Anna Nicole Smith's boyfriend, doctor guilty of using false names - CNN

Gillibrand wants more Mr. Smith, less rules abuse
After being sworn in to her first elective term in the U.S. Senate — albeit just a two-year stint — Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand laid out her priorities for the months ahead in a Conference Call. She began by listing her accomplishments since taking office less than two years ago — from her work on the elimination of drop-side cribs and the end of “don’t ask, don’t tell” to the last-minute passage of the Zadroga Health Care bill — before turning to the work ahead

Using Women as Props
Obviously we’re in la-la land. A place where it’s debatable whether or not women are citizens and persons; where it’s debatable whether or not women are protected by the Constitution. I’m just going to continue to live and act as if I’m a person, as if a citizen. It’s not so easy to act as if I have protections because I haven’t felt that to be the case for quite a few years, now. Really, though, what I wanted to write about was the journey I went on an...

Gillibrand Wants To Bring Mr. Smith Back to Washington
In Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, an appointed senator tries to save the public from a corrupt Public Works bill with an epic Filibuster on the Senate floor. Seventy (Read more...) ...

On Filibuster Reform
During the Health Care debate, I wrote a series of posts defending the Filibuster — you can find them here, here, and here, with a much later follow-up here — and arguing for the virtues of a Supermajority hurdle for Controversial, big-ticket Legislation. I stand by all of those arguments, but I also agree with Daniel Foster that the Filibuster reform proposal the Senate Democrats are putting forward looks pretty reasonable.  Essentially, for the Filibuster to work as I’d ...

Harry Reid and Democrats seek to use backdoor methods to change filibuster rules
Senate Democrats are floating the idea of making major changes to Senate rules applying to the use of the Filibuster.  An important check against the majority, the filibuster exists in part to distinguish the Senate from the whims of the “majority-rule” House.  Structured as a more deliberative body, the filibuster is designed to allow the minority an opportunity to oppose or defeat bills or nominees in certain circumstances.  Democrat Senator Tom Udall is working to a...

Senate rules reform gains more momentum
Two nice pieces of news on the Senate rules reform front today. The first, from The Plum Line's Greg Sargent, who spoke to Jake Thompson, Chief of Staff to Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) and has this to report: Thompson emails that in fact, Nelson is open to supporting Senator Tom Udall's Filibuster reform plan, which was introduced yesterday, as "a starting point." He adds that Nelson recognizes that "clearly the Senate is dysfunctional and too often dilatory tactics are used to obstruct it from worki...

Filibuster talks to drive Senate recess
The debate over Filibuster reform is heading behind closed doors, as Democratic hopes for a 51-vote overhaul dim. Democratic and Republican leaders said they will attempt to broker a deal during the upcoming two-week recess to improve how the Senate does business. Whatever Compromise reached likely will be verbal, and unlikely to retool hallowed Filibuster rules, senators and aides say. Continue Reading Text Size - + reset The end result of the talks is unclear, but Republicans hope they will...

Senate Democrats seek rule changes; GOP wary
Senate Democrats said Thursday they will continue to seek Republican cooperation on proposed rule changes to make it tougher for the minority party to use Filibusters and other procedural tactics to block majority bills. But with Republicans staunchly opposed to tinkering with the filibuster, which they say is among the only tools they have to stop Legislation they oppose, Democrats say they're prepared to forge ahead alone to reform the system. "The rules have been abused" by Republicans, said ...

Conservative bloggers like Senate Democrats' filibuster proposal
Yesterday, I noted that the Filibuster proposal presented by Senate Democrats didn’t look all that bad. It simply makes the minority party actually Filibuster by taking to the floor and shut down the business of the body. Some other other Bloggers on the right, including Allahpundit at Hot Air, also like the idea. Over at National Review, Daniel Foster has probably the best post I’ve read on the debate over the filibuster: There’s a lot to like there. I’ve long favored the “tal

Obama Follows My Advice.
Well, not exactly. But, in line with my recommendations on this blog, the president has nominated -- or renominated -- dozens of judicial nominees: Faced with the prospect of increasingly lengthy court vacancies, the White House on Wednesday formally renominated more than 40 judicial Candidates whose possible appointments were left in limbo during the last congressional session.The Obama Administration sent the dozens of nominations -- 23 of which an official categorized as "emergency" nominees ...

Previewing The Sunday Shows
The new Congress and the GOP agenda will dominate the Sunday shows this week. CNN's "State of the Union" and CBS' "Face the Nation" will explore the GOP's plans for this year and how Democrats plan to counter it. CNN will host Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), outspoken Repbublican Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and freshman Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah). And "Face the Nation" speaks with Durbin counterpart Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Min. Whi...

Does Repeal of ObamaCare Have a Chance?
Polls show most Americans are not happy with the new Health Care law, a sentiment reflected in last November's Election Results. The new Republican leadership in the House has made Repeal of the law a priority, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid warns that any attempt by the House to kill ObamaCare will die in the Senate. With that in mind, do you think Republicans can succeed at repealing the new Health Care law? Share your thoughts, answer our question then click "Leave a Comment." This is ...

UPDATED: Udall, Harkin, Merkley introduce a rules reform proposal
The much-anticipated opening of the 112th Senate has come and gone, and with it came the much-anticipated introduction of Senate rules reform proposals. Yes, proposals in the plural. There were more than one introduced yesterday -- including Sen. Harkin's original proposal that gradually ratchets down the threshold needed for Cloture to a simple majority -- and very possibly more to come in the future. The one most eyes were on yesterday was that introduced by Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM), along with ...

Harkin renews push for filibuster reform
U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), along with Sens. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), introduced a resolution Wednesday to change the Filibuster in the U.S. Senate, an idea Harkin has advocated for more than a decade. “In too many areas - from Job Creation to Immigration to energy - Americans see a legislature that is unable to respond to the challenges the country faces,” Harkin said in a statement. “We simply cannot govern a 21st Century superpower with ar...

SHOCK! Fox and others immediately lie about Senate rules reform
To no one's surprise, Fox News comes right out of the gate lying about Senate rules reform efforts. Check out this headline: A Dem Win on Filibuster Rules Could Mean Defeat on Eliminating Secret Holds Now, I could quote you the entire article right here, but it wouldn't do you any good if you were trying to find actual support in it for that headline. Nowhere -- and I mean nowhere -- in the piece does anyone actually say why a Dem win on filibuster rules could mean defeat on eliminating secret...

Senate Dems release filibuster proposal
Despite some skepticism among members - including Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE), Senate Democrats have released their proposal to change the rules for the Filibuster (you can read it full at the bottom of the post or click here): The package includes a concession to Senate Republicans who demanded a curb on Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) power to prevent amendments from getting votes. The most significant proposed reform would require senators who wage filibusters to actually hold the floor by...

Senate rules reform gains more momentum
Two nice pieces of news on the Senate rules reform front today. The first, from The Plum Line's Greg Sargent, who spoke to Jake Thompson, Chief of Staff to Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) and has this to report: Thompson emails that in fact, Nelson is open to supporting Senator Tom Udall's Filibuster reform plan, which was introduced yesterday, as "a starting point." He adds that Nelson recognizes that "clearly the Senate is dysfunctional and too often dilatory tactics are used to obstruct it from worki...

Franken, Klobuchar offer filibuster fixes
Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken are offering their own ideas to fix the Filibuster, a Senate procedure that often results in gridlock in the upper chamber. Klobuchar is a cosponsor of a comprehensive filibuster Reform Bill introduced by Democratic Sens. Tom Udall of New Mexico, Tom Harkin of Iowa and Jeff Merkley of Oregon. The trio said that since 2006, “there have been more filibusters than the total between 1920 and 1980.” Franken is offering a change to the filibuster process ...

Ed Lee looks to have votes to be S.F. interim mayor
(01-04) 22:54 PST San Francisco -- City Administrator Ed Lee appears to have enough votes to be picked as San Francisco's interim mayor, but the Board of Supervisors didn't make a decision late Tuesday after a raucous debate and delayed consideration to Friday afternoon. Some of the wavering supervisors said they were uncomfortable voting for Lee while he was traveling in Hong Kong and they hadn't had a chance to talk to him. Earlier, Lee said he didn't want the job of serving out the year re...

Senate Democrats seek rule changes; GOP wary
Senate Democrats said Thursday they will continue to seek Republican cooperation on proposed rule changes to make it tougher for the minority party to use Filibusters and other procedural tactics to block majority bills. But with Republicans staunchly opposed to tinkering with the filibuster, which they say is among the only tools they have to stop Legislation they oppose, Democrats say they're prepared to forge ahead alone to reform the system. "The rules have been abused" by Republicans, said ...

Reid: Democrats prepared to go it alone on filibuster reform
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Thursday said that Democrats will push ahead with a plan to reform the Senate rules, with or without Republican support. Addressing reporters after Senate Democrats' weekly Caucus luncheon, Reid said that he hopes Bipartisan agreement on Filibuster reform is possible but if not, Democrats are prepared to enact a plan on their own. "It's very clear that Democrats want to change the rules," Reid said. "They believe, as I believe, the rules have been ab...

The Filibuster, Public Knowledge and Accountability.
For all of Washington's chatter about Filibuster reform, most Americans know very little about the Filibuster or its rules: In a January 2010 Pew Research poll, at the height of the Senate debate over Health Care reform, just 26% of Americans were able to correctly answer that it now takes 60 votes to break a Filibuster in the Senate. About as many (25%) mistakenly said a simple majority of 51 votes can break a filibuster, while a 37%-plurality admitted they just didn't know. As with most other ...

From The Mouths Of Babes
by Michael E. Hammond, former General Counsel Senate Steering Committee 1978-89 In Lyndon Johnson’s time, first-term senators were expected to be “seen and not heard.” They were expected to shut their mouths and learn how and why the Senate operated as an institution. And the prospect that senators who have no idea what they’re doing would take it upon themselves to restructure the nature of the Senate would have been considered ridiculous by the likes of Lyndon Johnson. But now, a

The Senate Reform Proposal
Yesterday the Democrats introduced their Cloture reform package, and I’d give it about one cheer.  Here’s a brief rundown on what the Majority Leader proposed. 1.  End secret holds.  Good idea, though it won’t matter all that much. 2.  Reduce the maximum number of hours for debate on nominees once Cloture is invoked from 30 to 2.  Also worthwhile, especially as I wrote an op-ed arguing for this change back in October. (No doubt that left them all quakin...

Sen. Boxer: Working With Mica, Inhofe on a Long-Term Transpo Bill
Senator Barbara Boxer told reporters today that she had an “excellent”, “wonderful” meeting with Rep. John Mica (R-FL), the new chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. She confirmed that they’re working on a “longer-term” transportation bill and have come up with many points of agreement. We’ll let you know more details about that meeting as we get them. Photo from Barbara Boxer's flickr page But she also said that the future...