Student Loans

Senate Republicans Stumble On Student Loans

Sahil Kapur | May 17, 2012, 5:33AM

In an awkward move Wednesday, Senate Republicans voted overwhelmingly for two GOP-written budgets that would each let student loan interest rates spike in July, even as they insist they want to avert such an outcome.

Read more »

Deficit

Debtpocalypse 2.0 Cometh: GOP Unites Behind Boehner's Debt Ceiling Demand

Sahil Kapur | May 16, 2012, 4:52AM

Senate Republicans quickly united behind House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) on Tuesday after he telegraphed his intention to use the debt limit as leverage to avoid a scheduled tax increase. Democrats balked at his demand that raising the debt ceiling -- which is set to max out this December -- be paired dollar-for-dollar with spending "cuts and reforms." The widening rift foreshadows another self-inflicted battle, the likes of which nearly collapsed the U.S. economy last fall.

"A request of the President to ask us to raise the debt ceiling ought to generate a significant response to deal with the problem of deficit and debt," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told a handful of reporters Tuesday afternoon in the Capitol.

In a Tuesday speech, Boehner said, "I will again insist on my simple principle of cuts and reforms greater than the debt limit increase" -- something his conference did last summer. Further hinting at chaos, he scoffed at the idea of raising taxes, even as Democrats insist they won't agree to another major debt-reduction deal that excludes new revenues.

McConnell wasn't the only Republican senator who backed up Boehner's stance.

Read more »

Student loan reform

After Brief Detour, Senate GOP Returns To Obstruction

Sahil Kapur | May 9, 2012, 6:00AM

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell

Senate Republicans' Tuesday filibuster of a Democratic bill to avert a student loan interest rate hike signals a return to familiar territory for the party. The move comes after a brief detour that spurred speculation about whether, with the general election in full swing, Republicans were ready to ease up when it comes to blocking hot-button issues.

The context is an effort by the GOP -- and its presumptive presidential nominee Mitt Romney -- to save face with key voting constituencies that strongly favor Democrats and could swing the election: women, young voters and Hispanics.

Read more »

Senate Republicans

Senate GOP Blocks Debate On Dem Student Loan Bill

Sahil Kapur | May 8, 2012, 2:16PM

Harry Reid (D-NV) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Senate Democrats' effort to avert a student loan interest rate hike fell prey Tuesday to a Republican wall of opposition. GOP members declared their support for the cause but grumbled about how the majority party wants to pay for it.

A motion to proceed went down along party lines, 52-45, falling short of the 60 votes needed to break a GOP filibuster. The underpinnings of the debate are an election-year battle for young voters, whom President Obama is eager to energize and whom presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is also courting.

Read more »

Senate Judiciary Committee

Senate GOP Boycotts Hearing On Ariz. Immigration Law

Sahil Kapur | April 24, 2012, 12:36PM

Arizona SB 1070 boycott immigration

Arizona's controversial immigration measure has inspired numerous boycotts -- and on Tuesday, it provoked another, when Senate Republicans refused to show up at a hearing on the measure. The hearing took place one day before the Supreme Court begins to weigh its constitutionality, leaving Democrats to spar with the author of the measure and paint the GOP as "absent" -- literally -- on immigration reform.

The hearing comes ahead of an election in which the two parties are battling for Hispanic voters, who strongly oppose the S.B. 1070 law and who lean Democratic by a huge margin. The Democrats' hearing reflects an effort to highlight this divide, in part because they used the occasion to make an impassioned case for the DREAM Act.

Read more »

Buffett Rule

Republicans Block Buffett Rule As Dems Vow To Fight On

Sahil Kapur | April 16, 2012, 6:24PM

Senate Republicans defeated a motion to take up Buffett Rule legislation the day before taxes are due.

Democrats fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance the bill late Monday. The final party-line vote was 51 in favor, 45 against, with Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Mark Pryor (D-AR) breaking ranks with their leadership. The sharp contrast promises to be a defining issue in the presidential election this November.

The principle behind the rule -- that people making over $1 million a year should pay at least 30 percent in taxes -- was championed by President Obama in his State of the Union this year and subsequently written into legislation by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). The rule includes nuances and exceptions aimed at minimizing adverse incentives. It's expected to raise tax receipts by $47 billion over 10 years, although Democrats say that figure would be at least $160 billion if the Bush tax cuts are extended.

Read more »

Medicare

House GOP Losing Dem Support For Quashing Medicare Cost-Saving Panel

Sahil Kapur | March 13, 2012, 5:38AM

Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA)

Republicans have had no luck convincing Democrats to adopt their controversial plan to convert Medicare into a subsidized private insurance system. But they have had some success convincing Democrats to abandon President Obama and his plan for making Medicare spending sustainable. At least until now.

With help from some Democrats, House committees last week cleared legislation that would repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), the Medicare cost-saving board created by Obama's health care law, and the GOP-led chamber is poised to pass it next week. But their new plan to pay for the bill with a medical malpractice reform measure is already costing them Democratic votes -- and thus weakening their claim that Obama's vision for Medicare faces bipartisan opposition.

It's the latest jab in the congressional shadowboxing over Medicare's future.

Read more »

Barack Obama

Three's A Trend: Polls Show Voters Believe GOP Intentionally Stalling Economic Recovery

Brian Beutler | November 7, 2011, 1:28PM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and President Barack Obama

President Obama and the Democrats have succeeded at convincing voters that Republicans are trying to delay economic recovery, according to a series of recent polls.

The new data suggests that about half the country, including a majority of self-identified independents, believe that congressional Republicans are using their political power to thwart Obama's efforts to reduce unemployment, presenting Democrats an opportunity to make this argument more explicitly as the 2012 campaign moves forward -- to undercut Republicans' claims that Obama and the Dems bear full responsibility for the economy, and to make their pattern of obstruction a real liability for them.

Suffolk University polled registered voters in Florida and found that nearly half of voters, including large minorities of conservatives and Republicans, believed "Republicans are intentionally stalling efforts to jump-start the economy to insure that Barack Obama is not re-elected?"

Read more »

Barack Obama

White House: Our Jobs Message Is Catching Fire

Susan Crabtree | October 28, 2011, 1:55PM

The White House is pushing ahead with its strategy of taking executive action to circumvent Congressional GOP opposition on job creation, on Friday unveiling a new presidential memorandum aimed at helping private businesses in hard economic times.

As President Obama struggles to build support for many components of his jobs bill in Congress, he continued to roll-out unilateral steps as part of his new "We Can't Wait" theme. Obama on Friday signed two business-friendly memorandums: one that would shorten the time it takes for federal research to translate into commercial products in the marketplace, and another creating a website, known as BusinessUSA, to make it easier for companies to learn about federal export opportunities and other government services.

"Today, I am directing my administration to take two important steps to help American businesses create new products, compete in a global economy, and create jobs here at home," Obama said in statement.

Read more »

Barack Obama

Obama: GOP Needs To Explain Why Americans Don't Deserve Jobs

Susan Crabtree | October 21, 2011, 5:50AM

President Obama continued to hammer away at Republicans to stop obstructing his jobs bill after Senate Republicans, along with three conservative Democrats, prevented any traction on the portion that would have provided states $35 billion to hire or retain teachers and emergency responders.

The Thursday vote to stop floor debate came as no surprise. Democrats and President Obama had expected the bill to fail and likely chose the teachers and first responders spending portion because they knew Republicans would vote against it in lockstep and the move would play into the Democratic message of Republicans obstructing job creation. Just last week, Republicans, along with three Democrats, voted down the entire jobs package when it was offered as a whole.

Read more »

Richard Cordray

Attorneys General Back Cordray for Consumer Protection Bureau

Susan Crabtree | October 18, 2011, 4:46PM

Richard Cordray, nominee for Director of the United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The White House isn't backing away any time soon from Richard Cordray's bid to become the first director of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The administration enlisted the help of 37 attorneys general, both Republicans and Democrats, to push for their former colleague, Ohio's previous attorney general, and sing his praises. The attorneys general sent a letter Tuesday to every member of the Senate, asking them to overcome their opposition to Cordray and the CFPB in general.

Read more »

White House

Two Dems Vote With GOP To Kill Obama Jobs Package In Senate

Susan Crabtree | October 11, 2011, 7:50PM

Update: 8:56 p.m. Eastern -- At the last moment, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid switched his vote to "no" after Sen. Shaheen cast a yes vote. Reid altered his position in order to be able to bring the measure to a vote again. The final tally came to 50-49.

Senate Democrats lost a procedural hurdle on President Obama's jobs bill Thursday night, scuttling any progress on passage of the entire package.

As of early evening, Senate Democrats were still holding the vote open for Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), who had a scheduling conflict and was still in flight when the vote began. With Shaheen's yes vote, Senate Democrats could show a majority of support, 51 votes, for the President's $447m plan to spur economic growth.

Read more »

Elizabeth Warren

AFL-CIO Pushes Obama On Recess Appointment For Elizabeth Warren

Brian Beutler | June 9, 2011, 10:10AM

Elizabeth Warren

The most influential labor organization in the country is pushing President Obama to appoint Elizabeth Warren to run the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau during the next congressional recess.

"By refusing to make any appointment to lead the CFPB, Senate Republicans effectively have recused themselves from having any input into whom President Obama appoints," reads an email alert to activists delivered Wednesday evening. "It's a dereliction of their constitutional duty to "advise and consent" on the president's nominees."

Fortunately, President Obama can bypass these obstructionists by making a recess appointment.

No matter who gets the recess appointment of President Obama, Republicans have made it clear they'll scream and holler. This reflects a sorry state in our politics--but it's also a historic opportunity to recess appoint Elizabeth Warren, who's already shown as acting director of the CFPB that she's a true champion for working families.... Urge President Obama to appoint Elizabeth Warren the next time Congress goes on recess.

Read more »

Senate Republicans

Senate Republicans Block Obama Recess Appointments

Susan Crabtree | May 26, 2011, 8:13PM

Elizabeth Warren, Chairman of the Congressional Oversight Panel for TARP

Senate Republicans are using a parliamentary trick to block President Obama from making any recess appointments during the Senate's Memorial Day break -- including a long-awaited nomination of Elizabeth Warren to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The Senate will remain in pro-forma session because Republicans objected to the unanimous consent required to adjourn. The parliamentary maneuver prevented the Senate from officially going into recess for a week, denying Obama a chance for recess appointments even though Republicans openly acknowledge that they don't expect any.

"Senate Republicans are doing this just in case," said a House GOP aide.

Read more »

Medicare

Cornyn On Senate Vote To End Medicare: We're Not Ending Medicare

Brian Beutler | May 26, 2011, 9:39AM

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) has taken issue with the media's coverage of Wednesday's Senate vote on the GOP's Medicare-privatizing budget.

On the Senate floor Wednesday, Cornyn claimed "I will say that Republicans do not want to end Medicare as we know it. That is an intentional falsehood. That is a lie."

In response to two people who tweeted TPM's write up of the vote, Cornyn called the headline -- "Senate Republicans Vote Overwhelmingly To End Medicare" -- a "lie."

As Democrats are fond of pointing out, an early Wall Street Journal article about the GOP budget made the same claim. And the facts bear it out.

To reiterate, the plan 40 GOP senators voted for Wednesday night would do the following:

Read more »

Medicare

Senate Republicans Vote Overwhelmingly To End Medicare

Brian Beutler | May 25, 2011, 5:52PM

Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

The GOP continued its bloody walk into the Medicare buzzsaw Wednesday, when 40 out of 47 Senate Republicans voted in support of the House GOP budget, and its plan to phase out and privatize the popular entitlement program.

The test vote failed by a vote of 57-40. But the roll call illustrates that Medicare privatization -- along with deep cuts to Medicaid and other social services -- remains the consensus position of the GOP despite the growing political backlash against them.

Voting with all of the Democrats against debating the plan were Sens. Scott Brown (R-MA), Olympia Snowe (R-ME) -- both 2012 incumbents -- along with Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). Rand Paul (R-KY) voted against it because it wasn't radical enough.

Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Pat Roberts (R-KS), and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) did not vote.

Read more »

Elizabeth Warren

Dems Press Obama To Recess Appoint Elizabeth Warren To Run Consumer Bureau

Brian Beutler | May 19, 2011, 8:28AM

Elizabeth Warren

With Senate Republicans committed to blocking all potential directors of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, congressional Democrats are pressing President Obama to accept reality and offer Elizabeth Warren a recess appointment to head the agency she conceived of.

"Regretfully, Republicans in the Senate have now made it clear that they oppose reform," reads a letter from House Democrats that will be delivered to President Obama.

Read more »

Senate Republicans

Republicans Poised To Filibuster Liu Nomination

Susan Crabtree | May 18, 2011, 3:05PM

Goodwin Liu

Republicans in the Senate are poised to block one of the youngest and most promising liberal legal minds from ascending to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit more than a year after President Obama appointed him.

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) Tuesday night filed a motion to limit debate on Liu's nomination. The motion requires 60 votes to pass, but Republicans are signaling strong opposition and may have enough votes to sink the motion and effectively filibuster the nomination when it comes to the floor Thursday.

Read more »

Oil Subsidies

Republicans Filibuster Bill To Repeal Oil Subsidies

Brian Beutler | May 17, 2011, 7:16PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) with Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Charles Schumer (D-NY)

As expected, a Democratic bill that would have stripped big oil companies of multi-billion annual tax subsidies failed to overcome a Republican filibuster Tuesday evening. The heavily partisan 52-48 vote fell well short of the 60 required to achieve cloture. Three Democrats -- Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Mark Begich (D-AK), and Ben Nelson (D-NE) -- voted with Republicans to maintain the subsidies. Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Susan Collins (R-ME) voted with the Democrats.

Democrats have turned oil subsidies into a major issue as Congress looks at ways to tame high deficits and the national debt. They've been fueled in their efforts by soaring gas prices and extraordinary industry profits. And party leaders have vowed to include the tax breaks in any grand fiscal bargain tied to raising the debt limit.

But this effort was all about politics. Democrats want to highlight the GOP alignment with oil companies this election season and Tuesday's vote will help them do that. But if it had passed it would have run smack into a pretty big problem -- because, er, it was unconstitutional.

Republicans

Republicans To Harry Reid: Two Can Play At That Game On The Budget

Brian Beutler | April 27, 2011, 4:21PM

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) will force Republicans to vote on the House GOP budget, Medicare privatization and all. That's a shrewd move no matter the result -- either a lot of Republicans vote for it, and then own it politically, or it splits the party and validates the view that supporting the plan is an extreme position.

But it's also the Senate, and that means the minority can swing right back at the Democrats.

"While Sen. Reid may think that's a clever move, how is he going to explain to his members that they have to vote on the President's budget, or any of the House Democrat budgets that they can't possible support," notes a Senate Republican aide. "The President's budget alone would split the hell out of his conference. We've seen this movie before when he held a vote on H.R. 1 [the House Republican spending bill] and a vote on the Dem alternative -- it backfired because the House bill got MORE votes than the Senate Dem bill. I can't imagine very many of the Senate Dems could defend the President's budget."

Read more »

Harry Reid

Reid To Senate Republicans: You Wanna Privatize Medicare? Vote For It!

Brian Beutler | April 27, 2011, 2:38PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) confirmed on a conference call with reporters Wednesday that he'll force Senate Republicans to vote on the controversial House GOP budget.

"We're going to have an opportunity in the Senate to vote for the [Paul] Ryan budget," Reid told reporters, to "see if Republicans in the Senate like the Ryan budget as much as their colleagues [in the House] did."

That budget, which passed in the lower chamber with near-unanimous GOP support, includes a policy agenda that would phase out Medicare, dramatically slash Medicaid, while reducing the tax burden on the wealthiest Americans. It has become the source of significant heartburn for vulnerable House Republicans, who have had to face down angry constituents in their districts during the current two-week recess.

Read more »

Olympia Snowe

CORRECTED: Op-Ed Slams Snowe For Selling Out State To 'Tea Party Pressure'

Brian Beutler | March 15, 2011, 1:23PM

Correction: This post originally attributed the op-ed critical of Sen. Snowe to the editors of the Portland Press Herald. In fact, the op-ed was penned by former Snowe rival and ex-Rep. Tom Andrews (D-ME). As such, the op-ed is not evidence of Snowe losing support from moderate Republicans as this post initially suggested. We regret the error.

---

Recent polling suggests Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) would have much better luck running for re-election as an independent than as a Republican, to avoid a tea party-backed candidate from the right. But that would mean abandoning her party, its institutional support, her seniority in the Senate and so on. In a Tuesday op-ed in the Portland Press Herald -- an influential newspaper in Southern Maine -- former Rep. Tom Andrews (D-ME), who lost to Snowe in the 1994 race in which she was first elected to the Senate, takes Snowe to task for what he claims is her pandering to tea partiers in her party.

Read more »

Barack Obama

Obama: U.S. 'Slowly Tightening The Noose' Around Qaddafi

Susan Crabtree | March 11, 2011, 3:25PM

President Barack Obama

President Obama says he is "absolutely" concerned about Libyan Leader Muammar Qaddafi prevailing against opposition rebels but said the U.S. and its allies are "slowly tightening the noose" around him in an effort to push the dictator from power.

"I've not taken any options off the table at this point," Obama said in Friday press conference. "...We've moved as swiftly as any international coalition has ever moved to take sanctions...I have not foreclosed any options."

Read more »

Spending

Republicans Buy Time To Round Up Votes On Controversial Spending Bill

Brian Beutler | March 8, 2011, 3:22PM

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in the Capitol.

Since late last week, Senate Democrats have been knocking their Republican colleagues for running away from a vote on controversial House spending legislation. Republican leader Mitch McConnell put it on the calendar himself, but every time Democrats have tried to hand them a vote on it, he's demurred.

Ask Republicans what's up, and they say Dems are being disingenuous. They say they have no problem voting on the House plan, and are prepared to do so in the next day or so.

It got so bad that, on Tuesday, Harry Reid accused McConnell et al of reneging on an agreement they all struck together with Joe Biden last week.

So what gives?

Read more »

Lindsey Graham

Graham Berates GOP For 'Capitulation' Of 'Dramatic Proportions' In Lame Duck

Jillian Rayfield | December 21, 2010, 4:23PM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is not happy about the recent productivity of the lame duck Congress, and blamed the GOP for allowing it to happen. "When it's all going to be said and done," he said on Fox News Radio today, "Harry Reid has eaten our lunch. This has been a capitulation in two weeks of dramatic proportions of policies that wouldn't have passed in the new Congress."

Read more »

Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart On GOP Blocking 9/11 Responders Bill: Bros Before Heroes?

David Taintor | December 10, 2010, 9:55AM

Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart last night was aghast over Senate Republicans blocking the 9/11 responders bill, part of the GOP's vow to block all legislation until the Bush-era tax cuts deal is passed.

"You couldn't even get 60 senators to agree to vote on the 9/11 responders bill, because the top 2 percent of Americans haven't officially received their engraved notifications that their taxes won't go up 4 percent?" Stewart asked. "That's the principled pledge you want to stand by? 'Bros before heroes?' "

Read more »

Melody Barnes

White House's Melody Barnes To Progressives: Don't Jump Off The Bridge!

Ryan J. Reilly | December 3, 2010, 9:03AM

You know that scene in "It's A Wonderful Life" where George Bailey is standing on the bridge ready to end it all? That's where White House Director of Domestic Policy Council Melody Barnes sees liberals now, as they await the GOP takeover of the House. In her metaphor, Barnes is a guardian angel of sorts, trying her best Thursday night to pull progressives back from the brink.

Speaking at the American Constitution Society's holiday party at the Center for American Progress last night, Barnes drew parallels between the famous Christmas-themed movie (one of her favorite films) and the situation liberals find themselves in post-election 2010.

Yeah, it's bad, Barnes acknowledged. But, she implored, think of how much worse it would have been if Democrats hadn't been in power at all.

Read more »

Republicans

DADT No More? Republicans Threaten To Block All Dem Initiatives

Brian Beutler | December 1, 2010, 9:15AM

Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Just hours after Democrats and Republicans agreed to bargain on tax cuts, and fewer hours still after Defense Secretary Robert Gates implored Congress to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell this year, word leaked that Republicans aren't really interested in any of it -- a major repudiation of Gates' authority.

According to a letter delivered to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid this morning, Republicans will block all debate on all legislation until the tax cut impasse is bridged and the federal government has been fully funded -- even if it means days tick by and the Senate misses its opportunity to pass DADT, an extension of unemployment insurance and other Dem items.

Read more »

Rand Paul

Rand Paul Tells TPM That Tea Party Is Shaping Earmark Debate (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | November 16, 2010, 5:09PM

Sen.-elect Rand Paul (R-KY)

Senator-elect Rand Paul (R-KY) was in D.C. on Tuesday, where TPM ran into him and asked for his impressions of the Senate so far. Paul said the Tea Party has already shown its influence through the push for Senate Republicans to ban earmarks.

"We're pretty excited about the fact that we think the Tea Party is shaping the debate," Paul said. "Already, the caucus looks like it is going to move forward to having a ban on earmarks, which is a step towards having a more frugal government."

Read more »

Joe Miller

Republican: Miller Hurting Republicans In Alaska (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | November 2, 2010, 11:36AM

Alaska Senate candidate Joe Miller (R)

The tea party-backed Joe Miller's victory over Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the Alaska Senate primary gave Democrat Scott McAdams an opportunity to make a name for himself, and a narrow shot at victory. But it's also given Democrats across the state an opportunity to use Miller and his enormous disapproval ratings against other Republicans.

Case in point: a new ad running in Alaska for dark horse gubernatorial candidate Democrat Ethan Berkowitz, that ties Republican Sean Parnell to Miller and Sarah Palin.

"They gave Alaska its largest tax increase, the most spending in state history, declining oil investment, higher unemployment, a $500 million giveaway to TransCanada and Exxon," the ad's narrator says. "And they gave us Joe Miller. With four more years of Sean Parnell, do you really think we'll be any closer to building a gas line?"

Read more »

AK-SEN

Even Murkowski Allies Wonder What She's Doing

Christina Bellantoni | September 21, 2010, 10:06AM

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)

Sen. Lisa Murkowski doesn't want to lose her Senate seat, so at first she tried to win the primary fair-and-square, even avoiding going negative. Now that she's a write-in candidate instead of on the ballot as a Republican, she's shouting "extremist" from Alaska's snowy mountaintops and using the same arguments against Republican nominee Joe Miller as the Democrats are. It seems like an obvious strategy -- until you look at the numbers and listen to party operatives on both sides who say she just can't win.

During her announcement Friday and in her media rounds Sunday, Murkowski launched what appeared to be the opening salvo against Miller, whose support from the tea party and Murkowski rival Sarah Palin propelled him to a surprise victory last month.

Read more »

Bush Tax Cuts

Wiggle Room: Cornyn Suggests He'd Back Temporary Tax Cut Extension (VIDEO)

Christina Bellantoni | September 17, 2010, 11:46AM

Are Republicans starting to see some wiggle room on a vote over the Bush-era tax cuts? Sen. John Cornyn suggested as much in an interview this morning on MSNBC's "Daily Rundown" by noting he'd back something that "temporarily" extended the tax cuts.

Cornyn (R-TX) said he wouldn't go with the Democrats' plan to extend the tax cuts for only the middle class - a cut on the first $250,000 of every taxpayer's income - because he views letting the ones for the wealthy to expire as a tax increase.

Read more »

Bush Tax Cuts

Retiring Sen. Voinovich Doesn't Want To Extend Any Tax Cuts

Christina Bellantoni | September 15, 2010, 3:42PM

Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH)

The Senate Republicans are down one vote if they want to block a Democratic attempt to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for just those making $250,000 or less. Retiring Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) told The Hill he's not interested in extending them for either the middle class or for both the middle class and the rich, the policy his fellow GOPers say they prefer.

"My gut is probably no," Voinovich told The Hill. "I think I would probably not vote, period, for it."

Voinovich stressed he isn't 100 percent sure, but said his take is that broad tax reform is more important and that extending the tax cuts as President Obama wants would only "kick the can down the road."

Bush Tax Cuts

Senate Republicans Coalesce Around Tax Cut Compromise

Brian Beutler | September 14, 2010, 4:44PM

Republican Senators are coalescing around a compromise on tax cut legislation that would extend all of President Bush's tax cuts -- including on the wealthiest Americans -- until at least 2012.

"We need to leave things as is [for] at least two years," said Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), told TPM this afternoon.

He shares that view with numerous GOP colleagues, conservative and moderate, who are walking a middle path between Democratic leaders, who want to let the upper-bracket tax cuts expire, and the GOP top brass, who wants to extend all of Bush's tax cuts permanently.

Read more »

Bush Tax Cuts

How The GOP Scrambled For Damage Control After Boehner's Big Reveal On Tax Cuts

Christina Bellantoni | September 14, 2010, 12:45PM

House Minority Leader John Boehner

Democrats are calling it a game-changer that might just save their butts in November. Republicans are shouting loudly from the rooftops they want the Bush-era tax cuts to be made permanent and that they think that means they will win this fall.

Whichever happens on Nov. 2, it all started with Minority Leader John Boehner's surprise embrace for President Obama's tax-cut plan. Boehner said if it was the only option presented to his party, he'd support Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her Democrats in voting for an extension of the tax cuts for the middle class only.

Republicans are being very coy about blasting Boehner (R-OH) openly just as the Democrats are reminding the nation that he wants to be speaker of the House should the GOP win back control. But reading between the lines of their actions, it's pretty clear that few of his colleagues agree with Boehner. Could it spell trouble for the GOP?

Let's roll tape.

Read more »

2010 elections

Conservatives Attack Trent Lott After Former GOP Leader Bashes Tea Party

Christina Bellantoni | July 19, 2010, 4:38PM

Former Senator Trent Lott (R-MS)

Add former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott to the list of Republican tea party bashers. Lott (R-MS) held little back in a Washington Post interview that was published this weekend, drawing the ire of conservatives far and wide.

Read more »

2010 elections

Obama Gets Tougher On GOP's Blockage Of Unemployment Benefits

Christina Bellantoni | July 19, 2010, 6:00AM

President Barack Obama

President Obama this morning will suggest that Congressional Republicans are obstructionists and hypocrites, stepping up his criticism on an issue that's languished for weeks. In a statement to the press in the Rose Garden at 10:30 a.m., Obama will highlight the pending measure to extend unemployment insurance and say that Republicans are "denying millions of people who are out work and trying to find a job the needed relief."

A White House official told TPM that Obama also will say that Republicans want tax cuts for the wealthy but are filibustering this bill to help the unemployed. The official said Obama "will tell the stories of Americans in need of the extension and he will have strong words for Republicans who have previously supported unemployment extensions under Republican Presidents but refuse to offer relief to middle class families today."

Read more »

Supreme Court

GOPers Who Slammed Marshall's Activism Can't Name A Case Typifying It

Brian Beutler | June 29, 2010, 10:26AM

Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Jeff Sessions (R-AL)

Republicans raised eyebrows yesterday when they criticized the first African-American Supreme Court justice, Thurgood Marshall, as a way to attack nominee Elena Kagan, his former clerk. One would think that, to avoid any appearance of racial dog-whistling, the senators attacking Marshall's record would be able to name the decisions or opinions with which they so vociferously disagreed.

After the hearing broke last night, TPMDC asked three of the top Republicans on the Judiciary Committee which of Marshall's opinions best exemplified his activism. And while two of the three were careful to praise Marshall the man, none of them could name a single case.

Read more »

Robert Byrd

In Passing, Byrd Leaves Dems One Vote Shy Of Wall Street Reform

Brian Beutler | June 28, 2010, 9:50AM

The late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV)

Today the Senate will mourn the passing of its longest serving member in history, Robert Byrd (D-WV). But by week's end, Democrats want to pass final -- and unamendable -- legislation, rewriting the rules that govern Wall Street. And they have no margin for error -- or for losing a colleague.

Read more »

Repealing health care

Dems Go All-In On Health Care With New Ad Slamming GOP's Repeal Promise (VIDEO)

Christina Bellantoni | June 10, 2010, 12:00AM

President Obama speaks at a bipartisan White House gathering with Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) in the background.

Democrats on Thursday will launch a new 60-second ad on national cable television accusing repeal-happy Republicans of wanting to get rid of health care reform and all its benefits. The ad, obtained by TPMDC, is timed to coincide with the government mailing to seniors the first $250 Medicare rebate checks fixing the so-called prescription drug "donut hole."

The ad is titled "We Can't Afford To Go Back." It outlines the positive parts of the health care law signed by President Obama this spring and charges, "Republicans want to take it all away."

I've learned that DNC Chairman Tim Kaine on Thursday will dare Republicans to make repeal the focus of their fall campaign to try and win back control of Congress, challenging the GOP to tell senior citizens and others benefiting from health care exactly which parts of the reform law they'd scrap.

Read more »