Senate Republicans Block Lee Amendment, Preserve AFFH

(Hat tip: KimR) - The Lee Amendment to defund President Obama’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) regulation failed in the Senate yesterday because not enough Republicans backed it. The Amendment was tabled by a vote of 60-37. Jeremy Carl aptly describes this vote as a defeat for conservatism, community control, and common sense. See list of Republicans who voted against the amendment at PowerLine Read More......

Time for Senate Geezers to Go

If the United States has any chance of changing the disastrous course on which it is currently embarked, then significant electoral reforms are needed. As things stand, too few politicians wield too much power for far too long. --J.R.R. Tolkien’s Ring of Power is perhaps the best metaphor for actual power found in literature: The more the bearer wears the ring, the more “addicted” to its powers and pleasures he becomes, and the more enthralled to the Dark Lord.

Read more at PoliZette
(Hat tip: KimR) Read More......

Ahead of Senate vote, Ted Cruz & Co. stand athwart bipartisan ‘doc fix’

The Senate is set to take up a bipartisan bill Tuesday that will permanently end the Medicare "doc fix," a yearly legislative headache on Capitol Hill, but some of the Senate's most conservative members are threatening to oppose the legislation crafted last month in the House, citing its price tag.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that he expected to bring the bill to the Senate floor later in the day, hours before Medicaid officials say they will implement a 21 percent cut to the rates it pays doctors treating Medicare patients. McConnell said there is "a bipartisan desire" to pass the bill before the midnight deadline.


Read more at the Washington Post
(Hat tip: KimR) Read More......

Senate Dems threaten to oppose deal on Medicare doc fees

Democratic senators would oppose a potential House bipartisan deal preventing cuts in physicians’ Medicare payments if it doesn’t finance a children’s health program for four years, senior Senate Democratic aides said Sunday.

The aides issued the threat as House bargainers try preventing a 21 percent reduction in doctors' Medicare reimbursements scheduled for April 1.

Read more at the Associated Press
(Hat tip: KimR) Read More......

Conger: $200M wasted, time to shut Cover Oregon down

PORTLAND, ORE – Rep. Jason Conger (R-Bend) renewed his call to shut down Cover Oregon in light of new information showing that $200 million has been spent out of roughly $300 million in federal grant money the state received to build its health insurance exchange. ✧ “Cover Oregon is a train wreck, and the more we learn the worse it gets,” Conger said. “We now know that $200 million has been spent – and the website still doesn’t work.“

Read more at the Oregon Catalyst
Hat tip: KimR Read More......

Oregon Senate Bill 71: Relating to drones; and declaring an emergency

Summary of SB 71 (Current Version): Imposes restrictions on use of drones by private parties and public entities. Creates various crimes for unauthorized use of drones. Punishes by maximum of 20 years' imprisonment, $375,000 fine, or both. ✧ Directs Department of State Police to establish registry of certain drones used by public bodies. ✧ Permits Oregon Department of Aviation to issue licenses for use of drones. ✧ Declares emergency, effective on passage. Read more...

2013 Regular Session
Current: In Senate Committee Read More......

CPI: Opposing More Top-Down Control of Oregon Education

Steve Buckstein of Cascade Policy Institute testified before the Senate Education and Workforce Development Committee on Wednesday, February 8th.

CASCADE POLICY INSTITUTE, 2/8/2012, Testimony of Steve Buckstein - [Excerpt:] "I’m here to oppose SB 1581 because I believe that the legislature is continuing to fall into the “bigger is better” trap. The goal of unifying everything from early childhood through graduate school education can’t be accomplished without pushing power and control even farther away from the people who should matter most—parents and students. This bill, by giving even partial control over a number of positions in Oregon’s public education system to the new Chief Education Officer, simply continues movement into that trap. Read full testimony at CPI...

Related: Oregon Catalyst, 2/13/2012 - Whose education testimony are the Senators afraid of? by Steve Buckstein Read More......

Obama signs debt deal

With just hours to spare before the deadline, President Obama signs the deficit reduction bill into law to raise the nation's debt ceiling after the Senate approved the measure by a 74-26 vote.

Debt Ceiling: Budget Experts See Deal as 'Spit in the Ocean' - [Excerpt] "This package claims to reduce about $2.5 trillion from what the debt otherwise would have been; but the discretionary spending caps I discussed are just slowed growth. ... When we think about how big the problem is, with the retirement of the Baby Boom (generation), with low revenue coming in as a result of the financial crisis and the economic slowdown, we've got a much bigger problem than $3 trillion of vague cuts can address." Read more at Fox News... Read More......

SB 255 will weaken Oregon's Charter Schools

Oregon Conservatives/fb, 3/16/2011 posted by Jeff Reynolds - Statement from Rob Kremer - Don't be deceived by OR SB 255, which will WEAKEN CHARTER SCHOOLS IN OREGON.

Don't be deceived by the Education Lobby's "less controversial" charter school bill! ∴ SB255, a bill that makes some changes to the charter school law, passed out of committee yesterday. ∴ This bill is the product of interim meetings held by all the usual education lobby groups, who want to change the charter school law in ways that further empower school districts and further tie the hands of charter schools. ∴ On the House side, Rep. Wingard sponsored HB2287, which went down on Monday 32-28. THAT bill was the one that would empower charter schools and parents and children. ∴ The two bills are basically opposites, but the media is calling the Senate bill the "less controversial charter bill." Sure. Less controversial, because it does what the OEA, OSBA, COSA and ODE want it to do - make life harder for charters. ∴ Don't criticize the Republicans who voted for the bill in committee, because they were not lobbied on the bill. That was my fault - I was tied up and did not know the bill was being heard. I should have told them the truth about the bill. ∴ But if you have a chance, let everyone in your circle of influence know that SB255 is a bill that hurts charter schools. We need to kill this bill on the House side.

Thanks!
Rob Kremer

Read More......

Karl Rove updates 2010 Senate races

KARL ROVE'S NOTES (fb), 5/26/2010 - "New polls in the wake of last week's primaries have led to a slew of changes on the Senate map. Pennsylvania moves from leaning Republican to a toss-up after new polls show Sestak (D) closing on Toomey (R), and despite a primary battle between Sen. Bennet (D) and Romanoff (D), Colorado also moves from lean GOP to toss-up. California shifts from toss-up to lean Democratic as new polls show Sen. Boxer (D) ahead of her prospective Republican opponents. But Washington becomes a bright spot for Republicans as new polls show the entry of Rossi (R) to the race against Sen. Murray (D) shifts the state from leaning Democratic to a toss-up."

***Click map for larger view*** | (To download PDF map, visit http://bit.ly/dzSr7H)

Mr. Rove won't mind if we prove him wrong on Oregon's Senate race. --bc Read More......

Senate Democrats Out of Touch with American Public

From Bob Tiernan, Oregon Republican Party Chair
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Sorry, just received this. --bc)
Tuesday November 24,2009

Senate Democrats Out of Touch with American Public - According to new polling information, a majority of Americans oppose Democrats’ health care reform - Portland, Ore. – “The health care bill which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid passed on Saturday, with the help of Oregon’s Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, brings America dangerously closer to government-run health care,” Oregon Republican Party Chairman Bob Tiernan said today.

“The 2,074-page bill was created behind closed doors and is filled with new taxes on small businesses and the middle class, cuts to Medicare and increased bureaucracy that will put the government between you and your doctor,” Chairman Tiernan continued.

According to polling information released yesterday by Rasmussen Reports, 56% of Americans oppose the health care reform plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats. In the same report, support for the plan fell to an all-time low of 38%. Additionally, only 16% of respondents believe the plan will lead to lower health care costs as the Democrats are claiming, while nearly four times as many, 60% of respondents, believe the plan will increase health care costs.

“As this poll demonstrates, it’s clear that this is not the kind of ‘change’ Oregonians and Americans want. As voters in New Jersey and Virginia showed on Election Day earlier this month, they oppose bigger government, more federal spending and higher taxes,” continued Chairman Tiernan.

“I urge Senators Wyden and Merkley to stand up to Senator Reid and the liberal special interests, start representing the views of Oregonians, and oppose this dangerous health care experiment,” Chairman Tiernan concluded.

### Read More......

U.S. Senate: Immigration Bill defeated... again

(CNN) Thursday, June 28, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Opponents effectively killed President Bush's long-fought and emotion-laden Senate immigration bill Thursday when members voted against advancing the controversial legislation. The tally was 46 to 53, 14 votes shy of the 60 needed to end debate. [Interesting map]

[...] The bill aimed to create a path to citizenship for some of the 12 million illegal immigrants and to toughen border security. Explaining his reasons for voting against the bill, GOP Sen. Jeff Sessions, a leading critic of the measure, said "it would not work."

"Our analysis was that it would result in 8.7 million more people in the next 20 years here illegally," said the Alabama senator.

[...] Enforcement issues were a main concern for Republican Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana, who said his vote against the bill sent a crystal clear message "that the American people want us to start with enforcement, both at the border and at the workplace, and don't want promises. They want action, they want results, they want proof, because they've heard all the promises before."

Sessions said there would be "no permanent hard feelings over this among the people who wanted to pass a bill they thought would help America." Backers of the bill, Sessions said, were simply "trying to work a compromise to pass something" and called on members next time to pass legislation that "will work."

[...] On Wednesday, supporters beat back a number of potentially fatal amendments.

Proponents won a major victory with defeat of an amendment removing the bill's most controversial feature -- a path to legalization and eventual citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the country, which critics charge amounts to amnesty.

Also defeated Wednesday was an amendment by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, that would have required adult illegal immigrants to return to their home country within two years in order to apply for a new type of visa that will allow them to stay in the United States indefinitely.

CNN Correspondents Dana Bash and Andrea Koppel contributed to this report.

Read More......