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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim McMannis who wrote (552741)	3/2/2010 11:49:56 AM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1572515

Orrin Hatch Thinks You're Stupid At the very least, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) thinks the readers of his op-ed piece in the Washington Post that takes the Democrats to task for "misusing" the rules of the Senate don't remember that the Republicans have used reconciliation more often than the Democrats and that as far back as 1982 it was used to pass major pieces of legislation like COBRA, CHIP, and more recently, the Bush tax cuts. Or he thinks we don't understand the concept that reconciliation is not being used to pass the healthcare bills; the Senate version passed with 60 votes and the House version passed by a simple majority. Reconciliation is used to reconcile the differences between the two bills -- hence the term "reconciliation." So for him to say that the Democrats are "jamming" the bill through is disingenuous bullshit (as opposed to the genuous variety). On the other hand, this volley might be an admission on the part of earnest Mr. Hatch that the Republicans realize that their obstruction, shouting, whining, whimpering, and high dudgeon has come to naught and that the healthcare reform bill will pass. This then is their opening shot in the campaign to repeal the law. Fine; I'd love to see the Republicans go around the country and explain exactly why it would be a good thing to let the insurance companies run the show again and that you can lose your health insurance because you once had acne, got pregnant, or the medicine that might save your life costs too much; or the local ER is better suited to take care of your family's medical needs than a regular physician. How stupid is that?

To: Jim McMannis who wrote (552741)	3/2/2010 11:55:07 AM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1572515

Plum Line Greg Sargent's blog Orrin Hatch Rewrites History Of His Own Voting Record On Reconciliation As you’ve heard, Senator Orrin Hatch published a long article in today’s Washington Post warning that if Dems pass health reform via reconciliation, it will pose a dire threat to our fragile experiment in democracy. In composing this treatise, Hatch naturally faced a problem: How to address the numerous times he voted for reconciliation measures himself? His solution: He simply omitted all mention of his numerous votes for reconciliation measures that passed by a simple majority. Here’s the entire portion where Hatch deals with his own record on reconciliation: Both parties have used the process, but only when the bills in question stuck close to dealing with the budget. In instances in which other substantive legislation was included, the legislation had significant bipartisan support. For example, Congress used reconciliation to carry welfare reform in 1996, which ultimately passed with 78 votes. And when reconciliation was used to create the Children’s Health Insurance Program that I authored with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy in 1997, the program got 85 votes and served as the glue to passing the first balanced budget in 40 years. As you can see, in this passage Hatch only mentioned the reconciliation votes for measures that passed by huge majorities. But here are the votes he didn’t bother mentioning: * Hatch voted for the 2001 Bush tax cuts, which passed by a simple majority (58-33) via reconciliation. * Hatch voted for the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003, accelerating the Bush tax cuts and adding new ones, which passed by a simple majority via reconciliation — 50-50 in the Senate with Dick Cheney casting the tiebreaking vote. * Hatch voted for the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act, reducing Medicaid spending and allowing parents of disabled children to buy into Medicaid, which passed by a simple majority (52-47) via reconciliation. * Hatch voted for the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005, extending the Bush tax cuts for some tax brackets, which passed by a simple majority (54-44) via reconciliation. It’s one thing to argue, as Hatch and many others have, that previous reconciliation votes were somehow different from the vote Dems are preparing. It’s taking things to a whole new level to completely omit any mention of a whole series of votes you took because they inconveniently reveal that your entire argument is bogus. theplumline.whorunsgov.com

To: Jim McMannis who wrote (552741)	3/2/2010 11:56:23 AM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1572515

Bunning's hold halts 3 Tenn. road projects By Bill Theobald • TENNESSEAN WASHINGTON BUREAU • March 2, 2010 WASHINGTON — Three road projects on federal property in Tennessee have been put on hold because Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., has blocked extension of the Highway Trust Fund. The Tennessee projects being delayed are Cades Cove Loop Road rehabilitation at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park; Shiloh National Park tour roads and parking area rehabilitation, and the Catossa Wildlife Management Area bridge replacement in eastern Tennessee. tennessean.com