Jim DeMint backs down on demand to read START - Shira Toeplitz and Manu Raju

DeMint: Were Trying To Run Out The Clock On Omnibus
The Hill: Sen. Jim DeMint said Wednesday night that he still plans to force a floor reading of the 1,900-page omnibus spending bill. DeMint (R-S.C.) said that he would still seek a full reading of the $1.1 Trillion bill after backing away from a similar threat to force a reading of the New START Treaty with Russia on the Senate floor. “If they bring this up, they’re going to read it. It’ll take them a day or two to read it,” the South Carolina conservative said on Fox...

Playing Chicken with Christmas
I can just imagine conversations going on between senators and their spouses right about now. “Sweetie, I'm sorry, but I'm going to be stuck in Washington all of next week.” “Darling, no way. You left me alone last year with your in-laws and the kids. I'm not doing another Christmas in Florida without you.” “Sugar plum, I'm really sorry. But the Senate's work is not done. And this is my job, my responsibility to our constituents.” “When you get here, if ...

Congress close to Dont Ask, Dont Tell repeal
The House Democratic majority already voted to Repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ the outdated anti-republican law that permits the Military to dictate service eligibility to civilians and discriminate based on Sexual Orientation. Surprisingly, the usually lagging and recalcitrant Senate now also has enough crossover Republican votes to discontinue the grossly prejudicial DADT. The only remaining question- besides why Repeal lagged until the 11thhour - is how Ha...

White House gives up on getting Kyl's support for New START
As senators lined up Thursday to give speeches about the New START Treaty on the Senate floor and the debate kicked into high gear, the White House formally abandoned its drive to work with Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) on ratifying the treaty. Following Kyl's Press Conference Wednesday afternoon, during which he and 11 other GOP senators pledged to oppose the move to finish the treaty this year, the administration decided to make good on its promise to force a vote during the Lame Duck session and att...

In Defense of Pork: Reid Vows to Fight Obama, GOP on Earmarks
ABC News’ Matthew Jaffe reports: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid today mounted a passionate defense of Earmarks, hitting out at President Obama and Republicans alike. Reid said Republicans who oppose the massive $1.1 Trillion omnibus spending bill that includes their own pork projects are hypocrites. “You can’t have it both ways,” he railed. “You can all look it up in the dictionary yourself, but I bet if you went to ‘H’ in the dictionary and found ‘hypoc

Senate argues merits of nuclear treaty with Russia
(12-16) 00:20 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) -- President Barack Obama took a step toward a major Foreign Policy accomplishment as the Senate began debate on a U.S.-Russia nuclear pact. The move by Senate Democrats to bring the New START Treaty up for debate reflected confidence that they could deliver approval after it had appeared stalled for weeks. Ratification of the treaty, along with a tax deal with Republicans that's nearing approval, would represent victories for Obama on his top foreign and dom...

DeMint Ends Demand To Read START Out Loud
Politico reports: South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint backed off his demand Wednesday to force a full reading of the New START Treaty, a move that may ease a legislative logjam amid a flurry of activity in the waning days of the congressional session. DeMint’s decision also signals that the long-debated START treaty may now have a serious chance to win ratification and hand the White House a major victory in the coming days. A procedural vote on the treaty Wednesday garnered 66 votes, a strong in...

Keep 'Em In, Harry Redux
Harry Reid gets it: We are in session, if necessary, up to January 5th. That is the clock our Republican colleagues need to run out. It's a long clock.He can only pass things (barring a successful bluff to go nuclear, which is highly unlikely at this point) if he has 60 votes (and more for START), and he can only pass as many things as he can pack in to the space available. But if his statement today is for real, then he's not going to leave anything on the table. I should note that this is a s...

Exclusive Video: How the Left Rules by Crisis (and the DREAM Act Shamnesty)
Ben Johnson, FloydReports.com I did this interview in late November, but the liberals’ massive power grab during the Lame Duck session inspired me to post a snippet that is pivotal to understanding how left-wingers operate: They do not argue, because they cannot win an argument. Logic and rationality are foreign languages to them. They try to throw their opposition off-balance by deliberately engineering a crisis, then demanding Conservatives respond to it — with the “solutio...

Sen. DeMint: 'We're trying to run out the clock' on omnibus
Sen. Jim DeMint said Wednesday night that he still plans to force a floor reading of the 1,900-page omnibus spending bill.  DeMint (R-S.C.) said that he would still seek a full reading of the $1.1 Trillion bill after backing away from a similar threat to force a reading of the New START Treaty with Russia on the Senate floor.  "If they bring this up, they're going to read it. It'll take them a day or two to read it," the South Carolina conservative said on Fox News. "Again, we're trying to r...

Biden to GOP: 'Don't Tell Me About Christmas'
It wasn't exactly a Scrooge moment, but Vice President Joe Biden has little patience with Senate Republicans who cite the holidays as a reason to put off finishing work on such matters as the START Treaty, a huge priority for the Obama Administration. "Don't tell me about Christmas," an irritated Biden said in remarks reported by the NBC Nightly News, the New York Times and Politico. "I understand Christmas. I have been a senator for a long time. I have been there [the Senate] many years where w...

The Choice: 1-Page Short-Term Continuing Resolution Or Dems Bloated 2,000-pg Omnibus
Disgusted, The Wall Street Journal editors write today, “The 111th Congress began with an $814 billion stimulus that blew out the federal Balance Sheet, so we suppose it’s only fitting that the Members want to exit by passing a 1,924-page, $1.2 Trillion omnibus spending bill. The worst Congress in modern history is true to its essence to the bitter end.” They add, “Democrats have had 11 months to write a Budget for fiscal 2011, which began on October 1. But Majority Leade...

Joe Scarborough: Jon Kyl, Jim DeMint 'Un-Christlike' For Harry Reid Christmas Criticism (VIDEO)
MSNBC host Joe Scarborough appeared seriously incensed Thursday over the invocation of Christmas by Republican Senators to criticize Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. During an extended segment on comments by Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), who Wednesday said that Reid's threats of forcing the Senate to work through the holidays were tantamount to "disrespect" and "sacrilege," Joe Scarborough called the senators "un-Christlike" and added that they owed Reid an Apology. "Judge ...

Cartwright: Russia deal won't hurt missile defense
WASHINGTON—Marine Gen. James Cartwright says a stalled nuclear deal with Russia will not create any barriers to America's ability to move forward on Missile Defense. Cartwright's comments could provide some assurances to Republicans who have asserted it would limit missile defense options and argued that it has insufficient procedures to verify Russia's adherence to the treaty. Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says the U.S. urgently needs to the Senate to ratify the...

Breaking: GOP Will Paralyze Senate Floor With Reading Of 1,924 Page Omnibus Spending Bill
The Hill: Republicans will paralyze the Senate floor for 50 hours by forcing clerks to read every single paragraph of the 1,924-page, $1.1 Trillion omnibus spending bill. Senate clerks are expected to read the massive bill in rotating shifts around the clock — taking breaks to drink water and pop throat lozenges — to keep legislative business on track, according to a Democratic leadership aide. The bill is so long that it took the Government Printing Office two days to print it. The Senate...

Lieberman: DADT Repeal Should Come Before START (VIDEO)
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) says that repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell should get an earlier slot on the Senate calendar than ratifying President Obama's new nuclear arms reduction START Treaty. In the past couple days, momentum has formed behind the Lieberman-led effort to end the Military's ban on Openly Gay servicembers, and Lieberman is calling on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to keep the ball rolling. "It's really up to Sen. Reid now," Lieberman told MSNBC today. Lieberman recently secur...

GOP to Paralyze Senate Floor With Reading of 1,924-Page Omnibus Bill, Will Take Clerks 50 Hours to Read, DeMint Says Hes Not Bac
Stand strong, no caving in… (The Hill) — Republicans will paralyze the Senate floor for 50 hours by forcing clerks to read every single paragraph of the 1,924-page, $1.1 Trillion omnibus spending bill. Senate clerks are expected to read the massive bill in rotating shifts around the clock — taking breaks to drink water and pop throat lozenges — to keep legislative business on track, according to a Democratic leadership aide. The bill is so long that it took the Government Printing

Jim DeMint Wants START Treaty, Omnibus Bill Read Aloud in the Senate
(Credit: CBS) Conservative Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina plans to force the Senate to read aloud the U.S.-Russia nuclear arms treaty, as well as a 1,900-page omnibus spending bill, before the chamber can vote on either of them, the Hill reports. The move would slow down business in the Senate as Democrats try to push through some big pieces of legislation before leaving for Christmas recess. Reading the START nuclear treaty could reportedly take up to 12 hours, and reading the lengthy om...

DeMint to Have New START Read Aloud
As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) prepares to bring New START to the floor, it appears that Sen. Jim DeMint will move to have the entire text of the agreement read aloud on the Senate floor. Reaction from the White House was swift, with Press Secretary Robert Gibbs condemning DeMint for “wast[ing] 12 hours” of the Senate’s time. “This is a new low in putting political stunts ahead of our National Security,” Gibbs said. This is a new low in putting poli...

DeMint: Ramming Bills Through at Christmas Sacrilegious, Read Start and Omnibus Bills on Floor
Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) has had about enough of the Democrats and the way they ram bills through right before Christmas. I can’t say I blame him, who isn’t sick of it? Politico reported: Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) called Democrats’ push to force through an Arms Control treaty and an omnibus spending bill right before Christmas “sacrilegious,” and warned he’d draw the process out to wage his objections. “You can’t jam a major Arms Control treaty r...

START's Lame-Duck Prospects Take a Huge Hit
Sens.  Jon Kyl  of Arizona,  Lamar Alexander  of Tennessee,  John Thune  of South Dakota, Christopher Bond  of Missouri,  Orrin Hatch  of Utah,  Saxby Chambliss  of Georgia,  George Lemieux  of Florida and  Mark Kirk  of Illinois have called a Press Conference for 2:45 p.m. today to announce their opposition to ratification of the treaty during the lame-duck session. Sens. Alexander and Kirk had given favorable signals ab...

Gibbs Calls Out DeMint
In tough language, Press Sec calls “game-playing” of delaying treaty ratification a “new low” in Wednesday statement. This is a new low in putting political stunts ahead of our National Security, and it is exactly the kind of Washington game-playing that the American People are sick of. While some express concern that the Senate doesn’t have time to debate the Treaty, Senator DeMint wants to waste 12 hours to read the text of a treaty that has been available to ever...

Senate votes to open debate on New START
The Senate on Wednesday voted to open debate on the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, with lawmakers slated to begin debate on the measure Thursday morning. The 66-to-32 vote was well above the simple-majority threshold necessary to proceed and was an auspicious first step for the U.S.-Russia Nuclear Treaty, which would require 67 votes for ratification. Joining Democrats in voting for the measure were Republican Sens. Bob Bennett (Utah), Scott Brown (Mass.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lindsey Gr...

DeMint will force readings of START Treaty and omnibus bill
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) will force readings of both a nuclear arms treaty and $1.1 Trillion spending bill that could eat up hours of the remaining lame-duck Congress. DeMint will invoke a senatorial privilege to ask that texts of both the New START Treaty and the 2011 omnibus spending bill be read aloud on the Senate floor. The readings could take seven to 12 hours to verbalize the START Treaty, while the omnibus could take 40 to 60 hours, according to a spokesman for DeMint....

DeMint Wants Treaty Read, But Missed Hearings
Frustrated with Sen. Jim DeMint’s support for a move to require an oral reading of the START Nuclear Disarmament treaty with Russia - a move that could take as long as 12-15 hours in these waning Lame Duck days -- an Obama Administration official notes that DeMint only attended five of the 12 Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings on START, nor was he present for the final vote to order the treaty reported on the 16th. DeMint attended the May 18 and 19, June 15 and 24, and July ...