I’ll tell ya what…….Republicans have more tricks than a hooker on a Saturday night. (or should I say hookers at the Republican National Convention) People will buy into it when they claim the Democrats refused to do anything about high gas prices.

The last House vote before a vacation usually sparks a stampede toward the doors and waiting planes. Not so on Friday, when Republicans occupied the House floor for a rare, and at times bizarre, protest against Democratic energy policies.

The microphones were off, the House had stopped TV feeds to C-Span and the lights dimmed after the pre-noon vote to adjourn for the August recess. That didn’t deter Republicans, who one after another rose to demand that Congress stay in session until it does something about high gas prices.

Unlike a normal session where the rules of decorum are strictly enforced, GOP lawmakers and their aides who filled the chamber clapped, chanted, gave standing ovations and booed the Democrats.

“Madame Speaker, where art thou?” shouted out Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, in a glancing rhetorical shot at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. “Where oh where has Congress gone?”

It was a rare treat for tourists. Republicans invited many, in their shorts and sandals, into the chamber, usually strictly off-limits, to better hear the revivalist-like speeches.

The talkathon finally ended around 5:00 p.m. EDT, more than five hours after it began and 30 minutes after police escorted tourists out of the chamber. The Capitol closes to tourists at 4:30 p.m. In a grand finale, lawmakers led a roomful of aides in a rendition of “God Bless America” and walked off to chants of “USA, USA.”

Full article at Forbes

I have mentioned this before. My Mom, who will turn 84 on the 4th of July, spends atleast 35% of her social security on health care. It’s truly horrible. She could not live alone if she wanted to and was able to. There’s no way. I do wonder what so many seniors without families to help them do. It’s really sad that we treat our neediest and weakest the way we do.

Senate Republicans went into their customary obstruction mode again late Thursday, choosing to protect the interests of insurance companies while shortchanging the health care needs of older Americans and ignoring the will of the majority.

Thirty-nine Republicans supported a filibuster of a bill, passed overwhelmingly by the House, that would prevent a 10.6 percent cut in the reimbursement rate for doctors accepting Medicare patients starting July 1. To offset the cut, the bill would have trimmed taxpayer subsidies to insurance companies participating in the Medicare Advantage program. A bipartisan majority in the Senate supported the bill, but the usual coterie of block-and-blame conservatives played their “Dr. No” role as they have since the beginning of the term.

Arizona Sen. John McCain was a no-show for Thursday’s vote. Illinois Sen. Barack Obama voted for the bill.

More here

I watched some of this debate last night. McConnell’s pitch was why vote for it when we know Bush is going to veto it, which makes NO sense. If enough voted for it, he couldn’t veto it. Harry Reid had this to say to McConnell’s bullshit:

From Politico:

The Senate has overwhelmingly passed a new GI bill and billions in new domestic spending as part of the $165 billion Iraq war funding bill pending before Congress.

In two subsequent votes, the Senate passed the war funding portion of the bill, 70-26, and rejected an amendment that contained troop withdrawal language on a 34-63 vote.

The 75-22 vote on the GI bill and domestic spending marked a resounding victory for Senate Democrats as well as Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), who has battled to expand the educational benefits for soldiers who served in Iraq. The measure also included a 13 week extension of unemployment insurance, home heating assistance and other domestic spending add ons. President Bush has threatened to veto the bill, which will top $200 billion with the extra spending.

What was most surprising was not that the domestic funding amendment and the GI bill won a majority of the Senate votes, but that half of the Senate’s 49 Republicans bucked President Bush and GOP presidential candidate John McCain to back the dramatically expanded GI bill. Many uncertain Republicans stood in the well of the Senate, taking their time to make a decision. Virtually every GOP senator who is politically vulnerable this year voted for the domestic spending, including Sens. John Sununu of New Hampshire and Roger Wicker of Mississippi.

The bill now heads to the House, which must approve the war funding portion of the measure before it heads to the White House. Republicans believe they can sustain the presidential veto if the measure is sent back to Congress.

From From the Left blog (awesome blog):

When the Supreme Court threw out a longstanding legal precedents and government practice to make it harder for an employee to sue over unlawful pay discrimination.

The 5-to-4 ruling came in the case of Lilly Ledbetter, a supervisor at a Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company plant in Alabama, who over several years received smaller raises than men in comparable positions. A jury found that Goodyear violated Ms. Ledbetter’s rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

But a majority of the Supreme Court decided she was entitled because her case was filed after the 180-day deadline for filing such claims. They decided that Ms. Ledbetter had to sue within 180 days of the company’s discriminatory raises and that the persistence of unfairness from check to check was not relevant.

The “Fair Pay Act” was sponsored by Sens. Edward Kennedy (MA) and Arlen Specter (TN) would redefine the deadline for making a charge of pay discrimination under Federal Title VII from when a worker receives unequal pay, not from the day a company first decided to discriminate, as the Supreme Court wrongly decided.

(more…)

Rep. Jan Shakowsky asks for support of her bill, HR4102, and asks: Would you rehire someone who killed dozens of innocents? She asks that we phase out Blackwater in Iraq. And to answer her question, Yes, yes they would rehire them, and they DID.

Senator Byron Dorgan speaking on the floor about the DOD contract for $300 million contract given to a 23 year old.

From Politico:

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) sharply criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Thursday, after the speaker urged Army Gen. David Petraeus not to “put a shine” on recent events in Iraq when he testifies before Congress next week.

Read the wrap-up of Pelosi’s remarks here. Petraeus, the top military commander in Iraq, will testify before Congress next week.

“Speaker Pelosi’s warning to Gen. Petraeus about his testimony being A-too shiny- says more about her than it does about him,” said Graham in a statement released Thursday afternoon.

“Gen. Petraeus … is one of the most talented, respected military commanders in our nation’s history. I-m confident he will tell us about the gains that have been achieved and the challenges which lie ahead,” Graham said.

“I have no confidence Speaker Pelosi will ever accept anything coming out of Iraq other than a loss.”

But Graham didn’t stop there.

(more…)

Why do they bother? Do they think we’ll buy into it that they can’t end this war? If they REALLY didn’t want the next president to be handed this mess they would stop funding it. Like writing a letter to this dope will do any good, other than giving him and his pals a really good belly laugh.

Democratic leaders told President Bush on Friday that it’s not too late to change course in Iraq and pleaded with him not to hand the war off to the next president.

“We believe there is still time for you to recognize that a change in strategy is necessary to repair the grave damage done to our nation’s security,” the Democrats wrote.

More at Yahoo News

Gee I missed this one. There was evil in the Senate today. I wonder how many times in his terms as VP he’s done this. And the walls didn’t crumble. You’d think they would have…….

From Senatus:

Vice President Cheney is now presiding over the Senate as they continue voting on amendments to the Budget Resolution. He may be available to cast the tie-breaking vote if necessary.

Additionally, Senator Byrd (D-WV) was able to return to the Senate for voting today despite recent health problems. He is currently confined to a wheelchair. All three Senators running for President, Senator McCain (R-AZ), Senator Obama (D-IL) and Senator Clinton (D-NY) have also been voting today.

Update: The Vice President is no longer presiding over the votes.

From the International Herald Tribune:

A Democrat has won the congressional seat of former House of Representatives leader Dennis Hastert in a closely watched special election in the longtime Republican district.

Bill Foster has won 52 percent of the vote compared to 48 percent for Republican Jim Oberweis with 556 of 568 precincts reporting.

Foster’s special election win Saturday means he will fill the remainder of Hastert’s term until it ends next January.