The Daily Strike-6/26/09-Historic Vote

Good evening and welcome to the Daily Strike. The rest of the world was focused on Michael Jackson, but the politically savvy had their eyes on the House of Representatives. Let's get you caught up.

HOUSE: The House of Representatives passed a historic bill today that, if enacted, would change the way America consumes energy and would play a small, but significant role in curbing carbon emissions. The bill sets up a so-called Cap and Trade program, which seeks to reduce total carbon emissions in the U.S. by 80% in 2050. The bill also contains historic investments in alternative energy, and would require 20% of electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020. This was a massive legislative battle, complete with intense lobbying from the Democratic leadership and President Obama, obstructionist shenanigans from Republicans, and heated debate on both sides. In the end, the bill passed by an extremely narrow 219-212 margin. Democrats had to contend with objections in their own ranks, mostly from rural conservative members who worried that the bill would increase energy costs. A few liberal Democrats broke ranks because they thought the bill didn't go far enough. In all, 44 out of 256 Democrats broke with their party and opposed the bill. Luckily, 8 Republicans defected and voted yes, assuring passage. Here's the list of defectors from both parties. You should call your Representative if you don't like how they voted:

Democrats Voting No: Altmire (PA), Arcuri (NY), Barrow (GA), Berry (AR), Boren (OK), Bright (AL), Carney (PA), Childers (MS), Costa (CA), Costello (IL), Dahlkemper (PA), Davis (AL), Davis (TN), DeFazio (OR), Donnelly (IN), Edwards (TX), Ellsworth (IN), Foster (IL), Griffith (AL), Herseth-Sandlin (SD), Holden (PA), Kirkpatrick (AZ), Kissell (NC), Kucinich (OH), Marshall (GA), Massa (NY), Matheson (UT), McIntyre (NC), Melancon (LA), Minnick (ID), Mitchell (AZ), Mollohan (WV), Nye (VA), Ortiz (TX), Pomeroy (ND), Rahall (WV), Rodriguez (TX), Ross (AR), Salazar (CO), Stark (CA), Tanner (TN), Taylor (MS), Visclosky (IN) and Wilson (OH).

Republicans Voting Yes: Bono Mack (CA), Castle (DE), Kirk (IL), Lance (NJ), LoBiondo (NJ), McHugh (NY), Reichert (WA) and Smith (NJ). These Republican heroes not only stood up to the Earth is Flat crowd in their caucus, but they will allow President Obama to portray this progressive bill as "bipartisan." Better still, since far-left Representatives like Kucinich voted no, he can claim that the bill is "centrist." That might be a good way to sell the bill to the United States Senate, which should take up a version later this summer or during the fall.

A couple other notes on voting: Ellen Tauscher (D-CA), was confirmed by the Senate yesterday for a post at the State Department. She decided to hold off retiring from the House so that she could vote for the bill today. She spent the day, as she frequently does, presiding over debate as the Speaker Pro Tempore, and got shout outs from Republicans and Democrats alike. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), son of Ted Kennedy, came back from rehab to take a vote on this bill. I guess that shows just how important the vote was.

The vote itself was the culmination of a crazy day on the House floor, mostly due to Republican shenanigans. For one, every Republican who spoke on the floor portrayed the bill as a jobs killing measure pedaled by liberal activists that will raise energy taxes on consumers and businesses. The CBO estimated that the cost per family was about a postage stamp a day, which doesn't account for potential benefits of a new alternative energy sector. Then, for a good half hour or so, Republicans started complaining that they didn't have enough time to read the bill, because Democrats had added in 300 pages late last night. The uber-partisan chairman of the Republican Study Committee, Tom Price of Georgia, got up like a little brat and asked for a moment of silence for "all the people who will lose jobs as a result of this bill." Several Republicans also denied the science behind global warming.

The real jerk of the day (I reserve that term for rarified circumstances) was Republican Leader John Boehner. As you know, debate time is limited in the House. Customarily, party leaders are allowed to exceed time limits, but they usually do so only by a couple of minutes. Boehner decided to abuse that privilege tonight, because he is a little child. He went to the floor for about two hours, ostensibly to protest that he didn't have enough time to read the bill. He proceeded to read excerpts of the bill, page by page, 1 to 309. Democrats asked Tauscher, the presiding officer, if they could do anything to stop him, and she said no. Democrats had to sit there and listen to Boehner ramble on in the first House filibuster I can remember. Luckily, the perma-tanned partisan hack couldn't keep up his monotoned voice forever, and members finally got to actually vote.

Before the final vote, members voted on a Republican alternative, offered by Virginia Rep. Randy Forbes, that would strike the whole bill for a Republican measure that would emphasize offshore drilling and nuclear energy. The alternative failed by a vote of 172-256. 11 Republicans didn't support their own alternative, while 7 Democrats jumped ship and voted with the GOP.

When all is said and done, today is a great day for the President and the Democratic party. Sure, getting this through the Senate will be tough. And the bill had been significantly watered down to placate concerns of moderate Democrats. But today's vote will really help the stars align. Not only does it give Democrats momentum, but the terms of the debate are favorable. Obama can say that this is a bipartisan bill, and he can characterize opposition to the bill by using the anti-science rhetoric of House Republicans.

The House earlier in the day, in a far less dramatic vote, approved the 4th of the 12 annual appropriations bill, the bill funding the Department of the Interior, Environment and related agencies. The bill passed by a vote of 254-173. 17 Republicans voted yes, while 14 Democrats voted no.

Both the House and Senate are off next week for the July 4th holiday. When they come back, they will have their hands full. The Senate will start with the Legislative Branch appropriations bill, and will then move on to a couple more appropriations measures. The House will continue appropriations as well, with the goal of completing all of them by the August recess.

Before we go, we should mention that President Obama met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel today to discuss a variety of matters, including Iran and North Korea. Not much news out of that event.

That's it for tonight. Please leave us your thoughts on this important bill. We'll see you tomorrow night!

The Daily Strike-3/18/09-The Marathon Part II

Good evening once again. I had a cup of water and some Girl Scout cookies and I'm ready to move on to Part II. If you haven't read Part I of today's entry, read it first. It's right below this one.

THE SENATE: The Senate today continued its consideration of the "Tomnibus" bill, a bill that combines several public lands (and unrelated legislation) blocked in the previous Congress by Senator Coburn (R-OK). Today the Senate voted to kill three Coburn amendments to the bill.

-The first amendment would have prohibited the building of new national parks until we fully refurbished our current ones. Obviously, that's a pretty unrealistic goal, and there's no reason we shouldn't be doing both at the same time. The amendment was killed 79-19. All 19 votes to keep the amendment alive were from Republicans.

-The next amendment would have eliminated restrictions of the development of alternative energy sources on public lands. Sure, this sounds good, but as Senator Bingaman (D-NM) pointed out, do we really want wind turbines and solar panels in our national parks? The amendment was killed 65-33. All votes to keep it alive were from Republicans, except for Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska.

-Finally, the Senate killed an amendment that prohibit the use of eminent domain and to make sure that no American has their property forcibly taken from them by any provision in the bill. Didn't matter too much though. The amendment was killed 63-35. Among the votes to keep the amendment alive were Democrats Begich (AK), Byrd (WV), Nelson (NE) and Webb (VA).

The Senate today also finally cleared the nomination of U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk. His nomination had been held up because of tax issues, but it didn't seem to hurt him too much. His nomination was approved by a vote of 92-5. The no votes were Bond (R-MO) Bunning (R-KY), Byrd (D-WV), Isakson (R-GA) and Sanders (I-VT) (he's an anti-free trade crusader).

The only remaining cabinet nominees to be confirmed are Gary Locke for Secretary of Commerce (he sailed through his hearing today) and Kathleen Sebelius for Health and Human Services.

Tomorrow, the Senate considers a few more Coburn amendments before voting on final passage, which will be subject to a 60 vote threshold, per an agreement between the two leaders. The Senate will also consider the nomination of Elena Kagan to be Solicitor General.

OTHER ITEMS:

-TAUSCHER: It looks like we've got ourselves another House vacancy. Rep. Ellen Tauscher has apparently been chosen by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as the Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control. Tauscher's district in the East Bay Area is relatively liberal, so the Democrats shouldn't have too tough of a time holding the seat. Tauscher was a very prominent member of the House as the leader of the moderate New Democrat Coalition. CSPAN viewers would also recognize her as one of the few members who frequently presides over debate in the House as the Speaker Pro-Tempore.

-STOP LOSS POLICY: The Pentagon announced today that the military's stop-loss policy, which forced soldiers to take extended tours of duty beyond their regular enlistment. The policy will be phased out in the next couple of years. Once again, an "elections have consequences" moment.

-PRESS CONFERENCE: Obama annouced that he will hold his second prime time Press Conference next Tuesday. This should be a good way for him to regain control of the debate in Washington. His mantra: less AIG, more talk about his budget priorities.

After this long, eventful day, we finally say good night. I would appreciate a comment or two.