Sword and Sextant

I love it. Boehner is just reading random lines from the bill. I wonder if this was the one available copy he managed to get his hands on?

This bill should be stopped, period.

Let’s hope he talks some sense into these bastards. And yeah, the Reps and Sens responsible for trying to ram this through are bastards. They are dodging debate and the normal lawmaking.

LOL he’s outed them now. 3:09 IN THE MORNING WAS WHEN THE NEWEST AMENDMENT CAME OUT.

Oh crap, he just stopped. Fuck, Waxman is up, but the GOP is making a lot of noise suddenly. Its like a basketball game in there. Best CSPAN I’ve seen in a while. Waxman just pulled some weird he went over the time limit stuff, and got booed hardcore. Love it.

Pelosi now. Good Lord, there’s botox in that husk of a woman. She’s simply thanking people? “Jobs, jobs jobs and jobs” was her four words.

So, apparently this is an amendment from GOP guys to change something in the bill. The Dems are 71-0 against, and the GOP is 96-2 for. So far, looks like the GOP is gonna rock this one out.

I’m gonna put Waxman in the FlatTop Hall of Fame for looking most like a #1 henchman in movie.

112-94 Yea at the moment, 7:10 left. I’m glad the Dems can’t pull the old Chicago dead people voting trick once they’re IN Congress.

I’m sorta new to the Live politics scene (neonatal, actually). I think this amendment is designed to take up all kinds of time and ruin any chance of voting on the bill today. That, plus Boehner turning 2.5 minutes into over an hour of entertaining filibuster may get this done.

121-112 4:54 around, and 3 Dems are fighting hard to preserve market-driven energy prices.

Hmm, Yvette Clarke (D-NY) is trying to stay positive about having the votes, but isn’t oozing confidence. Win or lose, Obama’s rubber stamp may be gone. In-harm’s-way-Dems are starting to get scared of this agenda, and the votes are revealing it.

135-154 Dems now with 2 min left. With no real knowledge of what the amendment does, I’m not sure a win or a loss matters overmuch. 7 Dems have crossed over, which isn’t near enough to get it done, I don’t think.

45 sec 149-168 Dems. Looks like its dead, whatever it was.

So, sometimes the number of detractors from either party is changing. Should any of those people be allowed to be in Congress? Seems like they’re simply playing the market for some goodies or assurances before they sell their vote to the highest bidder.

Time’s up, Dems win, I think.

Or do they just not give them to GOP members of Congress? Either way, its a seemingly childish way to run the government, not to mention the dishonesty involved in hiding a bill so detractors won’t be able to analyze it. Here’s a quote from Politico:

Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), one of the bill’s sponsors, finally rose to say that a single copy of the current version of the bill was available at the speaker’s desk – and on the Internet, which members would have to leave the floor to access.

What in the hell kind of governance is this? Why doesn’t the nation benefit from a debate of the bill’s merits or problems? I don’t like what I know about it, but I’d really like some more transparency. Again, I’m shocked at the undercover nature of this bill. Its revolting.

Another fun one from a tax criminal:

Cantor was followed by New York Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel, who called the bill a “great contribution to human kind” and attacked Republicans for offering nothing but “negative political shots.”

They haven’t been allowed to see the thing, Chuck. Come on, man.

The biggest problem for Democratic leaders at this point comes from veteran Democrats like Rahall, New Jersey Rep. Rush Holt and Colorado Rep. John Salazar, who don’t face a clear election threat in 2010 but oppose the legislation. Leaders want safe veterans on board so that more vulnerable members can be freed to vote no on the bill.

If this vote is going to be so unpopular they have to convince vulnerable members they won’t be slain by this vote, shouldn’t we talk about it first? No? Ok, just ram the damn thing through, I guess.

“I urge every member of Congress, Democrat and Republican, to come together and support this legislation,” he said during a brief Rose Garden event. “I know this is going to be a close vote.”

Let’s start with putting copies of the damn thing in the chamber. No really. It may even get you a vote or two. If its so damn close, and, you know, you’re supposed to debate bills in Congress, let’s try that. Its a dark era of governance where the minority party is completely removed from all decisions, regardless of who is in charge.

I hate the legislation as I understand it, but this is about a larger supposed function of our government. They are hiding something, and I’m guessing its not good. Lord knows you want to jack energy prices up during a recession. Seriously, wouldn’t this be much easier to pass in a year? I know the answer to this one, though. Obama won’t have the support to do it then. At least that’s my prediction.