TPMDC Barbara Mikulski
Paycheck Fairness Act
Dems Escalate Battle For Women Voters With Equal Pay Bill
Senate Democrats are advancing legislation to beef up equal pay protections for women, the latest salvo in the election-year battle for women voters.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is set to file cloture Thursday on the Paycheck Protection Act, which would strengthen protections for women who sue for pay discrimination. The move puts Republicans in an uncomfortable position as they work to repair their weak brand image with women voters ahead of the November election.
Five female Democratic senators talked up the bill Wednesday afternoon during a Capitol briefing -- and made clear they intend to hammer Republicans as anti-women if they stand in its way.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barbara Boxer, Barbara Mikulski, Patty Murray, Paycheck Fairness Act
Medicare
Female Democratic Senators Attack GOP Budget's Harsh Toll On Women
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA)
Female Democratic senators are returning to a tactic that served them well when Republicans threatened a government shutdown over federal funding of abortion. They're making the case that the House GOP budget, and the male Republican legislators who are advocating its policies in debt limit talks with Democrats, are using the deficit as an excuse to pursue an anti-woman agenda.
"[T]hey have put one thing above anything else: cutting health care for women," said Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA). "Last month they almost shut down the entire federal government in an attempt to cut off funding for health care programs for women and girls
Joining Murray were five of her female colleagues, and two male Democratic senators, Dick Blumenthal (D-CT), and Benjamin Cardin (D-MD). Together, they ran through a long list of ways the GOP budget undermines women.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barbara Boxer, Barbara Mikulski, Budget, Debbie Stabenow, Medicaid, Medicare, Patty Murray, Republicans
Progressives
New Report Ranks 'Most Liberal', 'Most Conservative' Members of Congress
Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
Democratic Senators Sherrod Brown (OH), Barbara Mikulski (MD) and Harry Reid (NV) were among "the most liberal" Senators last year, according to new rankings by National Journal. Republican Sens. John McCain (AZ), Jim DeMint (SC) and John Thune (SD) were among the most conservative.
National Journal is out with its annual congressional voting record rankings, which track the voting patterns of the 535 members of the House and Senate. The takeaway? Congress in 2010 was the most polarized it has been in close to 30 years. Parties in Congress are increasingly working in "virtual lockstep," which the magazine's political guru, Ron Brownstein described as the "decline of individualism in Congress" and the rise of a "a more top-down, parliamentary-style institution."
But there are still members on both sides who represent the outer edge of the party's ideological leanings. Here are National Journal's top conservative and liberal leaders in each chamber.
Topics: Barbara Mikulski, Bernie Sanders, Conservatives, Jim DeMint, John Cornyn, John McCain, Progressives, Sherrod Brown
Barbara Mikulski
Mikulski Signs On To Public Option Letter, Bringing Number To 15
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) has signed onto a letter calling for Senate leadership to insert a public option into the health care reform bill via reconciliation.
Mikulski's office confirmed to TPMDC that she signed the letter this morning. She is the 15th senator to sign onto the letter, written by Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), which will be sent to Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Greg Sargent reports today that Sens. Barbara Boxer (CA), Jack Reed (RI) and Tom Udall (NM) have also added their names to the letter.
Under reconciliation, 51 senators would have to vote for the provision.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barbara Mikulski, Public Option
Health Care
First Health Care Amendment Passes, Guaranteeing Coverage For Women's Preventive Services
Sens. David Vitter (R-LA) and Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)
An amendment to the Senate health care bill, sponsored by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), became the first amendment voted on in the Senate.
Mikulski's amendment requires insurers to cover preventive care and screenings for women, at no cost to the patient. The amendment passed 60 to 39.
Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) attached a secondary amendment to Mikulski's last night, which states that new mammogram guidelines released this year by the U.S Preventive Service Task Force cannot prevent women from receiving mammograms.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barbara Mikulski, David Vitter, Health Care, Mammograms
Health Care
Dems, GOPers Ready Amendments For Senate Health Care Bill
Democrats and Republicans will begin considering amendments to far-reaching health care legislation on the Senate floor momentarily. This process will go on for weeks, and involve hundreds of proposed changes. But to touch things off, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will likely introduce Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) who will offer a women's preventive health care amendment, according to a Senate Democratic aide--the first amendment of the process.
By contrast, the first Republican amendment will come from Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who will propose that the bill be recommitted to the Finance Committee, which would be instructed to strip it of its Medicare cuts. At a 60 vote threshold, the amendment won't pass, but if it did, it would likely be the end of health care reform this Congress.
In other words, we're dealing with two very different species of amendments.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barbara Mikulski, Democrats, Harry Reid, Health Care, John McCain, Republicans, Senate
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