Senate Democrats

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Obama Won't Share Funds With Senate Dems

Party sees chance to boost majority, but nominee feels pressure to stuff war chest

(Newser) - Barack Obama has rejected an appeal from the Senate Democrats to kick some campaign money their way, Politico reports. Obama raised a record $66 million in August, but is currently outmatched by the combination of John McCain and the Republican National Committee. With 23 GOP-held seats being contested, Senate Dems...

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...

GOP Senators Try to Outflank Dems on Iraq Funding Bill

See chance to show war is succeeding

(Newser) - After months of blocking Democrat-sponsored anti-war bills, Senate Republicans changed course sharply yesterday, agreeing to advance a bill that cuts off funding for combat in Iraq after 120 days. GOP senators made the switch on grounds that a debate over conditions in Iraq allows them time to hail progress in...

Deal on Stimulus Package Puts Heat on Senate

Bush, Congress bask in the brief glow of cooperation, but can it last?

(Newser) - The $150 billion package of tax breaks for consumers and businesses rolled out yesterday was the first show of bipartisan cooperation sans bloodletting since the  Democrats won control of Congress a year ago, the Washington Post observes. It took panic over a looming recession to make it happen, and it...

Mukasey Tells Congress to Back Off CIA Tapes Inquiry

AG won't divulge investigation details

(Newser) - Michael Mukasey isn't about to open up to Democratic lawmakers who want details of the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into the CIA’s destruction of interrogation tapes, the Washington Post reports. In letters sent today, the new AG also restated his objections to appointing a special prosecutor to investigate,...

Dems Fail to Bring Troop Bill to Senate Vote

Warner defection kills bill to mandate time between deployments

(Newser) - Senate Democrats were unable to muster enough GOP support today to bring to a vote a bill that would have given US troops more down time between overseas deployments. A late defection by Republican John Warner was the death knell for the bill, the Wall Street Journal reports, sponsored by...

Dems Willing to Deal on Troop Pullout

They're easing off deadline after some surge progress

(Newser) - Senate Democrats are signaling they are willing to compromise with Republicans on a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq. The Democrats, who pushed before the summer recess for a pullout deadline next spring, have been undercut by some progress in Iraq and the success of the White House in maintaining...

Senator, on the Mend, Returns to SD
Senator,
on the Mend,
Returns to SD

Senator, on the Mend, Returns to SD

Recovering after brain hemorrhage, Johnson to get back to work

(Newser) - Tim Johnson will be back in the Senate next week, and yesterday he returned to South Dakota to declare, "I am back!" What's more, in a series of interviews during his recovery from the brain hemorrhage that threw the control of the Senate into question, he told ABC's...

Maliki Must Go: Senator
Maliki Must
Go: Senator

Maliki Must Go: Senator

Iraq needs 'more unifying' leader, says head of Armed Services Committee

(Newser) - Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki must go, says Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Carl Levin, who yesterday called on the nation's parliament to replace him with a "more unifying" leader if Maliki can't quickly forge political peace among rival factions. Maliki's current talks with Iraqi leaders is the "...

Dems Should Throw Joe Overboard
Dems Should Throw Joe Overboard

Dems Should Throw Joe Overboard

Lieberman does party more harm than good, columnist claims

(Newser) - Senate Democrats wouldn’t be in the majority if Joe Lieberman didn’t caucus with them, but maybe they’d be better off, the New York Observer’s Steve Kornacki argues. Kornacki says the Independent senator embarrasses Dems by siding with the enemy  and accusing them of being terrorist coddlers....

White House Stonewalls on Subpoenas
White House Stonewalls
on Subpoenas

White House Stonewalls on Subpoenas

Bush invokes executive privilege in Senate probe of US attorney firings

(Newser) - The White House shot down attempts to subpoena internal documents concerning the US attorney firings today by invoking executive privilege. Though not a surprise, the refusal moved the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee to accuse the administration of "Nixonian stonewalling." If the committee doesn't back down, the...

Three Freshmen Dems Balking at Immigration Bill

Opposition of centrists could sink measure

(Newser) - Three Senate Democrats--all newly elected in close races--are lining up against  the controversial immigration bill championed by President Bush and Democratic leaders. They and eight other Democratic naysayers could be crucial in determining the fate of the bill, reports the New York Times. A vote in the Senate could come...

Democrats Don't Live Up to Hype
Democrats Don't Live Up to Hype

Democrats Don't Live Up to Hype

New majority's accomplishments are few, and mostly symbolic

(Newser) - Seven months after wresting control of Congress from Republicans, Democrats have failed to make good on their promises, writes the Economist. Almost none of the bills introduced in the first "100 hours" has become law, AG Alberto Gonzalez still has a job, and an Iraq pullout is nowhere in...

Congress OKs New Iraq Bill
Congress OKs New Iraq Bill

Congress OKs New Iraq Bill

Sans timetable, Bush expected to sign; Clinton and Obama say nay

(Newser) - Congress approved $95 billion to pay for the war in Iraq—without a timetable for troop withdrawal. The bill, which Bush says he'll sign, passed both houses last night, ending a long and bitter struggle between Democrats and a veto-ready White House over bringing the troops home. Aspiring presidents Clinton...

Dem Congress Still Dishing Out Pork
Dem Congress Still Dishing Out Pork

Dem Congress Still Dishing Out Pork

The new majority is not as kosher as they claim to be

(Newser) - Democrats in Congress pledged to cut the pork out of appropriations bills, but the new majority is already cheating on the diet, reports the  Washington Post. Using a technique called "phonemarking," congressmen are contacting federal agencies directly and asking them to fund their pet projects, all while boasting...

Dems, President Get Serious On Iraq Compromise

A day of pomp and American flags leads back to the drawing board

(Newser) - After a day of partisan theatrics—what the Politico notes may rank as the Capitol's most celebrated sendoff for a doomed bill—work gets serious on a compromise war spending bill that may include benchmarks but no timelines. Bush meets with congressional leaders to begin formal negotiations today, even as...

Big Business Turns Blue
Big Business Turns Blue

Big Business Turns Blue

Companies fill Dems' war chests, seeking traction with ruling party

(Newser) - Corporate America is shifting campaign contributions from GOP soulmates to Democrats, eager to bond with new legislative gatekeepers. Coffers aren't swelling across the board, though; a Wall Street Journal analysis shows pro-business Dems are pulling in most of it. General Dynamics, Honeywell International, Home Depot. and Aflac are among those...

Reid Declares War Is Lost
Reid Declares War Is Lost  

Reid Declares War Is Lost

Rhetorical bombshell fires up pundits, but will policy consequences follow?

(Newser) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has upped the ante in the Dems' rhetoric on Iraq, saying the U.S. has "lost" in Iraq, and warning that, "the surge is not accomplishing anything." But he stopped short of threatening to pull funding from the war, the biggest gun...

THAT OLD BLACK MAGIC
THAT OLD BLACK MAGIC

THAT OLD BLACK MAGIC

Does Barack Obama make white people feel safe?

(Newser) - As if Barack Obama did not face enough obstacles, the junior senator from Illinois with Oval Office aspirations is likened to a "magic negro" by David Ehrenstein. The "magic negro" is a cultural and cinematic racial stereotype exemplified by some of the characters played by Sidney Poitier, Scatman...

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