70+ votes for immigration reform in the Senate? That sounds rather crazy, but John McCain thinks “it’s doable.” There’s a feeling amongst some of the senators working on the legislation that if the bill gains majority support from both parties in the Senate, the House won’t have any choice but to put it to a vote. We are skeptical that either of those things will happen, let alone both. source
![“[W]e believe you must be willing to take any lawful steps to ensure that America does not break its promises and trigger a global economic crisis — without Congressional approval, if necessary.” So reads a letter sent to the president today by top Senate Democrats. It’s not every day that members of congress explicitly voice their willingness to be circumvented by the president, but Harry Reid and company clearly believe that the threat of default is a real possibility. Later on in the letter, the Democrats call for “a broad, bipartisan agreement” to reduce the long-term deficit - but only one that puts “the entire budget on the table,” as opposed to policy that only cuts “earned benefits for seniors and middle-class families.” (Photo credit: AP) source](http://24.media.tumblr.com/57435ab51f07e2b184fbf35fee819b29/tumblr_mghnz8UOyU1qas8z9o1_500.jpg)
“[W]e believe you must be willing to take any lawful steps to ensure that America does not break its promises and trigger a global economic crisis — without Congressional approval, if necessary.” So reads a letter sent to the president today by top Senate Democrats. It’s not every day that members of congress explicitly voice their willingness to be circumvented by the president, but Harry Reid and company clearly believe that the threat of default is a real possibility. Later on in the letter, the Democrats call for “a broad, bipartisan agreement” to reduce the long-term deficit - but only one that puts “the entire budget on the table,” as opposed to policy that only cuts “earned benefits for seniors and middle-class families.” (Photo credit: AP) source
We are very willing to entertain savings in Medicare. Medicare gives very good health care very inefficiently.New York Senator Chuck Schumer • Indicating he and his Democratic colleagues are open to “savings in Medicare,” which implies a desire to reduce Medicare spending. This has a lot of people nervous, with overlapping constituencies at play — hospitals get a ton of revenue through these programs, meaning there’s the big lobbyist angle, as well as the everyday citizen who’s getting older and is fearful about Medicare’s uncertainty. What Schumer says is absolutely correct; Medicare is a massively popular program that provides high-quality health care at a very high cost. The question people have when Medicare reform starts getting discussed, though, is whether actual progress on things like efficiency and fraud prevention will occur, or whether they’ll be hit with a benefit cut followed by more of the status-quo. With reports out that the White House is negotiating big Medicare cuts on the debt limit deal, such fears seem understandable. source (via • follow)
We take it for granted that because of the intense political pressure being applied by the Tea Party, [John Boehner] needs to play an outside game as well as an inside game. As long as he continues to negotiate, it’s OK by us if he needs to strike a different pose publicly. Since last week, the two sides have made steady progress on a package of $33 billion in cuts.Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer • Calling out John Boehner, who’s insisting that no deal has been reached with the Democrats, and that $33 billion in cuts just isn’t enough. Who’s fibbing? We’ll find out by Friday, when either a budget will pass, or the government will shut down. source (via • follow)
Our wifi champion? Chuck Schumer’s anti-Firesheep crusade: New York’s top Senator wants sites like Amazon and Twitter to switch everything over to HTTPS because of that whole Firesheep thing. Glad he’s focusing on this. source
Tom Coburn has date for the State of the Union: Chuck Schumer: They’ll be paired, “Odd Couple”-style, in an attempt to be more civil. “We don’t sweep differences under the rug,” Chuck said. “Tom and I have real differences, but we can do it civilly.” source
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