Republican Party is one of those Chatty Kathy dolls when it comes to energy issues. No matter what happens, no matter what the question, pull the string and the little voice says, “Drill in the pristine Arctic.”
Read the rest of this entry
Harry Reid discusses the Roadblock Republican obstruction with Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart: Do you feel like the business of government is somewhat on hold right now? That we're almost in this weird, circling pattern, waiting for this to resolve, before we get back to business?
Senator Harry Reid: I think we've been in a holding pattern since the Democrats took the majority. I think this was a shock to the Republicans and that's the reason they broke the filibuster record in 10 months for a whole Congress for two years. And really, they tried to maintain the status quo. We believe there should be change and tried our best to change. I'm just as disappointed as the American People. We've got to have more change."
Read the rest of this entry
Putting the U (and Pb) back in Idaho
Last week we learned that after ignoring health issues at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion plant for decades, Mitch McConnell made a campaign commercial extolling his own recent efforts on behalf of the surviving victims of deceit. This week, we learn that an Idaho concern supporting Republican Jim Risch’s pursuit of Larry Craig’s seat will accept seven million pounds of Kuwaiti sand that has been contaminated with lead and depleted uranium. When asked by a local reporter if the sand was dangerous, Chad Hyslop, the project manager at the mendaciously named American Ecology Corporation, responded, “It's not something you want laying around in Kuwait.”
Read the rest of this entryInhofe cuts and runs on support of troops
Top ten reasons Jim Inhofe quietly withdrew his support for the Webb-Hagel 21st Century G.I. Bill ...
10. With 56 signatories, Webb-Hagel becoming dangerously veto-proof.
9. Thought G.I. stood for "Gastro-Intestinal."
Read the rest of this entry
Mitch McConnell snatches glory from the jaws of shame
China Syndrome + Stockholm Syndrome = Paducah Syndrome
Mark Donham's Blog has a very interesting perspective on Senator Mitch McConnnell's latest ad that trumpets his assistance to workers made ill from exposure to radioactive materials at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion plant. Donham, who was a member of the DOE's Citizen's Advisory Board, points out that McConnell must have been aware of these issues at the plant long before he took action following an article in the Washington Post on August 8, 1999: "In Harm’s Way, And in the Dark; Workers Exposed to Plutonium at U.S. Plant" by Joby Warrick.
The DOE was aware of problems at Paducah in the 1950s. Whistleblowers began talking in the 1970s. Nearby wells had to be abandoned because of contamination in the 1980s. Residents of Paducah were asking questions years before the Post shamed McConnell into what his campaign now characterizes as heroic action.
In the fairness to Mitch, I offer several potential lines of defense.
10 Reasons Mitch McConnell allowed the citizens of Western Kentucky to be exposed to hazardous radiation for years after he knew about problems at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant ...
Read the rest of this entryThe NRSC Draft
In Louisiana, every year is still a rebuilding year.
It's not surprising that National Republican Senatorial Committee chair John Ensign (R - State of Delusion) would be desperate enough to convince a failed Democratic senatorial candidate to switch parties and challenge Mary Landrieu. After the de facto purge of Democratic voters from New Orleans in the wake of the Bush administration's still inadequate response to Hurricane Katrina, Ensign probably figured that any state-wide office holder, in this case Treasurer John Kennedy, would enjoy enough name recognition to carry "The Bayou State." The problem is that even more transparent than Kennedy's ambition in switching parties is the NRSC's opportunism in anointing a man it had lambasted just four years before.
Read the rest of this entryGOP filibuster du jour
After many years of service to the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, Lili Ledbetter discovered she had been the victim of discriminatory evaluations that resulted in a lower salary than for her male colleagues doing the same work. Lili went to court and a jury awarded decades worth of back pay.
Then the Supreme Court took up the case. It ruled against Lili, overturned precedent, and imposed a 180 day limit to file such a case, with the clock starting not on the day that discrimination is discovered, but on the day of the initial pay-setting decision. In keeping with standard Republican procedure, only the employer would be aware that a crime was being committed and the Court reduced the statute of limitations to six months!
Read the rest of this entrySixty votes, that's what it takes
For all the attention currently being paid to the presidential race – and believe me, where I live, it’s getting paid plenty – there’s another very important election-year issue that’s not getting a whole lot of play.
It concerns the critical importance of increasing our slim Democratic majority in the Senate and the House. And, frankly, that’s what really matters this time around.
Presidents can lead, but Congress is what legislates. Presidents can’t pass laws until the bills can make their way to the Big Desk in the Oval O.
Because the Roadblock Republicans have decided that the filibuster is de rigeur this season, there is no other way for bills to get there but to get past them first. We gotta fix that. It’s either we score us sixty Dem votes in the Senate this year, or we’re stuck with the same old Washington politics. Again.
McConnell's not even sure what he's Roadblocking anymore
We all know that Chief Roadblockhead Mitch McConnell has led his pachydermic minions in obstructing useful legislation at every turn. But in the case of HR 1195, not only are the Roadblock Republicans literally tossing up roadblocks in the path of its passage from the House through the Senate, he’s either confused about what they’re doing with it or he’s just flat-out fibbing.
The reason that the roadblocks are literal this time is because of what HR 1195 actually is: a technical corrections bill to amend the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act. Not exactly sexy-sounding, but a definitely worthwhile piece of legislative action. I mean, who wouldn’t want to improve our nation’s access to safe, affordable, flexible, efficient transportation? What’s good for general motoring is good for the USA.
Still, literal or not, clearing the roadblocks by passing a transportation bill authored by Democrats is the last thing the RR’s want to do. Whether by reflex, rote, or just plain dog-in-the-manger cussedness, they’d rather impede progress by blocking the bill. And the next to last thing they want to do is to admit that they’re doing it.
23 seats
Today SenateGuru asked for predictions of the 15 Senate seats most likely to flip (change parties) in descending order. I'm going out on a limb. All 23 seats the Republicans are defending will flip to the Democrats, so the ordering doesn't matter. We're throwing all of them out. Let the New York Times guardedly speculate about the possibility of a 60 seat majority. I'm predicting a 72 seat majority.
Read the rest of this entry
