Senate

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Congress Passes $162B Measure to Fund Wars

Senate sends legislation to Bush, who is expected to sign

(Newser) - The Senate tonight passed a $162 billion war spending plan, sending to President Bush legislation that will pay for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan until the next president takes office. The package, approved 92-6, includes a doubling of GI Bill college benefits. It also provides a 13-week extension of unemployment...

Huge Homeowner Aid Bill Nears Approval

Bipartisan support for action, despite veto threat

(Newser) - With 8,000 foreclosures daily and looming elections, Congress is close to approving the most sweeping changes to mortgage financing since the New Deal, reports the New York Times. The pricey aid bill aimed at helping hundreds of thousands of homeowners facing foreclosure has bipartisan support, despite the threat of...

In Senate, Pranks Mix With Politics
In Senate, Pranks Mix
With Politics
Jun 23, 2008 12:13 PM CDT

In Senate, Pranks Mix With Politics

Democrats Nelson, McCaskill channel Ashton Kutcher

(Newser) - The prank war started when Ben Nelson took advantage of Claire McCaskill's inexperience and got his fellow Democrat even more nervous about her 2007 Senate swearing-in than she already was. The action since then has been sporadic but inventive. McClatchy returns from Capitol Hill with tales of the lawmakers' dueling...

Hollywood Women Work on Senate Majority

Deep-pocketed stars are raising money for Dem candidates

(Newser) - Powerful Hollywood women are reorganizing after Hillary Clinton's failed presidential bid, turning their attention toward increasing the Democratic majority in the Senate. A fundraiser Sept. 27 could raise more than $1 million for candidates, and is being put together by the likes of Jane Fonda, Kate Capshaw, Penny Marshall, Daryl...

Is Franken Too Vulgar for Politics?
 Is Franken 
 Too Vulgar 
 for Politics? 
OPINION
Jun 18, 2008 6:51 AM CDT

Is Franken Too Vulgar for Politics?

Pundit thinks funnyman-turned-politician's 'satire' reinforces system's failures

(Newser) - Al Franken was cracking tasteless jokes for decades before entering politics, but it may be his opponent in the Minnesota Senate race who'll be accused of coarsening debate if he dares to brings them up, Michael Gerson writes in the Washington Post. Franken calls his work "provocative, touching, and...

Senate Seats Most Likely to Flip (Only 1 to GOP)
Senate Seats Most Likely to Flip (Only 1 to GOP)
ANALYSIS
Jun 13, 2008 1:51 PM CDT

Senate Seats Most Likely to Flip (Only 1 to GOP)

New Dems from VA, NM, CO likely

(Newser) - The GOP's best case-scenario sees the party losing only three Senate seats this fall. Washington Post blogger Chris Cillizza runs down the races most likely to flip a vote:
  1. Mississippi: Trent Lott replacement Roger Wicker has never been elected statewide, and Barack Obama's coattails should draw in the large black
...

After Decline, Congress' Earmarking is Back

Legislators pledged to shrink such spending last year

(Newser) - Though Congress vowed last year to reduce earmarking—the process of directing funds to projects at home with little scrutiny—recently there’s been a jump in such spending, the Washington Post reports. A House defense bill’s earmarked funds rose 29% last month, and the Senate bill looks as...

GOP Blocks Profit Tax on Oil Companies

Senators favor new US drilling over Dems' plan for 'energy relief'

(Newser) - Senate Republicans today fended off a Democrat-sponsored bill that would have heaped a 25% tax on the five biggest US oil companies and rolled back other tax breaks for the industry, the Houston Chronicle reports. President Bush had threatened to veto the measure, hailed by Dems as "energy price...

Sex Robots Haunt Franken's Senate Bid

Comedian's past continues to plague Dem run in Minnesota

(Newser) - It’s not easy being a comedian-turned-Senate candidate. Al Franken’s bid to replace first-term Minnesota Republican Norm Coleman has hit some speed bumps lately, Bloomberg reports. Though Franken has nabbed the party’s endorsement, he’s been dogged by bits from his past—like a 2000 Playboy article entitled...

Kennedy Back Home in Mass. After Surgery

Dem's focus now on healthcare bill, Obama campaign, son says

(Newser) - Sen. Ted Kennedy returned to his Massachusetts home today, a week after undergoing a chancy surgery to remove part of a malignant brain tumor, WBZ-TV reports. The Democrat's plane landed at a Cape Cod airport around 11:30 this morning, the Boston Globe adds; Kennedy, 76, told reporters it was...

Senate Moves to Privatize Anemic Restaurants

Move takes money- losing subpar eateries off the taxpayer dime

(Newser) - The Senate has voted to privatize its restaurants after decades of losing money, the Washington Post reports. The decision comes after much wrangling among Democrats, split between the $250,000 taxpayer subsidy that keeps the restaurants afloat and the lower wages workers would receive. “You cannot stand on the...

Dems Find Going Green Can Turn Red States Blue
Dems Find Going Green
Can Turn Red States Blue
ANALYSIS
Jun 5, 2008 7:00 PM CDT

Dems Find Going Green Can Turn Red States Blue

Oklahoma Senate race, with incumbent Inhofe in trouble, echoes Montana, others

(Newser) - How is a 35-year-old, pro-choice, pro-civil-unions Democrat considered a serious challenge to Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe? It just might be the environment, the New Republic reports. "These people are out in the natural environment and they are seeing a lot of changes in the ecosystem, and they're concerned,"...

Conservative Pearce Wins GOP Primary for Domenici Seat

Dems predict an easier win for Tom Udall

(Newser) - New Mexico Rep. Steve Pearce edged out Rep. Heather Wilson in the GOP primary for retiring Sen. Pete Domenici's seat yesterday, Politico reports. The results pleased Democrats, who predict that Pearce, who ran as an unapologetic conservative, will be a weaker opponent to Democratic Rep. Tom Udall in November than...

Most Unpledged Senators Will Go Obama Soon

Some said to want 'grace period' for Dem colleague Clinton

(Newser) - "Most” of the Senate’s 17 uncommitted Democrats will endorse Barack Obama this week, sources tell CNN, though Majority Leader Harry Reid will remain neutral until Hillary Clinton officially exits. Obama officials had been “pressing” for earlier endorsements, but colleagues "don’t want to pound Hillary Clinton,...

Smart, Capable, and in Control
Smart, Capable, and in Control
May 30, 2008 6:33 PM CDT

Smart, Capable, and in Control

Ted Kennedy's wife, Victoria, is helping him recover—and could even take his job

(Newser) - She whipped Ted Kennedy's staff into action after his seizure; she brought the family to his bedside; she allowed the aging senator, diagnosed with brain cancer, to join in the traditional Cape Cod regatta on Memorial Day weekend. Victoria Reggie Kennedy, his wife of 16 years, is right by his...

'Celebrity of Power' Lured McCain From Navy to Capitol

'Smitten' Republican passed up chance for admiral's star that was family tradition

(Newser) - When Capt. John McCain turned down a chance to be admiral in 1981, deciding to run for Congress instead, he’d spent four years as the Navy’s Senate liaison, developing an appetite for what one observer called “the glamor of … political combat.” The New York Times ...

Senate Homecoming Won't Be Glorious

Power will not fall in losing candidate's lap

(Newser) - If Hillary Clinton does indeed lose the Democratic nomination, her Senate homecoming won’t be a glorious one, the New York Times reports. Clinton is still a junior senator, ranking 36th out of 49 Democrats, and would need to leapfrog a lot of people to become a committee chair—much...

Teddy's Mantle Looks Tailored for Hillary

Parallels 'startling' between Senate's current lion and a logical successor

(Newser) - Though Ted Kennedy helped crush her presidential dreams by endorsing her rival, writes Eamon Javers in Politico, Hillary Clinton may find he ultimately gives her the job she’s made for: his. Kennedy has been the Senate’s center of Democratic gravity since his own White House bid failed in...

Congressional Screwup May Force Farm Bill Do-Over

Pages missing from bill sent to Bush

(Newser) - A paper-shuffling error may force Congress to repeat its work on the $289-billion farm bill already passed—and vetoed by President Bush. The version of the bill sent to the president was missing a section, Reuters reports. That makes the president’s veto theoretically invalid. House Democrats tried to re-insert...

House Overrides Farm Bill Veto; Senate to Follow

Bush says $300B measure too wasteful

(Newser) - The House today overrode President Bush's veto of the $307 billion farm bill, and the Senate is expected to follow suit tomorrow morning, the Washington Post reports. Bush issued the 10th veto of his presidency this afternoon, complaining that the wide-ranging measure gives too much money to rich farmers and...

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