Democrats pick up another Senate seat.

[techs]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/14/usa-congress-king-idUSL1E8ME3HT20121114

US Senator-elect Angus King sides with Democrats

Nov 14 (Reuters) - U.S. Senator-elect Angus King, an independent and former Maine governor, said Wednesday he will caucus with President Barack Obama's Democrats, raising the party's control of the Senate to 55-45 in the new Congress that convenes in January.

King had been expected to side with Democrats, but deferred his decision until after the general election last week. His allegiance gives Democrats a gain of two seats in the 100-member chamber but falls short of the 60 votes necessary to block the filibusters that frequently paralyze the Senate.

King will fill the seat of Republican Senator Olympia Snowe, who retired with a denunciation of the partisan gridlock that prevents Congress from resolving many of the nation's problems.


Well, technically not a Democrat but he is caucusing with them.

 

[HomerJS]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/14/usa-congress-king-idUSL1E8ME3HT20121114

US Senator-elect Angus King sides with Democrats

Nov 14 (Reuters) - U.S. Senator-elect Angus King, an independent and former Maine governor, said Wednesday he will caucus with President Barack Obama's Democrats, raising the party's control of the Senate to 55-45 in the new Congress that convenes in January.

King had been expected to side with Democrats, but deferred his decision until after the general election last week. His allegiance gives Democrats a gain of two seats in the 100-member chamber but falls short of the 60 votes necessary to block the filibusters that frequently paralyze the Senate.

King will fill the seat of Republican Senator Olympia Snowe, who retired with a denunciation of the partisan gridlock that prevents Congress from resolving many of the nation's problems.


Well, technically not a Democrat but he is caucusing with them.

and King has as his first agenda item fillibuster reform!

 

[Ausm]

and King has as his first agenda item fillibuster reform!

You mean McConnell won't be able to Filibuster the American Jobs Act again

 

[techs]

and King has as his first agenda item fillibuster reform!

Very quietly Maine has been turning blue after being deep red forever.
Their governer snuck in with 38 percent of the vote and he is a tea party lunatic. He tried to take a down a mural that showed Maine workers, including Rosie the Riveter at the Bath Iron Works during WW2.

Here is how nutty he is:

His series of proposals includes requiring high schools to pay for any remedial classes their graduates require in college

Those changes include dropping 5,000 to 6,000 low-income senior citizens with disabilities from the Drugs for the Elderly program (which provides low-cost prescription drugs to low-income elderly patients), and ending Medicaid coverage for up to 65,000 recipients, including many who are disabled or elderly

A proposal to allow public funds to go to religious schools was defeated in the Legislature

LePage again gained national attention when he spoke on a local TV news program saying he hoped to repeal the Maine ban of Bisphenol A, voted for unanimously by the Maine Board of Environmental Protection,[61] because "There hasn’t been any science that identifies that there is a problem” and added: “The only thing that I’ve heard is if you take a plastic bottle and put it in the microwave and you heat it up, it gives off a chemical similar to estrogen. So the worst case is some women may have little beards....and we don't want that

 

[EagleKeeper]

Do not see any issue with the first proposal tech's listed


Schools know that standards that are needed; remove the up and out attitude and hold the school accountable fort he quality of it's product.

Might actually convince schools to turn out quality instead of quantity.

 

[EagleKeeper]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/14/usa-congress-king-idUSL1E8ME3HT20121114

US Senator-elect Angus King sides with Democrats

Nov 14 (Reuters) - U.S. Senator-elect Angus King, an independent and former Maine governor, said Wednesday he will caucus with President Barack Obama's Democrats, raising the party's control of the Senate to 55-45 in the new Congress that convenes in January.

King had been expected to side with Democrats, but deferred his decision until after the general election last week. His allegiance gives Democrats a gain of two seats in the 100-member chamber but falls short of the 60 votes necessary to block the filibusters that frequently paralyze the Senate.

King will fill the seat of Republican Senator Olympia Snowe, who retired with a denunciation of the partisan gridlock that prevents Congress from resolving many of the nation's problems.


Well, technically not a Democrat but he is caucusing with them.

Wake us up when they hit the magic 60 or 40. Until then it is business as usual.

 

[Thump553]

Wake us up when they hit the magic 60 or 40. Until then it is business as usual.[/QUOTE]

Unless the Senate rules are changed, which is done at the start of a Senate session. And very importantly:

-changing those rules are the number one priority of Senator King

-the Dems seem to have come around to the fact that extreme GOP abuse requires a rule change, even if that rule change comes back to bite them in the butt if the Dems become the minority party in the future

-the general public dismal approval rating of Congress (sub ten percent I think) is an overwhelming demand that something real be done to cure the unnecessary gridlock in Congress.


I'm cautiously optimistic that some real reform will be done.

BTW if the GOP hadn't gone all batshit crazy on social issues, Maine probably still would be the reddest of the red states.

 

[Charles Kozierok]

King was expected to do this all along, it's not really news.

-the Dems seem to have come around to the fact that extreme GOP abuse requires a rule change, even if that rule change comes back to bite them in the butt if the Dems become the minority party in the future

I sure hope so. Because even if they do nothing, the GOP will change the rules the second they get 51.

 

[lopri]

Let the filibuster stands, but make it so that it requires a conviction: Filibuster should be carried out in person. We can think of immediately positive impacts.

1. There will be more dramas (including intra-party ones) with regard to who's going to be the soldier. It also reminds Americans our proud history and traditions.
2. Those who filibuster will, presumably, be making actual arguments with all the spotlights. It not only requires endurance and conviction from the senator but also has an effect of informing voters who s/he is and what s/he stands for.
3. Thus, it increases the accountability of gridlock caused by filibusters. Voters will hear what the senator/party has to say and can respond in the elections.

Give them a couple hours a day for food and/or personal hygiene and let them have at it!