Gina Telaroli
December 16, 2008 | 4:50 pm EST
Andy Kondrat:
Update: Al Franken is the confirmed winner of the Senate race in Minnesota
CNN reported Sunday that a state election board in Minnesota will declare Al Franken the winner in the thus-far undecided U.S. Senate race. An announcement from the board is expected today. And Senate Dems are trying to seat him as early as tomorrow.
Word is that Franken’s opponent, Republican incumbent Norm Coleman, will challenge the verdict. And Republican leaders in the Senate are pledging a fight:
Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, has pledged a GOP filibuster if the Democrat-controlled Senate attempts to seat Franken before all legal battles play out and before Minnesota’s Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican, can co-sign the secretary of state’s certificate.
The ongoing dispute ensures further uncertainty in the Senate roster, as Blago-appointed Roland Burris attempts to take over Obama’s Illinois seat. Whether or not Dems will make good on their promise not to seat him remains to be seen.
The disputes over each senate seat stem from different circumstances. In the case of Minnesota, a long and drawn-out recount has at different points put each of the candidates in the lead, usually by no more than a few hundred votes. In the case of Illinois, an allegedly corrupt governor has invoked anger in his party by exercising his power to appoint the replacement for the junior senator from Illinois, who left for a better job.
But both situations are cause for serious voter concern. We keep hearing that consumer confidence is just as important as more concrete financial indicators (performance of the S&P 500, for example) in determining the health of our economy. I believe that the same is true of voter confidence in our electoral process. We can partially assess the health of our voting processes by looking at concrete problems with voter registration, electronic voting, etc. But to get a real grasp on how well our elections, and therefore, our democracy, are working, we need to look at whether or not citizens believe that our elections work.
I like Joe Biden. Despite his gaffs and strange smile, teeth and hair, I think he’s a pretty good guy. So it made me sad to read (as Andy wrote earlier that the puppy Biden recently acquired actually came from a breeder, and more than that, it came from a breeder who may have been a puppy mill operator (investigations are still underway).
Apparently the Biden camp is trying to buy some animal cred by pointing out that his cat Daisy was adopted and that Biden has a history of standing up for animal rights in the Senate. To that I say, practice what you preach! Of course, PETA and the Humane Society are upset with all of this , the Humane Society says:
We are surprised that Sen. Biden chose to purchase a dog from a commercial kennel since he has been a leader on animal-protection issues and has championed a number of important animal-welfare reforms in the Senate … President-elect Obama can send a stronger message of hope and change for animals by adopting a homeless dog from an animal shelter or rescue group.
Yes, lets hope Obama doens’t follow in these puppy footsteps. I seriously don’t understand people’s hesitance to adopt animals. They will love you the same and you’ll be saving a life. Isn’t that more important than having the prettiest dog? I think so - so takepart to find your nearest animal shelter.
(Photo: Terry Bain’s Flickr photostream, creative commons)
The proposed $14 Billion Auto Bailout package from the Federal government has collapsed in the Senate. Senate Republicans doomed the bill, which had won support of both the White House and Congressional Democrats, after pressing for steep cuts in both the wages and benefits guaranteed to auto workers by the UAW union contract. The UAW had already made steep concessions in an effort to move the much needed loans from the Federal government swiftly through Congress. However the GOP Senators, many of whom represent
southern states home to foreign owned auto factories who are not obliged to offer UAW contracts to their labor force due to state anti-union laws, would not accept any compromise that did not fall in line with the wages and benefits offered with Toyota, Honda and Nissan in their southern factories.
The Senate was able to muster a majority in favor of consideration of the bill with 52 voting for and 35 against. However due to the arcane rules of the legislative body, 60 votes are needed in order for a bill to be considered by the full Senate - at which time it could then be filibustered which would require 60 votes to break. Such ridiculous rules, not even found in the Constitution of the United States, but rather by Senate specific rules that nobody other than Senators ever agreed upon, are why the US Senate has long been known as the place where good legislation goes to die at the hand of one aggrieved minority interest or other. Getting 51% of the vote is hard enough in a democracy. Getting 60% is simply unattainable for most measures that even involve the semblance of opposition.
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I am neither a registered Democrat nor Republican, but rather an Independent who has voted in every Presidential election since I first was eligible in 1988. I actually voted for a Bush for President once, though not the one who got in as a legacy. I give this disclaimer to show that I try to think for myself and am not a dogmatic follower of either major political party, both of which I fear are run by corrupt and extreme elements that are out of touch with the mainstream, in hopes that maybe you may give what I have to say some consideration and not write me off as a “Liberal” whatever that means.
Last night I was chatting with some friends about the recent conviction of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens on seven counts of violating ethics charges. All counts are felony charges. In Alaska, a felon is not allowed to cast a ballot. So I started to wonder, will Ted Stevens, in his determination to continue his campaign for re-election despite the conviction, even be allowed to vote for himself?
I came across this great post on Huffington Post by Shayana Kadidal, which breaks down the specifics of the Alaska law to try to figure out whether or not Stevens will be entering a voting booth on Tuesday. As of yesterday, according to the AP, the jury was still out. But two hours ago, Slate posted this story, reporting that:
The economy and the planet breathe a sigh of relief as the House-approved bailout now includes renewable energy tax incentives for the solar, wind and bio-diesel industries. While the bailout package apparently required some peculiar padding to pass, including tax exemptions for rum, arrows, and a racetrack, the green energy credits offer great hope for a sustainably powered future. Renewable energy companies and environmentalists have been wringing their hands for months as the House and Senate played catch with the tax breaks, which were set to expire at the end of the year. Some people were even fantasizing over what could be done if the entire $700 billion went towards renewable energy.
These measures will provide essential credits for building more energy efficient homes, purchasing electric cars, installing solar panels and wind turbines and ultimately removing our dependence on dirty oil. One of the other incentives including in the package will allow employers to help employees buy and maintain bicycles for commuting. The House and Senate should be applauded for taking this step towards a cleaner and safer future.
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Related:
The Senate has passed a bill on Friday calling for the creation of a cabinet-level position to oversee intellectual property enforcement legislation, or in other words a “copyright czar“. While this move has the potential to protect innovators and consumers, depending on who is at the controls, it could also limit the abilities of a more nuanced copyright system, and enforce disproportionately harsh penalties in the pursuit of bigger fish.
This singularly powerful individual will oversee anti-piracy crackdowns, and also advise other countries concerning intellectual property issues. The bill also lays the groundwork for a FBI anti-piracy division, which has the power to seize equipment used in large-scale pirating operation.
The potential power of a “copyright czar” remains to be seen, but it certainly imparts an enormous amount of power to one individual. Let’s hope they use it wisely. “With great power comes great responsibility…”
takepart by learning more about a flexible copyright system with Creative Commons
Photo: Damoun’s Flickr Photostream
Here at takepart we often urge you to takepart and contact your representatives in the House and Senate to make your voice heard. However, it turns out there’s a Right Way and a Wrong Way to actually tell your representatives in Congress how you feel. The Consumerist has compiled a handy guide to writing the facypantses in Washington, and it’s quite good. So let’s take a gander!
First off, we are reminded not to just find form letters and fill in the blanks. It turns out members of Congress are pretty smart people, and tend to notice if people aren’t really taking the time to individually express their opinions.
Form letters are not an expression of values; they are a show of organizational strength. If the NRA convinces five million people to send letters opposing gun control, it shows that the NRA can muster five million people to action, not that five million people necessarily care about gun laws. Congressional offices know this and generally disregard form letters…Members treat each type of letter differently, but most look for individual letters as a barometer of their district’s concerns.
So you actually may need to take fifteen minutes to write a personal letter to your representative. Sigh.
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Now that the Democrats in the House have changed their minds in the face of what Nancy Pelosi called “the political climate,” they’ve passed a bill that allows drilling 50 miles offshore, which will now make its way to the Senate.
It was only a few weeks ago that “Ms. Pelosi was adamant that she would not clear the way for a House vote on new coastal exploration,” however increased Republican pressure and the whole expensive gas thing has made many Democrats, Pelosi included, attempt to reach a compromise. As Pelosi said, if we don’t have something in the bill, it’s drilling three miles offshore. The issue of offshore drilling is, says The New York Times, “an issue that has been a Democratic environmental touchstone since the 1980s.”
The bill passed the House 236-189, and allows drilling if states adjacent to the water approve of it. Now it comes to the Senate, which, according to the Associated Press, “has no intention of going as far as the House in expanding offshore oil and gas drilling beyond the western Gulf of Mexico.” The Senate may open drilling in the Southern Atlantic (Virginia, Georgia, the like), but seem disinclined to go to the Pacific or Alaska.
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The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Check out some of our most popular stories of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites!
TakePart Gang:
Everything I Know About Climate Change, I Learned in the Fifth Grade by Martin Musatov
When Torture Is Condoned, Is FISA That Shocking? by Wendy Cohen
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Nicole Hughes:
Baltimore Woman Turns Tragedy Into Art
Why Don’t We Do More to Stop Global Warming?
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Foods You Should and Shouldn’t Buy Organic
Paper or Plastic? The Environmental Impact
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Jon Popham:
The Energy Independence Bill: A Filibuster Odyssey
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Gina Telaroli:
While Iran Tests Missiles, Test These 5 Iranian Films
Mao’s Out, Time to Capitalize On the Olympics
