Senate – News Stories About Senate - Page 37

Congress Ups Nat'l Debt
Ceiling to $12.4T

Dec 24, 2009 11:51 AM CST

Congress Ups Nat'l Debt Ceiling to $12.4T

Bill would authorize Treasury to fund gov through Feb.

(Newser) - The Senate voted today to raise the ceiling on the government debt to $12.4 trillion, a massive increase over the current limit and a political problem that President Barack Obama has promised to address next year. The Senate's rare Christmas Eve vote, 60-39, follows House passage last week and...

Obama to Push Cost Controls in Merging Health Bills

Dec 24, 2009 8:04 AM CST

Obama to Push Cost Controls in Merging Health Bills

Senate plan is the model, but House wants concessions

(Newser) - Barack Obama is going to take an active hand in shaping the compromise between the House and Senate health care bills. His top priority is ensuring that the final bill does enough to control costs, the Wall Street Journal reports. To that end, he favors the Senate’s tax on...

Senate Approves
Historic Health Care Bill

Dec 24, 2009 7:28 AM CST

Senate Approves Historic Health Care Bill

Harry Reid gets exactly the 60 votes he needs

(Newser) - The Senate voted to close debate and approve the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care" act today, better known as the health care reform bill, garnering exactly the 60 votes they needed to pass it, to 39 nay votes, all along partisan lines. Bernie Sanders and Russ Feingold, the potential...

Health Bill Clears
Last Hurdle Before Vote

7am tomorrow

Dec 23, 2009 4:14 PM CST

Health Bill Clears Last Hurdle Before Vote

Party line roll call ends filibuster, sets stage for tomorrow

(Newser) - Exultant Senate Democrats pushed President Obama's landmark health care overhaul past a final procedural hurdle today, setting up a final vote at 7am tomorrow to pass the legislation. Democrats voted 60-39 to end a GOP filibuster, with all 58 Democrats and two independents hanging together against unanimous Republican opposition. Tomorrow's...

How to Combine the 2 Bills and Improve on Both

health care

Dec 23, 2009 8:32 AM CST

How to Combine the 2 Bills and Improve on Both

Sacrifices in store for Pelosi and Co.—and maybe for the industry

(Newser) - The House will need to make a lot of last-minute sacrifices when combining its health care bill with the Senate’s, but if legislators play their cards right, the final bill could be a stronger beast. The Senate must stand by its strong cost control mechanisms, writes David Leonhardt of...

Teabagger
Fears Prayers
Killed Wrong Senator

Dec 23, 2009 5:38 AM CST

Teabagger Fears Prayers Killed Wrong Senator

Georgian worries that plea for Byrd's death backfired

(Newser) - A self-described teabagger who apparently believes his prayers have the power to kill lawmakers cracked up C-Span viewers yesterday. The caller—alarmed by Sen. Jim Inhofe's absence from a vote—told Sen. John Barrasso over the phone that he feared his prayers for 92-year-old Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd to die...

Senate Moves Up Final
Vote to 8am Thursday

christmas spirit

Dec 22, 2009 3:27 PM CST

Senate Moves Up Final Vote to 8am Thursday

Reid, McConnell move to get people home for Xmas Eve

(Newser) - It looks like senators and their staffs will be home for Christmas Eve after all. The final vote on health care legislation has been moved up to 8am Thursday, reports the LA Times . Harry Reid and GOP leader Mitch McConnell announced the move today after a set of procedural votes...

2nd Senate
Vote Nudges
Health Care
Bill Forward

Dec 22, 2009 10:18 AM CST

2nd Senate Vote Nudges Health Care Bill Forward

Just one procedural vote to go before the Christmas Eve finale

(Newser) - Democratic leaders nudged their health care compromise a step closer to pre-Christmas passage this morning, easily clearing their second critical hurdle. The Senate voted 60-39 to shut off debate on Majority Leader Harry Reid's version of the bill, with no Republicans in favor.

Liberal 'Kill Bill' Case Is Naive, Deceptive

Ezra Klein

Dec 22, 2009 10:15 AM CST

Liberal 'Kill Bill' Case Is Naive, Deceptive

Hey, Jane Hamsher: A better bill is not coming along, and this ain't bad

(Newser) - Ezra Klein isn’t “sure there's much in the way of productive dialogue to be had” with liberal firebrand Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake concerning her call yesterday to kill the Senate health care reform bill, but he’ll try anyway. Hamsher’s list is “misleading,” her “...

Pork Applied Liberally to
Grease Health Care Votes

Dec 22, 2009 7:36 AM CST

Pork Applied Liberally to Grease Health Care Votes

Critics slam Senate bill's special deals for holdouts

(Newser) - A close look at the health bill before the Senate reveals that there was no shortage of pork-barrel spending thrown in to get the Democrats the 60 votes they needed. The "cash-for-cloture" deals include one dubbed the "Louisiana Purchase"—$100 million in Medicare cash for the state....

Rudy Giuliani
Won't Run
for Senate

Dec 21, 2009 8:23 PM CST

Rudy Giuliani Won't Run for Senate

Ex-NYC mayor effectively ends political career

(Newser) - Ending months of speculation, Rudy Giuliani will announce tomorrow that he will not run for US Senate. The former New York City mayor plans to remain a presence on the national GOP scene, seizing "an opportunity to engage in targeted races across the country," says a source. He...

10 Ways Senate Health Reform Hurts You

KILL THE BILL

Dec 21, 2009 6:03 PM CST

10 Ways Senate Health Reform Hurts You

Measure that should have saved money will cost an arm and a leg

(Newser) - The Senate health reform bill is all fire and brimstone for the folks over at Firedoglake . The “con job” legislation “isn’t a ‘starter home,’ it’s a sink hole,” Jane Hamsher writes, and “it needs to die so something else can take its...

Sniveling Lefties Should Just Take the Health Care Victory

EJ DIONNE

Dec 21, 2009 12:46 PM CST

Sniveling Lefties Should Just Take the Health Care Victory

Screwy Senate has a flawed, but good bill

(Newser) - The health care bill is as good as it’s going to get, and progressives whining about it—or worse, trying to kill it—are being ridiculous. “In a normal democracy,” EJ Dionne writes, the majority support would quickly pass a public option or Medicare expansion. But the...

Why Dems Scheduled
Xmas Eve Health Care Vote

11th hour, much?

Dec 21, 2009 11:16 AM CST

Why Dems Scheduled Xmas Eve Health Care Vote

Momentum, urgency, fear of embarrassment, etc.

(Newser) - Lamar Alexander has called the Democrats' push to quickly pass health care reform "a political kamikaze mission toward a historic mistake," but Senate Dems have reasons other than self-immolation for scheduling a 7pm vote on Christmas Eve. Politico looks at five:

To maintain momentum: If the latest compromise

...

The Filibuster Must Be Stopped

Paul Krugman

Dec 21, 2009 8:17 AM CST

The Filibuster Must Be Stopped

The country was never intended to have supermajority rule

(Newser) - Health care reform shouldn’t have been a close vote. The Democrats campaigned on health care and won big, which “in any other advanced democracy” would have given them the power to enact reforms, writes Paul Krugman of the New York Times. But because Democrats needed 60 votes to...

Health Care Bill
Clears Crucial
Senate Test

UPDATED

Dec 21, 2009 7:41 AM CST

Health Care Bill Clears Crucial Senate Test

Dems hail first key step in 'historic victory'

(Newser) - A filibuster strategy by Senate Republicans against the health care reform bill was shot down early this morning in a move that clearly signals the measure's likely passage before Christmas. The Senate voted 60-40 for cloture to short-circuit a GOP tactic aimed at killing a package of changes to the...

VP Urges Dems to Unite Behind Senate Health Bill

joe biden

Dec 20, 2009 2:04 PM CST

VP Urges Dems to Unite Behind Senate Health Bill

'In Washington big changes never emerge in perfect form,' ex-senator writes

(Newser) - As president of the Senate, Joe Biden has the run of the place, but the vice president takes to the op-ed page of the New York Times to urge fellow Democrats to stop sniping and support the health care bill. "I’ve been around a long time," the...

Christian Scientists Want Health Bill to Include Prayer

IF IT'S NOT TOO LATE DEPT.

Dec 20, 2009 5:10 AM CST

Christian Scientists Want Health Bill to Include Prayer

Provision's been stripped from both House, Senate versions

(Newser) - With the Senate nearing a vote on health reform, one constituency is still pushing for its cause to be reinserted in the package—Christian Scientists, who want the legislation to recognize that many Americans rely on religious and spiritual healing, and to ban discrimination against those practices and their practitioners....

Senate Kills Botox Tax,
Adds Tanning Tax

Dec 19, 2009 11:42 AM CST

Senate Kills Botox Tax, Adds Tanning Tax

It could soon cost more to get that bronzed look indoors

(Newser) - The Senate bill on health care reform has good news and bad for those who use artificial means to look better in the mirror. The legislation scraps a proposed 5% tax on cosmetic surgery but adds a 10% tax on indoor tanning beds that deliver UV rays. "The only...

Ben Nelson
Says He's In,
Giving Reid
His 60 Votes

senate health care scramble

Dec 19, 2009 9:03 AM CST

Ben Nelson Says He's In, Giving Reid His 60 Votes

Reid unveils final version of bill, including concessions on abortion

(Newser) - The last Democratic holdout on health care reform came into the tent this morning, as Ben Nelson said he will vote for the bill. "We're there," Sen. Kent Conrad told the Washington Post as he headed into a meeting to announce the deal, and Nelson, asked if he...