The Senate passed the debt ceiling bill, 55-43.
The procedural vote to move the bill forward took an hour as they were having trouble getting to 60. Eventually, 12 Republicans joined with all 55 Dems, so that there were 67 votes to end the filibuster. Despite the primary challenges they face, both Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and John Cornyn of Texas were among the 12..
The sequester was set up in 2011 because it was supposedly so awful that the Dems and the GOP would definitely do a budget deal rather than let it take effect.
But now that it’s here, it seems to everybody involved to be a better option than the available alternatives. The GOP would rather live with the defense cuts that were supposedly anathema to them than raise taxes even on very rich people and corporations. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas is no Neville Chamberlain, and he’s saying the Pentagon cuts won’t hurt our national security. The GOP senators who are claiming they will, like John McCain and Lindsey “Butters” Graham, are really outliers even in their own party — after all, they both want to stay in Afghanistan forever, and that’s not where either party is.
The Dems would rather live with the cuts to non-defense spending than accept a deal without more revenue. The cuts won’t affect things like Medicaid or food stamps. You’re not going to see sick or hungry children sobbing in the streets.
Americans believe the sequester isn’t big enough or relevant enough to their lives to get upset about. Yes, people agree with the President that we shouldn’t do big cuts or reform entitlements without raising taxes, but people aren’t rising up against the GOP because the sequester isn’t that significant, either in dollars or affected programs. Nobody’s Social Security check gets cut, nobody’s Medicare benefits get reduced.
People just aren’t feeling the outrage the President is trying to inspire, and if he keeps it up, he might well lose his good will.
It really feels as if we have a bizarre moment of consensus here — Democrats and Republicans and Independents, in and out of government, seem pretty calm about and comfortable with the sequester, especially if it’s tweaked to give department heads flexibility on where to cut.
The GOP has been cast as having the political disadvantage here. But if these cuts take effect, and people don’t feel pain from them, voters might say, “Hey, let’s cut a little more.”
The Senate has just approved John Kerry’s nomination to be Secretary of State.
The vote was 94-3. GOP Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, both of Texas, and James Inhofe of Oklahoma voted against him. I guess they were holding out for John Bolton.
President Obama has officially nominated John Kerry to be the next Secretary of State. A happy day for defeated Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, who is tap dancing against semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity clips as fast as he can, and who will now get another bite at the senatorial apple after his loss to Elizabeth Warren.
Meanwhile, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) has officially come out against former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska) for Secretary of Defense. Cornyn is both a member of the Armed Services Committee and the GOP whip, so he’d be a major player in a Hagel confirmation.
GOP Texas Sen. John Cornyn was head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee this cycle, tasked with taking back the Senate for the GOP. As you know, the Dems increased their majority, so Cornyn failed.
His punishment? They’ve made him GOP Whip, the number two job after Mitch McConnell, the Minority Leader. Affirmative action for old white guys, I guess.
The NRSC has no problem with Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock’s comments that there should not be an abortion exception for rape because God intended it to happen.
NRSC head Texas Senator John Cornyn has issued an unequivocal statement of continuing support.
The GOP has made it clear what they think of women. On November 6, it’s up to women to show what they think of the GOP.
Embattled Farmers 