Mediaboss Marketing

Democrats successfully blocked the Keystone XL pipeline Monday, launching a filibuster in the Senate that keeps the long-delayed project on ice for at least the near term while Republicans try to figure out whether they can revive the bill.

We hit our first little bump in the road back to regular order, but weve got to roll with some things, said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the Alaska Republican who was in charge of shepherding the bill through the chamber.

Democratic leaders, who oppose the pipeline, nonetheless said they were filibustering in order to continue the debate and to earn the chance to vote on more amendments to the bill.

PHOTOS: Bang for your buck: Best handguns under $500

They accused Republicans of trying to shut down debate too quickly and said the two weeks the Senate devoted to the issue werent enough. The Senate has voted on two dozen amendments more than the chamber considered in all of 2014, when it was under Democratic control.

Still, Democratic leaders said Republicans should be held to the standard set by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, who pledged to allow a more freewheeling process.

Trying to muzzle the debate by refusing to allow Democrats even one minute to advocate for their amendment and then simply refusing to hold votes on dozens of other amendments is not a remotely open process, said Sen. Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat. Democrats are seeking to improve this bill for middle-class families, while Republicans are working to preserve it as a special interest giveaway to foreign oil and foreign steel companies.

Republicans fell six votes shy of the 60 needed to end the filibuster. Four Republicans and two Democrats who were co-sponsors of the Keystone bill were absent. If these senators had been present, the vote might have passed.

Three other Democrats Sens. Thomas R. Carper of Delaware, Robert P. Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania and Jon Tester of Montana who voted for the Keystone pipeline two months ago reversed themselves and voted to filibuster it Monday.

The Keystone pipeline would carry oil from Canadas tar sands to refineries along the Gulf of Mexico. But the project has taken on a symbolism far outstripping its economic or environmental impact.

Excerpt from:
Democrats filibuster Keystone, force Republicans to rethink strategy, amendments

Democrats are renewing a public battle over the intent of a special House committee's probe of the Sept. 11, 2012, Benghazi consulate attack, saying Republicans have intentionally excluded them from witness interviews and other key aspects of the investigation.

In a letter sent Friday to the Benghazi committee's chairman, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), top Democrat Elijah Cummings of Maryland also cited two instances in which the committee dismissed testimony from witnesses interviewed only by Republicans that contradicted allegations made by Republican members in public over the State Department's cooperation with an independent review of the attack.

Cummings asked Gowdy to delay a planned public hearing set for Tuesday until both parties agree on a formal set of rules to govern the investigation, including guaranteeing that any witness interviews are conducted jointly by both parties and that any decisions to subpoena further witnesses and documents can be debated publicly.

Cummings said the panel should mirror the example of the House Intelligence Committee instead of the House Oversight Committee, previously led by Rep. Darrel Issa (R-Vista), which he accused of manipulating testimony "to promote false political narratives."

"In order for this committee to transcend politics,' as you put it, we must break significantly from [that] model," Cummings wrote. "We should work together to go where the facts take us, and we should hold joint meetings, interviews and discussions with potential witnesses."

Republicans are dismissing the Democrats' complaints as simply picking a fight over process where they lack a substantive case to end the investigation.

In a statement, Gowdy spokesman Jamal Ware said there was no precedent in similar investigatory committees for a requirement that both parties interview witnesses at the same time, and that Republicans "will talk to Benghazi sources with or without the Democrats present just as they are welcome to talk to sources with or without Republicans present."

Chairman Gowdy has operated the Benghazi Committee in a more-than-fair and fact-based manner, Ware said, adding that Gowdy has offered to establish rules that are much more generous than those that govern other congressional committees. He will continue to work to address any legitimate minority concerns. He will not, however, allow the committees investigation to be hamstrung by politics.

House Speaker John A. Boehner called for a special select committee to be formed on the Benghazi attacks last May, accusing the White House of withholding documents from other congressional panels in what he called a "flagrant violation of trust." He later dismissed an Intelligence Committee report that found no wrongdoing by administration officials, saying that it was the Select Committee that would produce the "definitive" report. The House voted to continue the investigation in the new Congress as part of a larger package of rules approved on the first day of the 2015 session.

Democrats had debated whether to participate in the panel at all, initially seeking commitment on ground rules before doing so but ultimately agreeing to appoint members to act as a watchdog. Subsequent attempts to reach an agreement over rules, which included a meeting with Boehner in December, have failed.

Read the original post:
As House Benghazi committee reconvenes, Democrats renew complaints

This post has been updated

Senate Democrats stalled the Republican-led push to construct the Keystone XL Pipeline on Monday, dealing the first significant blow to the new Republican majority less than three weeks after being sworn in.

The outcome handed at least a temporary victory to some Democrats and environmentalists, who staunchly oppose construction of the pipeline. But Mondays vote was more a speed bump than a roadblock; both parties are expected to continue hashing out their differences on the bill.

The measure fell short of attaining the 60 votes needed to proceed to final passage under Senate rules. Fifty-three senators voted to move to a final vote on the oil pipeline, which would run from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast, while 39 voted against it.

The vote fell mostly along party lines. While a handful of centrist Democrats crossed over to vote with the GOP, others withheld their support in protest against Republican leaders, who they say unfairly ended consideration of proposed amendments last week.

Eight senators were absent from the vote, including Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), who was recovering from eye surgery; Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who is on a fundraising swing as he weighs a White House run; and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who was traveling to Saudi Arabia to pay respects to late King Abdullah.

President Obama has said he will veto the bill if it gets to his desk. But now, its unclear how soon it could reach him, as both parties must continue negotiating in order to advance the bill.

If Republicans arent able to move forward on the bill by the end of the week, it could put the GOP push to construct the pipeline in serious jeopardy.

While Republicans have pitched the plan as a job-creator, Democrats have warned of adverse environmental effects and repeatedly cited a State Department report indicating the pipeline would create only 35 permanent jobs.

Most McDonalds franchises offer more jobs, said Sen. Richard J. Durbin (Ill.), the second-ranking Democrat. He repeatedly called Keystone XL a Canadian pipeline.

Follow this link:
Democrats stall Keystone bill in Senate, dealing blow to GOP

Are Democrats wavering on Obama? #SOTU
Are Democrats united in president #39;s #39;go on offense #39; apparoach to the GOP-led Congress? #SOTU. Are Dems wavering on Obama?

By: ETV NEWS

Read more here:
Are Democrats wavering on Obama? #SOTU - Video

A national poll this month showeda sharp partisan dividein how Americans viewdifferent federal agencies, with Republicans approving most of the national-security varietywhile Democrats gave high marks to, well, a bit of everything.

In a Pew Research surveycoveringeight agencies, Republicans showed the highest regard for the Defense Department and the Central Intelligence Agency, as those agencies earned approval ratings of 66 percent and 64 percent among those respondents, respectively. NASA placed third with a 63 percent approval rating among Republicans.

Overall, Republicans held less favorable views than Democrats with five of the eight agencies in the survey, which included the the Centers for Disease Control, the CIA,the Defense Department, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Internal Revenue Service, NASA, and the National Security Agency.

Democrats approved most of the EPA,with 80 percent of respondents from that party giving the agency a positive mark. The CDC finished second among Democrats with an approval rating of 77 percent, while the Defense Department finished third with 70 percent matching the Republican approval rating for that agency.

The CIA is the only agency that Republicans viewed more favorably than Democrats, as only46 percent of Democratic respondents expressed a positive opinion of the agency.

Despite revealing a partisan divide, the survey also showed that Americans overall view most of the agencies in a positive light. Seven of theeight agencies received mostly-positive reviews, while the IRS ended up with an overallunfavorable rating.

Forty-eight percent of respondents said they have an unfavorable opinion of the IRS, compared to45 percent who said they view the agency favorably. The numbers were little-changed since Pews October 2013 survey.

The CDCscored highest in the survey despite taking criticism last fall for its handling of theEbola outbreak.Seventypercent of respondents expresseda favorable opinionof theagency this month.

The same cant be said of the Department of Veterans Affairs, which saw its approval rating decline by 16 percentage points since October 2013. Fifty-two percent of respondents said they have a favorable view of the VA in the most recent survey, suggesting that the agencys record-keeping scandal has taken a toll on its public image.

The survey, which Pew conducted between Jan. 7-11, included1,504 adults.

See the rest here:
Federal Eye: Democrats, Republicans divided over which agencies they like