The Minnesota Supreme Court issued a judgment in favor of Al Franken this afternoon. Norm Coleman has conceded. The Democrats now have a filibuster proof majority in the Senate. Will they use it?

1) Lower the medicaid coverage rate from 150% to 100% of the Federal poverty line, 133% for kids and pregnant women (once you have the baby, too bad for you)
2) Subsidies stop at 300% of the poverty line (was 400%)
3) No Public Option mentioned
4) Insurance exchanges at the State level
5) Must buy insurance unless it costs more than 15% of your income
6) A fine if you don’t buy insurance unless you’re below the Federal poverty line

For the most part, as Walker discusses, this is about the same as or worse than the plan put forward by America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP). Yes, worse than the insurance industry's plan. Remarkable. Baucus is really earning his campaign donations these days.

read the rest at Ian's

Janet Hook | Washington | June 12

LA Times - The bill, passed in a 79-17 vote, would give the agency control over ingredients in tobacco products and restrict ads. The House is expected to follow.

Capping a half-century battle with the tobacco industry, the Senate overwhelmingly approved landmark legislation Thursday that would for the first time give the government far-reaching power to regulate the manufacturing and marketing of cigarettes and other tobacco products.

The House was expected to follow today. The legislation, approved by the Senate 79 to 17, would allow the Food and Drug Administration to regulate ingredients in tobacco products and ban the marketing of "light" cigarettes.

In a bid to deter new smokers, the bill also imposes strict limits on full-color advertising for cigarettes, bans billboards close to schools and requires packages to carry larger warning labels.

"Joe Camel has been sentenced and put away forever," said Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), referring to a youth-oriented cartoon figure long used to promote Camel cigarettes.

President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law as early as next week.

Fredreka Schouten & Paul Overberg | Washington | June 8

USA TODAY - On a mild evening last September, Citigroup lobbyists mingled with South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn at a rooftop reception — complete with miniature putting greens — as the company hosted a party to honor the third most powerful Democrat in the House and raise money for one of his favorite golf charities.

Health insurers and hospitals, meanwhile, are donating millions to help build an institute in Boston to celebrate the career of Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who is attempting to overhaul the nation's health care system.

Despite a ban on gifts to lawmakers and limits on campaign contributions, lobbyists and groups that employ them can spend unlimited money to honor members of Congress or donate to non-profits connected to them or their relatives. The public — until now — had little insight into the scope of this largely hidden world of special-interest influence.

Under ethics rules passed in 2007, lobbyists for the first time last year had to report any payment made for an event or to a group connected to a lawmaker and other top federal officials.

USA TODAY undertook the first comprehensive analysis of the lobbying reports and found 2,759 payments, totaling $35.8 million, were made in 2008. The money went to honor 534 current and former lawmakers, almost 250 other federal officials and more than 100 groups, many of which count lawmakers among their members. h/t Susie at Crooks & Liars

David Lightman & Barbara Barrett | Washington | June 8

McClatchy - Sweeping changes in how the government controls tobacco content and marketing are likely to be approved by the U.S. Senate this week, despite a strong last-ditch effort by tobacco interests and skepticism from some experts that smokers won't kick their habit.

The bill, passed overwhelmingly by the House of Representatives in April and due for a Senate vote as early as Tuesday, would give the Food and Drug Administration broad new authority over tobacco.

"It's a massive move in public policy," said Andrew Taylor, a political science professor at North Carolina State University.

The bill would permit the FDA to limit the amount of nicotine in a product, bar advertising and marketing aimed at children and prevent companies from making unsubstantiated claims about "reduced risk" items.

Let me guess, the subsidies will increase..

Beth Reinhard & Adam C. Smith | Tallahassee, FL | May 12

Miami Herald - Gov. Charlie Crist's expected announcement Tuesday that he's running for U.S. Senate could lead to many state leaders running for higher office.

For the next 18 months, as the state battles its worst financial crisis in at least half a century, Florida will be led by a bunch of lame ducks.

Virtually every statewide leader in Tallahassee, beginning with Gov. Charlie Crist, is expected to be seeking higher office. Crist's anticipated announcement Tuesday morning that he's running for the U.S. Senate, rather than reelection as governor, will trigger one of the most chaotic and wide open election seasons ever in Florida.

With several print newspapers already dead in recent months, others failing or under financial threat and a crass crowd of brash, disrespectful online journalists attracting millions of readers, the jut-jawed senator from Massachusetts John Kerry is worried about the future of said journalism.

Why is it his business? some might ask.

Well, for one thing, as a youngster Kerry delivered the Washington Star. That newspaper died. As an adult Democratic candidate for president five years ago, Kerry got some rough treatment from opponents and journalists both on- and offline. His campaign died. Does anyone see a pattern here?

But the contemporary reason for Kerry's journalism concern is that he chairs the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet (SCSOCTATI). Which is probably a big deal somewhere. (See below Kerry talking with an apparent politics blogger.)

Except for celebrity nudity and public confessions of marital infidelity by elected people, few things are guaranteed to attract media attention more than discussions about itself. It's self-fulfilling. The press corps must be important if it's getting so much coverage from itself. more :) at LA Times

Thank You Arlen Specter!

Now We're Sure to Get the Following

Michael Collins

We're just about there, the magic 60 figure in the United States Senate. It's being called a filibuster proof majority for the Democratic Party. All we need is a belated recognition of the United States Constitution and the rules of the Senate in the form of an official Senator Al Franken (D-MN) and we're ready to rock.

Here's what we can expect:

Surely habeas corpus will be restored in an unashamed expression of support for that centuries old protection of civil liberties.

No doubt, we'll see a repeal of the Patriot Act. That step back to some degree of civilization is sure to come.

There will be a long overdue recognition that the first people in line for help from the government are the citizens of this great country who work overtime to just keep their heads above water.

That will happen at the same time that trillions in Wall Street welfare are stopped and replaced by actions that allow people to stay in their homes, pay for their health care, and send their children to college. No doubt about it.

We won't be forced into mindless wars that obligate us to more deaths and the inevitable blowback from overseas adventures. Let the word go forth from Washington. The troops are coming home.

The Glass-Steagall Act will be restored and the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 will be repealed ending the enabling acts for an era of greed.

No more talk about having too many "big picture" items on the agenda to allow working men and women to organize and fight for their rights in unions.

We'll surely mount a massive program to save us all from the looming eco catastrophes due to climate change and pollution.

Elections will be transparent, open to all, and subject to public review and verification.

We will no longer countenance wire tapping, Internet snooping, and other forms of illegal surveillance by the government.

Don Siegelman's conviction will be overturned while Susan Lindauer and all the other victims of Bush fascism will receive apologies for the vicious government harassment visited on them.

All it takes is Arlen on board and Al ready to hop the freedom train to the promised land of a government that serves the people and public servants that know the meaning of the word servant.

There can be no doubt that those who have erred and sinned against the people will be reborn into a new life as representatives of the nation that they serve. They will cast away their Money Party sympathies and hop on board.

Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Mark Pryor (D-AR) will start voting for the working people that they represent. The 21 FISA supporting Democratic senators will take the time to read the Constitution and change their ways. The Senate Committee on Finance headed by Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) will actually investigate that $140 billion gift to banks allowed by the likely illegal Bush White House authored tax code changes. The Nelsons, Ben and Bill, along with 16 other Democratic senators will repent for their vote on that horrid bankruptcy bill.

And all of them will join in unison and say no more funding for illegal wars.

Happy days are here again. Pop the cork!

END

Holy fuck. This is huge. This gives the Democrats in the Senate 60 votes. That's filibuster proof. The Republicans are so screwed now. Let's hope the Democrats put this to good use.

Carl Hulse | Washington | April 28

NYT - Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania said he would switch to the Democratic party Tuesday, potentially presenting Democrats with a possible 60th vote and the power to break Senate filibusters as they try to advance the Obama administration’s new agenda.

Congressional aides and others close to the long-time Republican party maverick said Mr. Specter, who faced a difficult re-election next year, was going to announce he would become a Democrat.

Pat Doyle | Minneapolis | Apr 14

Star Tribune - Three judges soundly rejected Norm Coleman's attempt to reverse Al Franken's lead in the U.S. Senate election late Monday, sweeping away the Republican's claims in a blunt ruling Coleman promised to appeal.

After a trial spanning nearly three months, the judicial panel dismissed Coleman's central argument that the election and its aftermath were fraught with systemic errors that made the results invalid.

"The overwhelming weight of the evidence indicates that the Nov. 4, 2008, election was conducted fairly, impartially and accurately," the panel said in its unanimous decision.

The panel concluded that Franken, a DFLer, "received the highest number of votes legally cast" in the election. Franken emerged from the trial with a 312-vote lead, the court ruled, and "is therefore entitled to receive the certificate of election."

David E. RePass asks why Harry Reid once again is letting Republicans set the agenda in the Senate (SP asked a similar question in 'Harry Reid in action' in 2008)

NYT - President Obama has decided to spend his political capital now, pushing through an ambitious agenda of health care, education and energy reform. If the Democrats in the Senate want to help him accomplish his goals, they should work to eliminate one of the greatest threats facing effective governance — the phantom filibuster.

The phantom filibuster could be done away with overnight by the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid. All he needs to do is call the minority’s bluff by bringing a challenged measure to the floor and letting the debate begin.

Daniel Luban & Eli Clifton | Washington | Feb 28

IPS - The fiercely anti-Islam Dutch MP Geert Wilders has been traveling through the U.S. this week on a highly-publicised trip to meet with politicians, promote his controversial film ‘Fitna’, and raise money for his legal defence back home.

Although Wilders’s stated goal has been to campaign for free speech, his trip has been sponsored and promoted by an unlikely coalition of groups united primarily by their hostility towards Islam. His backers include neoconservative and right-wing Jewish groups on the one hand and figures with ties to the European far right on the other.

Since he was charged with incitement to hate and discrimination in the Netherlands in January and denied entry to Britain earlier this month on public safety grounds, Wilders has become something of a cause celebre for the U.S. right.

This week, he gave a private viewing of his 17-minute anti-Islam film in the U.S. Senate, where he was hosted by Senator Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican. He also appeared on Bill O’Reilly’s and Glenn Beck’s popular right-wing TV shows, met privately with the Wall Street Journal editorial board, and hobnobbed with former U.N. ambassador John Bolton at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

On Friday, he capped his busy week with an appearance at the National Press Club. At the event, he reiterated his calls for a halt to immigration from Muslim countries and pronounced, to raucous applause from the audience, that "our Western culture based on Christianity, Judaism, and humanism is in every aspect better than Islamic culture".

Why was the senate allowed to host this blatent extremism?

Congress is spending nearly a trillion dollars on the stimulus bill. That’s about $3,000 for every man, woman and child in America, $12,000 for a family of four. This is on top of that family’s $126,000 share of the existing federal deficit, a debt of 3 times the median family income. The interest paid on that debt is money that cannot be used to fund college or vocational training, safe streets or a secure retirement. We are told that taking on this new debt will cure the economy, that if people spend their tax reductions on toys and the government spends on roads everything will be good once more. But some time in 2010 the toys will be in the trash and the road builders will be laid off again. What then? Another trillion? For the last decade our economy has been built on debt. Will our government now do anything to stimulate real organic growth, or will it perpetuate policies that stifle demand and maintain our dependence on artificial stimulants?

More after the jump.

Feb 8

CNN - * Story Highlights
* Bipartisan group of senators reaches compromise on stimulus bill
* Items partially cut include funds for FBI construction, federal hybrid cars, EPA
* Items entirely cut include funds for federal prisons, NASA, school construction

A coalition of Democrats and some Republicans reached a compromise that trimmed billions in spending from an earlier version of the Senate economic stimulus bill.

CNN obtained, from a Democratic leadership aide, a list of some programs that have been cut, either entirely or partially: (list after the jump)

Over the wire services, looking for a link.

first one is here

Blagojevich has been a bleeding sore for some time, re-elected only because of the disarray of the Republican Party in Illinois, a state which seems to make high level corruption a way of life. However, serious moves for his impeachment and removal only began when Fitzgerald released tapes that had the governor conspiring to sell the appointment to the US Senate Seat vacancy. These tapes had expletive laden hard sell in them, and shocked the nation.

The Illinois legislature dithered, allowing Blagojevich to appoint Rolad Burris, and the Senate then capitulated on seating the former state wide elected official.

Michael Falcone | January 5

NYT - The Minnesota State Canvassing Board certified results Monday showing Al Franken, a Democrat, winning the Senate recount over Republican Norm Coleman, who is expected to challenge the result.

Earlier today, the state Supreme Court rejected the Coleman campaign’s petition to count several hundred additional absentee ballots.

Chicago | December 30

Chicago Tribune - Gov. Rod Blagojevich is expected today to name former Illinois Atty. Gen. Roland Burris to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.

The action comes despite warnings by Democratic Senate leaders that they would not seat anyone appointed by the disgraced governor who faces criminal charges of trying to sell the post, sources familiar with the decision said.

Shortly after Obama's Nov. 4 victory, Burris made known his interest in an appointment to the Senate but was never seriously considered, according to Blagojevich insiders. But in the days following Blagojevich's arrest, and despite questions over the taint of a Senate appointment, Burris stepped up his efforts to win the governor's support.

by CODY LYON

While the name Kennedy certainly evokes a sense of political reverence, respect and legacy, the family, despite remarkable political accomplishment, has also come to represent an American dynasty of sorts, the oft clichéd version of our royalty.' And while there's nothing wrong with Americans expressing affection for the pomp, circumstance even the tradition associated with royalty, there is reason to question, show concern or perhaps raise flags when one's family genes provide an untested individual with a potentially easy pathway to national political office.

History books teach us that the United States is a free and open Democracy that consists of government by and for the people. So, considering that `by' essentially equals votes, it might seem logical that in choosing New York's next Senator to succeed Hillary Clinton, the Governor might consider appointing an individual who has at least gotten votes for a public office, or consider tapping a public official who has earned more tangible political wings beyond being the daughter of one of the nation's most revered presidents and a member of our nation's often romanticized but powerful political dynasties.

Senate Rules Kill Bailout, Foil Democracy

Rigged Game Stops Vote on Bill

Michael Collins

(Wash. DC) The Unites States Senate voted down a "cloture" resolution last night killing the automaker bailout before it was even considered. Failure to gain approval for cloture opened the bill up to an anticipated filibuster. General Motors, the largest U.S. manufacturer, is in terrible shape financially and may not survive the month.

The company has 270,000 employees.

Harry Reid (D-NV), the Senate Majority Leader, offered these stirring words: "If there is no agreement that can be reached ... we have danced this tune long enough." Dec. 12, 2008 Reid joined the majority of Republicans in opposing cloture.

More after the jump.

Sam Stein | December 12

Huffington Post - The Minnesota Senate recount campaign has firmly entered its legal stages, with Al Franken's chief counsel sending a lengthy and sharply argued memorandum to the Secretary of State's office on Thursday making the case for counting a group of contested absentee ballots.

The newsworthy thrust of David Lillehaug's 39-page brief for Secretary of State Mark Ritchie was the direct highlighting of 62 individual cases where voters were either "erroneously rejected by election officials for not being registered," or their absentee ballots were wrongfully rejected.

Yeoowch:

Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff John Harris were arrested today by FBI agents on federal corruption charges.

Blagojevich and Harris were accused of a wide-ranging criminal conspiracy that included Blagojevich conspiring to sell or trade the Senate seat left vacant by President-elect Barack Obama in exchange for financial benefits for the governor and his wife. The governor was also accused of obtaining campaign contributions in exchange for other official actions.

Here's the *.pdf from Fitzmas.

If all this is true, he should be locked up for a long, long time. I don't care if he is a Democrat or Republican. Selling high offices? Lock him and his wife up. And his chief of staff too.

I've been following the news pretty closely in the Franken vs. Coleman race. Coleman's strategy is basically the same as Bush's was in Florida: challenge everything but make sure your votes are the ones that stay in the public eye. That shouldn't be allowed to work this time around. I'm not saying Franken has won, either. What I do think, however, is that there be a run-off. And there is ample precedent for such a thing. It's basically a statistical tie at this point. So, let's have a run-off.

Paul Kane | Anchorage, AK | November 19

WaPo - Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich (D) defeated Sen. Ted Stevens, ending the tenure of the longest-serving Republican in Senate history, after the counting of more ballots yesterday gave him a larger lead than the number of votes still untallied, Alaska elections officials said.

Begich's win gives Democrats control of 58 seats in the Senate, including two independents who caucus with them. That is two shy of the number needed to prevent Republicans from filibustering, with two races still undecided. Democrats have not controlled 60 seats since 1978.