Spector may not be automatic Vote.. but he's a realist

“I will not be an automatic 60th vote,” Specter said Tuesday afternoon. “I would illustrate that with my position on employee choice, also known as card check. I think it’s a bad deal and I’m opposed to it. I will not vote to impose cloture. … If the Democratic Party asks too much, I will not vote with them.” -Politico

What does this mean for this like the EFCA vote? Well according to Employee Free Choice Report, even though he said in his statement he would not change his vote on EFCA, it might.

"My change in party affiliation does not mean that I will be a party-line voter any more for the Democrats that I have been for the Republicans. Unlike Senator Jeffords' switch which changed party control, I will not be an automatic 60th vote for cloture. For example, my position on Employees Free Choice (Card Check) will not change."

Spector was the only Republican to vote for cloture last year on HR 800 EFCA. I am hopeful that a small change in the bill might help him change his mind. Further, Spector now realizes that he will need Democratic Party support in the next election. Without their support with one of the central issues being EFCA, he can't expect be elected for a 5th term. I Believe with enough pressure, he can become the needed vote for labor.

Spector Makes 59..Franken makes 60

The news is in. Yes! Arlen Spector a life long Republican from Pennsylvania decided recently to switch party's making the race..assuming Franken is seating (which is all but inevitable) up to 60 votes. This is so important because it would provide a veto proof majority in Congress that wuold allow the President to sign crucial legislation loike Health care, energy, education and hopefully Labor reform

Spector was seen as a vulnerable candidate in 2010, where he was loosing in his Republican primary. This is a symptom of a larger issue of Republicans driving moderates out of the party. In his statement He cited that the party was taking ideology over political relevance. "They don't make any bones about their willingness to lose the general election if they can purify the party. I don't understand it but that's what they say."

60 votes... 60 that's huge. It has always been the magic number. With Franken getting seated in the future, real reform will happen in this Congress. The last few months have been filled with Republicans using their Senate minority to block legislation and to make the Democrats look bad, but with this vote, that could change. Granted Spector isn't an automatic vote, butmif he wants to do well in the Democratic primary in 13 Months, he will have to take Democratic Party Platform possitions.


What Does this mean For Franken?

This means the stakes just hot higher. A 60th vote in the senate would make the minority party less relevent. This makes the Coleman lawsuit even more applicable and John Cornyn's push for the Supreme Court appeal even louder.

But.. Pawlenty said that Spector's decision didnt affect the contest in Minnesota, or when he would sign a certificate. This could be good or bad news for Democrats because Pawlenty remains vague on the issue.
"We're going to follow the law with respect to the Franken/Coleman litigation and when and how a certificate gets issued," Pawlenty said. "So again, the situation with Pennsylvania has no connection or impact on what's going to happen in Minnesota."



This could be a historic moment. We will just have to wait and see.

Omnibus Hypocricy in the Senate

It is nice to hear that Senators saying things along the line of "no more bridges to nowhere." I agreed to an extent with the Republican leadership that there were to many solo earmarks in the Omnibus spending bill. What I do not agree with is that out of the Omnibus bill is that they have become hypocrites.


MSNBC Reported

"Indeed, of the 35 U.S. senators who opposed the omnibus spending bill last night -- in the form of a "no" on the cloture vote -- 28 of them had solo earmarks in the legislation.

In total, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, these 28 senators had a combined 307 solo earmarks totaling nearly $240 million. The breakdown is below."

I commend the 7 principled legislator without earmarks in the bill, but as you can see (from list below) the leadership had more earmarks than any other naysayer. McConnell the minority leader has a lot of answering to do.

McConnell simply said “this spending spree needs to come to an end.”

'Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) called the spending bill a "missed opportunity" and urged President Obama to veto it. "The bill costs far too much for a government that should be watching every dime," he said.'

But what Sen. Mitch McConnell doesn't mention in his comments about spending is that he himself (a member of the Appropriations Cmte.) secured 75 million in earmarks in the bill and 51 million in solo sponsored earmarks.

If you ask me it seems like complete talking point Fraud. Saying one thing, and doing the exact opposite. This is why republican talking points are sometimes effective but often wrong and not founded in reality.

Many point out this bill is bloated but forget to mention, it is bloated with their own pet projects.

Here is the Obama response to the earmark hypocrisy.




Here's the breakdown:
Barrasso (4 earmarks, $2.7 million)
Bayh (4 earmarks, $1.2 million)
Bennett (23 earmarks, $18 million)
Brownback (21 earmaks, $12 million)
Bunning (5 earmarks, $735,000)
Burr (3 earmarks, $1.3 million)
Chambliss (7 earmarks, $4.3 million)
Collins (1 earmark, $380,000)
Corker (1 earmark, $760,000)
Cornyn (5 earmarks, $2.5 million)
Crapo (1 earmark, $100,000)
Enzi (5 earmarks, $1.7 million)
Graham (14 earmarks, $9.5 million)
Grassley (8 earmarks, $350,000)
Gregg (19 earmarks, $10 million)
Hatch (7 earmarks, $700,000)
Hutchison (35 earmarks, $9.9 million)
Inhofe (34 earmarks, $53 million)
Isakson (2 earmarks, $1.4 million)
Kyl (3 earmarks, $5 million)
Lugar (10 earmarks, $3.3 million)
Martinez (8 earmarks, $18.8 million)
McConnell (36 earmarks, $51 million)
Roberts (11 earmarks, $2.2 million)
Sessions (12 earmarks, $4.3 million)
Thune (6 earmarks, $4.3 million)
Vitter (16 earmarks, $4 million)
Voinovich (6 earmarks, $13.5 million)