TPMDC
George Voinovich

Voinovich Gets Emotional During Republican Climate Change Boycott

Brian Beutler | November 4, 2009, 4:32PM

The Republican boycott of Senate climate change legislation continues today. But yesterday, Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH), whose objections sparked the boycott, insisted, in a tense, almost tearful moment, that his concerns were sincere, and implored Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)--chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee--to humor him.

Voinovich himself sounds pretty earnest. But at the same time, It's hard to fault Boxer, who, after years worth of hearings on the issue, knows that all the additional EPA studies and GOP placating in the world won't win her a single minority vote in committee. So why not move ahead?

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (10) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
Topics: Barbara Boxer, Cap-and-Trade, Climate Change, Environment, George Voinovich, Republicans, Senate, Senate EPW Committee

Lindsey Graham

Graham: I Understand The Concerns Of Republicans Boycotting Climate Hearing

Brian Beutler | November 3, 2009, 3:32PM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

As you may have heard, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee kicked off an amendment process on a climate change bill sponsored by Sens. John Kerry (D-MA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today over the howls of the committee's Republican minority.

The back story's pretty simple, and not at all surprising. The committee minority, led by Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), don't want a climate change bill to move forward. The most moderate among them--Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH)--isn't pleased that official EPA reports don't paint a sufficiently gloomy picture of a post-cap and trade future and together, the GOP is boycotting committee proceedings at least until such time as they get their hands on such a study.

But then there's Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (15) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)
Topics: Barbara Boxer, Cap-and-Trade, Climate Change, Environment, George Voinovich, Lindsey Graham, Republicans, Senate

Barack Obama

Is George Voinovich Getting Ready to Play Ball on Health Care?

Brian Beutler | September 10, 2009, 5:24PM

Over the last several weeks, a number of Democratic sources have suggested that Senate leaders might be able to convince the retiring Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) to support a health care reform package--or at least to agree not to support a filibuster of it.

We now have a couple of telling data points, suggesting there may be something to that hunch. In advance of President Obama's speech last night, Voinovich released a long, and mostly dour statement about the status of the health care fight.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (4) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)
Topics: Barack Obama, George Voinovich, Health Care, Senate, White House

David Vitter

Vitter Responds To Voinovich: I'm For "Core Conservative Values," Not For Straying From Them

Eric Kleefeld | July 29, 2009, 12:48PM

Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) is responding sternly to Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH), who blamed Southerners for dragging the Republican Party's fortunes down.

"I'm on the side of conservatives getting back to core conservative values," Vitter told the Washington Times. "There are a lot of us from the South who hold those value, which I think the party is supposed to be about. We strayed from them in the past few years, and that's why we performed so badly in the national elections."

As for Voinovich, Vitter said: "He's a moderate, really wishy-washy."

Speaking of conservatives who have strayed from core values...David Vitter was publicly identified as a former client of prostitutes, and admitted in 2007 to an unspecified "serious sin." The Washington Times article did not mention anything about the D.C. Madam scandal.

Late Update: Louisiana Democratic Party spokesman Kevin Franck e-mailed us a fun comment. "Last time I checked, you don't find core Southern values in the places David Vitter has been found," said Franck. "If David Vitter can lead his party back to their conservative values, maybe Larry Craig can give them tips on bathroom etiquette and Mark Sanford can recommend a really good restaurant in Buenos Aires."

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (28) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)
Topics: David Vitter, George Voinovich, LA-SEN, Senate '10

Supreme Court

TPMDC Morning Roundup

Eric Kleefeld | July 28, 2009, 9:02AM

Judiciary Committee To Vote On Sotomayor
The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote today on the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, and is expected to easily advance her to the full Senate. At the rate things are going in both the committee and the overall Senate, most Republicans will probably vote against her, but she should win by a comfortable margin thanks to Democrats and a few GOP Senators.

Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama will hold a 1:30 p.m. ET tele-town hall meeting on health care reform, hosted by the AARP. At 4 p.m. ET, he and Vice President Biden will meet with the chairs of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue. At 4:15 p.m. ET, Obama and Biden will greet the expanded delegations of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue.