The New York Observer » US Senate http://www.observer.com Just another WordPress site Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:18:39 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Biden Emails For Gillibrand The Kirsten Gillibrand for Senate campaign sent out an email to supporters this morning from Vice-President Joe Biden urging them to donate to her campaign.

Writes Biden:  "Kirsten is ready to move America forward, but she needs your help to win in November. Will you help her today? You can make a difference! A crucial deadline Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2010/politics/biden-emails-gillibrand Financial Reform Passes Last Senate Hurdle, With Three Republicans But No Feingold The Senate needed 60 votes to end debate on the final version of the enormously widespread financial reform bill. With three Republicans, but without Wisconsin Democrat Russ Feingold, who said it wasn't strict enough, the bill got exactly that this morning: The vote was 60 to 38.

Final Senate approval will come later this afternoon Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2010/wall-street/financial-reform-passes-last-senate-hurdle-three-republicans-no-feingold 59 Votes, 1,500 Pages, and One ‘Good Day’: Senate Passes Financial Reform Bill Wall Street's Wild West days are almost over. Tonight, by a count of 59 to 39, with four Republicans voting along with the Democratic majority, the Senate passed a 1,500-page financial reform bill. It not only includes the so-called Volcker Rule, which limits banks' proprietary trading, but will create new consumer protection, curbs on banking, federal Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2010/wall-street/59-votes-1500-pages-and-one-good-day-senate-passes-financial-reform-bill The Schumer Option: A Short-Term Winner We still don’t know for sure what the final Senate health care plan will look like, but the most likely resolution to one of the stickiest issues has been obvious since early May. That’s when Chuck Schumer outlined his own compromise vision for an optional government-run insurance package. His proposal, a “level playing field” public Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2009/politics/schumer-option-short-term-winner The Anti-Gun Schumer Returns In the minutes before the Senate barely voted down an amendment that would have allowed gun owners to carry concealed weapons across state lines, Chuck Schumer delivered an impassioned speech on the Senate floor urging his colleagues not to back the measure. "This amendment will incite a dangerous race to the bottom in our nation's gun Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2009/politics/anti-gun-schumer-returns The Anti-Gun Schumer Returns In the minutes before the Senate barely voted down an amendment that would have allowed gun owners to carry concealed weapons across state lines, Chuck Schumer delivered an impassioned speech on the Senate floor urging his colleagues not to back the measure. "This amendment will incite a dangerous race to the bottom in our nation's gun Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2009/politics/anti-gun-schumer-returns-0 Blue Dog Math "Fiscal conservative” is one of those terms used by politicians of all sorts to describe themselves, without any real justification. Parroted mindlessly from one news cycle to the next by major media outlets, that phrase is often used to mislead the public about the priorities and policies favored by those who claim to embody budgetary Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2009/politics/blue-dog-math-0 Kirsten Gillibrand vs. McNuggets Kirsten Gillibrand has had it with McDonald's. "Have you been to McDonald's and looked up on that wall and seen what a Big Mac is?" Gillibrand said, laughing, as she spoke on a conference call with reporters this afternoon to announce a new proposal to counter childhood obesity. "Have you looked at that lately?  If Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2009/politics/kirsten-gillibrand-vs-mcnuggets Carolyn Maloney and Bill Clinton, Friends Bill Clinton helped Carolyn Maloney get over her N-word incident by helping her raise money last night,  but he carefully avoided endorsing her in her prospective Senate primary bid against Kirsten Gillibrand. That wasn't surprising to several bundlers I spoke to who are loyal to the Clintons (and who now contribute to Gillibrand). One such bundler said Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2009/politics/carolyn-maloney-and-bill-clinton-friends Massa Says Gillibrand Has Not Sought his Endorsement ALBANY—Representative Eric Massa has still not endorsed Kirsten Gillibrand's re-election, and insists she hasn't brought it up. "No, not at all," he said during a conference call with reporters. "I speak to her almost weekly about matters of legislative business that we collaborate on for the benefit of the people in the district and the Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2009/politics/massa-says-gillibrand-has-not-sought-his-endorsement Hold ‘Em Republicans Asked on Sunday’s Meet the Press whether he believes there’s a need for Congress to pass some kind of health care reform, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell replied, “Oh, absolutely. I’m not in favor of doing nothing.” Well, of course he’d say that. Voters have long ranked health care as one of their top concerns Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2009/politics/hold-em-republicans-0 Obama’s Grim Choice on the Public Option A moment of choosing is fast approaching for Barack Obama and his party’s congressional leaders: to sacrifice the public option that the Democratic base holds so dear, or to stick with it, damn the consequences. Their decision looms as the difference between (almost) sure-thing passage of a compromise health care plan and an ugly, protracted Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2009/politics/obamas-grim-choice-public-option Paid Maloney Supporter, Paid Maloney Strategist Back on June 24, Democratic consultant Joe Trippi blogged on the Huffington Post  about how polls showed Representative Carolyn Maloney would make a much better, and more viable, candidate for U.S. Senator than Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and said that he hoped she "does decide to enter the race." Trippi later added the following update to his post: Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2009/politics/paid-maloney-supporter-paid-maloney-strategist What Is Jeff Sessions’ Agenda? How many candidates for Congress—Democratic and Republican—have you heard loudly insist that they don’t believe in party labels, just in doing the right thing? And how many of them, once elected, end up voting with their party pretty much all the time? It’s an absurd dance. Voters like hearing about “independence” and “bipartisanship,” so candidates Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2009/politics/what-jeff-sessions-agenda Obama’s Dusk, Obama’s Morning Unemployment will drag the Democrats down in 2010, but by 2012 Obama will be back in Read More

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