U.S. Senate – Pensito

Former Senators Say Senate Is Broken

February 26, 2020 Buck Banks

“The Senate’s abdication of its legislative and oversight responsibilities erodes the checks and balances of the separate powers that are designed to protect the liberties on which our democracy depends.”

— Seventy former senators from both parties wrote an open letter arguing that the U.S. Senate isn’t functioning as the Founders intended.

Why Doug Jones will Lose His Senate Seat to a Republican in Alabama

November 7, 2019November 7, 2019 Trish Ponder

When a less chewed up and spit out Jeff Sessions vacated his Senate seat in 2017 to become Donald Trump’s first U.S. Attorney General, it forced a special election in Alabama to replace him. And that’s about the only way a Democrat like Doug Jones was ever going to win in that state.

The reason is straight ticket voting (STV). Alabama (and six other states*) still offer this option for those who have one concern when casting a ballot: party affiliation.
[…]

Mitch McConnell’s ‘Very Expensive Lunch Club’

May 1, 2019 Buck Banks

“Three times a week the Senate Republicans meet for lunch… And occasionally they walk into that chamber and take a vote or two or three on judges. That is the sum total of the Senate’s work today. Mitch McConnell has effectively turned the United States Senate into a very expensive lunch club.”

— Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), quoted by The Hill.

Senators Get One-Week Recess Instead of Four

June 6, 2018 Buck Banks

1

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “told lawmakers that the Senate will recess for one week instead of four to work on nominations and legislation,” the Washington Post reports.

Divine Sense of Humor?

January 3, 2018 Buck Banks

Minnesotan Michele Bachmann is weighing a U.S. Senate Run,
Which would inject our sorry politics with some whack-job fun.
But before facing the nation,
She seeks divine confirmation.
And we’re fervently hoping God tells her she’s His Chosen One.

Jimmy Kimmel: Punkin’ Alabama with ‘Judge Roy Moore’s Number One Fan’

December 2, 2017 Jon Ponder

Jimmy Kimmel sent comedian Jake Bird to Alabama to punk Judge Roy Moore and his fans.

If Moore Is Elected, Senate has to Seat Him

December 1, 2017 Buck Banks

“If he is elected, there are no grounds under the Constitution to fail to seat him. The Constitution says you can only look at citizenship, whether they are a resident of the state, and if they are the proper age. So we have to seat him.”

— Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), quoted by CNN, on whether the U.S. Senate would refuse to seat Roy Moore (R) if he wins Alabama’s special election.

A Classified Bus Ride

April 27, 2017 Buck Banks

Amid concern over when and where North Korea’s bomb will drop,
Trump called the Senate together to say let’s make Kim stop.
But when all was said and done,
Senators concluded, as one —
The president had just called them to gather for a photo op.

Cook: Clinton Wins and Dems Take Senate

November 8, 2016 Buck Banks

There is a food fight under way among many of those doing presidential-election modeling… It’s not my style or expertise to put a specific percentage on Clinton’s chances of winning, but, suffice it to say, it’s a really big number. … The Senate is tougher to call. The strong likelihood of a Clinton victory means that the Democratic target is 50 seats, a gain of four, with Vice President Tim Kaine casting a tie-breaking vote if necessary. Right now, I think the odds are highest for a four-seat gain, next likely would be five seats.

— Charlie Cook

Rubio Says Women Don’t Need the ERA

September 22, 2016September 24, 2016 Trish Ponder

Good news, ladies! You might not have noticed it, but your rights in America are totally equal. Your protections are the same as men. Discrimination based on gender is over. Feels good, huh?

Apparently that’s what Sen. Marco Rubio thinks. When he was asked at a rally before he quit his race for president earlier this year if he would support the Equal Rights Amendment, Rubio guffawed. “That old thing?” he seemed to say in a newly released video. “That’s so 1979!”

In fact, efforts continue to this day to enshrine equal protection of rights for women in the United States Constitution.

Now Rubio is back in Florida, running for the U.S. Senate seat he virtually abandoned because he was so convinced America would elect him their president in November. Yet even as he campaigns, he won’t commit to serving the full term, lest he again decide America wants him more than Florida does. How Rubio has any support in his state, and any votes among those of us paying pink taxes is a mystery.

“The Senate’s abdication of its legislative and oversight responsibilities erodes the checks and balances of the separate powers that are designed to protect the liberties on which our democracy depends.”

— Seventy former senators from both parties wrote an open letter arguing that the U.S. Senate isn’t functioning as the Founders intended.

— Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), quoted by The Hill.

1

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “told lawmakers that the Senate will recess for one week instead of four to work on nominations and legislation,” the Washington Post reports.

“If he is elected, there are no grounds under the Constitution to fail to seat him. The Constitution says you can only look at citizenship, whether they are a resident of the state, and if they are the proper age. So we have to seat him.”

— Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), quoted by CNN, on whether the U.S. Senate would refuse to seat Roy Moore (R) if he wins Alabama’s special election.

— Charlie Cook

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“It’s so unworthy of a president. It’s beyond despicable. It’s soulless. It’s almost unspeakable in the middle of the pandemic to try to divide the country on a political basis when Covid-19 is really bipartisan.”

— Former Gov. Tom Ridge (R), quoted by the New York Times, on President Trump saying the coronavirus death toll from the coronavirus was actually not so bad “if you take out the blue states.”

“You can imagine it and try to dismiss it, saying he’s just a blowhard and schoolyard tough guy, using his thumbs on Twitter like fists. But the reality, the harsh cold onslaught, is just pure pain.”

— The late Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), in a posthumously published book, We’re Better Than This: My Fight for the Future of Our Democracy.

“This is not like embedding with the Marines in Fallujah. It is like you are taking your family with you to Fallujah.”

— ABC News White House correspondent Jon Karl, quoted by National Journal, on covering indoor Trump rallies.

“The microphone is also a microscope.”

— Bob Woodward told Savannah Guthrie on the Today Show that he will release the audio recordings of his interviews with President Trump that are “relevant.”

“This is an insult to every Nevadan who has followed the directives, made sacrifices, and put their neighbors before themselves. It’s also a direct threat to all of the recent progress we’ve made and could potentially set us back.”

— Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) slammed President Trump Sunday night for violating state rules by holding a campaign rally indoors with thousands of people, NBC News reports.

Numerati

72%

$5.4 million

Michael Bloomberg will spend $5.4 million on a weeklong TV ad campaign in Florida, part of his pledge to help Joe Biden win the all-important presidential battleground state, McClatchy reports.

69%

$1.1 million

“President Trump’s luxury properties have charged the U.S. government more than $1.1 million in private transactions since Trump took office — including for room rentals at his Bedminster, N.J., club this spring while it was closed for the coronavirus pandemic,” the Washington Post reports.

$1 million

Jaime Harrison (D) announced that he raised $1 million within a day after a poll found him tied with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) the U.S. Senate race in South Carolina.