Ask and Tell

From TALKING POINTS MEMO:

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), who helped shepherd through today’s Senate repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, told reporters after the final vote this afternoon that ending the military’s ban on openly gay servicemembers is a big step for LGBT rights.

“To me, it is a step forward to a larger societal acceptance [of gay rights,]” Lieberman said. “This is a civil rights piece of legislation in my opinion.”

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The Party of No Can’t Keep It Up For Long

From TALKING POINTS MEMO:

The Louisiana Democrats released a snarky little statement today, calling out Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), who has introduced a health care amendment to the try to prevent states from providing drugs like Viagra to convicted sex offenders.

Said the Dems of Coburn: “Surely he would agree that anyone who has admitted or been found guilty of involvement with prostitution should not be covered either.”

Coburn’s amendment seeks to cut off federal funds to those on Medicaid who are “convicted sex offenders, child molesters, and rapists,” because sexual enhancement drugs are covered under the program.

We reported earlier that the Republican strategy to derail the reconciliation bill is to force Democrats to vote down politically juiced-up amendments so that they can paint Dems as sympathetic to sex offenders and fraudsters in November.

Perhaps the LA Dems had Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), who has been known to dally with prostitutes in the past, on their minds when crafting that statement.

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Game On, Yertle McConnell!

From DEMOCRATS.SENATE.GOV:

Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sent a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell explaining the path forward on health insurance reform.  In the letter, Senator Reid details the steps that Senate Democrats have taken to secure bipartisan support for health reform despite the lack of cooperation from Senate Republicans.  Reid said he will seek an democratic, up-or-down simple majority vote to revise the health reform bill already passed by a supermajority of 60 Senators last December.  Reid also reiterated the commitment of Senate Democrats to deliver meaningful health reform that will ensure access to quality, affordable health care for all Americans.

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Buh-Bye Bayh!

From abcNEWS:

Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh announced today that will not seek a third term — a huge blow to Democrats and an opportunity for Republicans to pick up another Senate seat in 2010.

“There are better ways to serve my fellow citizens,” Bayh said at a news conference this afternoon. “I love working for the people of Indiana. I love helping our citizens make the most of their lives, but I do not love Congress.”

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Supreme Irony

From abcNEWS:

The Senate voted to confirm Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court today, making her the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice and just the third woman to sit on the court.

The 55-year-old Sotomayor, who was confirmed by a vote of 68-31, will be sworn in on Saturday at the Court.

Despite strong and vocal opposition from some Senate Republicans, nine GOP senators voted for her confirmation, more than the number of Democrats who supported Justice Samuel Alito, but fewer than the number who crossed party lines to support Chief Justice John Roberts.

One of the Rethug votes against was Captain Underpants. One of the Rethug votes for was Lindseypoo. Does this mean the end of the romance? Nah, they don’t know how to quit each other.

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Dirty Tricks from Dirty Dick

From THE SCOTSMAN:

ALLEGATIONS that former US vice-president Dick Cheney ran a secret “black ops” unit inside the CIA for eight years without informing Congress have increased pressure on the White House for a full investigation of alleged abuses of power by the Bush administration.

The unit was so secret that even the former CIA director George Tenet did not control its activities, according to reports yesterday.

You know what that means, kids! It’s time to play…

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Shhh! It’s a secret!

From The Plum Line:

A rather intriguing reaction from one of John Ensign’s Senate GOP colleagues to the news of Ensign’s extramarital affair:

“I think he will be welcomed back by his colleagues and go back to being a good senator,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, who said Ensign shouldn’t have resigned his leadership spot.

Graham downplayed the political impact this would have on the GOP, saying, “Most Americans look at this as a personal situation.”

Graham let out a laugh and said: “I’ve got plenty of sins that I’m not going to share with anyone else.”

Sins? Well, kids, you know that your intrepid reporter (that would be me) cannot let that go without an investigation. Through my sources, I was able to obtain a photograph of what goes on when the Senate Republican are not voting no or making speeches about why they voted no.

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(With a little bit of help from this poster)

It’s His Party, and He’ll Leave If He Wants To!

From the Los Angeles Times:

Standing before the cameras and the Klieg lights Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) kept a brave face.

“This is not a national story,” McConnell said, playing down the party defection of Pennsylvania’s now-Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter. “This is a Pennsylvania story about his inability to be renominated by the Republican Party or be elected as an independent. He made a totally political decision.”

It’s a decision, however, that leaves the Senate with no GOP representation in the Northeast save for Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, who is retiring, and moderates Susan Collins and Olympia J. Snowe in Maine — both of whom joined with Specter in deserting their Republican colleagues to support President Obama’s economic stimulus package.

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