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November 21, 2009, 3:23 pm
By
Jordan Fabian
Two Democratic senators and one Republican are spending the day at a conference in Canada while their chamber debates healthcare reform.
Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Mark Udall (D-Colo.) attended an international security conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Meanwhile, senators in Washington D.C. debated healthcare reform legisation on a day when the upper chamber is scheduled to hold its fisr procedural vote on the bill.
McCain tweeted a photo of the Udall and him from the conference. They have been north of the border since yesterday:
Great trip Halifax with Sen Mark Udall and Sen Shaheen. The Canadians are great friends and allies! http://yfrog.com/4e57475197j
McCain is the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee and Udall sits on the committee. Shaheen sits on the Foreign Relations Committee. Senate Democrats need 60 votes to pass tonight's motion to proceed and clear the bill over its first major hurdle. Two holdout votes, centrist Sens. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.) both said they would support the motion. Calls to Udall and Shaheen's office went unanswered. PHOTO:
Cross-posted to the Briefing Room
UPDATED 4:17 P.M. Sen. Shaheen's office told The Hill that the senators returned to Washington at 3 p.m. today.
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November 21, 2009, 2:57 pm
By
Jordan Fabian
Sarah Palin expressed pessimism that she could "convince" Sen. Blance Lincoln to vote no on tonight's first procedural motion on healthcare reform as Lincoln said she would support it.
Granted, Palin (R-Alaska) is on the road promoting her memoir Going Rogue but the timing was not so apt. The former governor did say, however, she would work to get Lincoln (D-Ark.) voted out of office. She tweeted: Not sure I can convince Sen. Lincoln to vote no - but will do everything in my pwr to convince my friends in Arkansas to vote against her. With Lincoln saying she will vote for the motion, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) now has the votes he needs to pass the motion to continue debate and clear the fist major hurdle on his legislation.
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November 21, 2009, 12:36 pm
By
Jordan Fabian
Sen. Mary Landrieu will vote yes on the Senate's first prodecural vote on healthcare reform legislation.
Landrieu (D-La.) was one of two centrist Democrats on the fence about the vote to take place at 8 p.m. tonight. She had expressed objections with several portions of the bill, including the government-run public health insurance option. The Senate Democrats' official Twitter feed sent out a message reporting that Landrieu will vote yes. The last holdout among Senate Democrats is Blanche Lincoln (Ark.) Cross-posted to the Briefing Room
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November 21, 2009, 10:58 am
By
Jordan Fabian
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin today urged her supporters to call their senators to tell them to vote no on the first vote on healthcare reform scheduled for tonight. Palin (R) used her new Twitter account to help organize a calling campaign: Thot I'd stick w tour news on Twitter but can't help digress: Call senators! Tell 'em KILL THE BILL tonite;horrible govt healthcare takeover
Senate healthcare takeover debate begins in an hour. Pls call senators if u care about another 1/6th of our economy swallowed up by Big Govt The Senate is set to take its first procedural vote, a motion to proceed, on healthcare reform at 8 p.m. Saturday. Meanwhile, Palin is on a book tour to promote her memoir, Going Rogue: An American Life.
Republicans are expected to unanimously oppose the motion. Two centrist Democratic holdouts, Sens. Mary Landrieu (La.) and Blanche Lincoln (Ark.) still have not said whether or not they will vote for the motion.
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November 20, 2009, 2:56 pm
By
Kim Hart
 Just
as lawmakers and agency officials are starting to adopt Twitter as a
way to reach citizens, Web measurement firms show traffic to the site
is starting to slip.
Nielsen reports Twitter traffic declined about 28 percent from September to October. As eMarketer
writes in an article today, the decrease in visitors could mean either
falling interest in Twitter or simply a migration to other platforms,
such as third-party applications and mobile phone access. A decline in traffic to Twitter's site doesn't necessarily mean people aren't reading and posting tweets. In August, Crowd Science found 43 percent of Twitter users accessed Twitter through third-party applications such as TweetDeck, and 19 percent said they update Twitter via text messages. So fret not, political tweeters. Your messages (probably) aren't falling on deaf ears. Cross-posted to Hillicon Valley Read more...
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November 20, 2009, 2:46 pm
By
Jordan Fabian
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November 20, 2009, 1:16 pm
By
Jordan Fabian
Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) took to Twitter to publicize his stance on Afghanistan a day after he said he opposes adding more troops there. Specter declared that he opposes any troop increase during a conference call with bloggers yesterday. During the call, the Republican-turned Democrat claimed his primary opponent Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) supports a troop increase. Sestak did tell Fox News he backs a "measured increase" of troops less than the 40,000 recommended by commanding Gen. Stanley McChrystal.
Specter tweeted using his campaign Twitter account: I oppose sending additional troops to Afghanistan, and I want to hear your thoughts. Take this survey: http://bit.ly/682NLL
The survey on Specter's campaign site asks visitors if they support Specter's approach or Sestak's. Specter's announcement after President Barack Obama said he will make his decision on America's strategy in Afghanistan very soon.
During the conference call, the senator questioned if U.S. forces should stay in Afghanistan if the conflict is not essential in their fight against al Qaeda.
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November 20, 2009, 7:30 am
By
Michael O'Brien
A leading labor group launched on Friday to target the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Twitter.
American
Rights at Work (ARAW), in an email to supporters, will ask backers to
sign a petition and, if possible, post a tweet directed at the Chamber
for the business group's opposition to health reform legislation in
Congress.
The petition drive, set to begin at 10:00 a.m. EST, will ask activists to post the following tweet:
petition @chamberpost: The U.S. #Chamber doesn't represent me. It's Not My Chamber! http://act.ly/1cc RT to sign #p2 #notmychamber
The goal is to create a "Twitter flash mob," a spokesman for ARAW said about the effort on Friday.
The
campaign specifically takes aim at the Chamber's having allegedly tried
to hire economist who would have conducted a study on the effects of
health reform legislation, a study which the business advocacy group's
opponents say would have almost certainly have rendered a negative
verdict on the bills.
Cross-posted to the Briefing Room. Read more...
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November 19, 2009, 7:27 pm
By
Jordan Fabian
Rep. Michael Burgess (Texas), the only Republican to vote for the
Medicare "doc fix" bill that passed the House today, explained his vote
as a "symbolic" gesture to show commitment to doctors.
Burgess, who is an OB-GYN by training, said that he bucked his party because he does not believe the bill will pass the Senate.
"I
think it is very unlikely that today’s bill will ever become law, since
the Senate has already soundly rejected a similar plan," he said in a
statement. "Because of this, today’s vote is largely symbolic, and with
my 'yes' vote, I stand committed to America’s doctors, the millions of
seniors they care for, and TRICARE recipients, to fix this problem." Burgess also tweeted, including a link to his statement: I just voted to stand with doctors and patients to prevent Medicare cuts that would jeopardize access http://bit.ly/3qZQ4x
The bill passed the House 243-183.
11 Democrats joined 172 Republican in voting against the bill. The $210
billion measure would prevent cuts in the Medicare payment rate to
doctors over the next decade.
Burgess eschewed intense lobbying on behalf of his GOP colleagues who sought to unanimously oppose the measure.
The Senate failed to motion for cloture on the bill in October. 12 centrist Democrats joined Republicans in voting against the bill. Burgess
did criticize the measure, saying he does not "think it is right to
continue to pass massive spending bills that add to our country’s
record deficit with no rational payment plan in place." Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) yesterday pledged to defeat the "doc fix" bill if and when the Senate considers it again. Cross-posted to the Briefing Room
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November 19, 2009, 6:09 pm
By
Jordan Fabian
Sen. Claire McCaskill on Thursday touted the Senate healthcare reform bill by taking a dig at former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's new book. McCaskill (D) said if the bill was printed in regular size font, it would be the same length as Palin's (R) memoir Going Rogue: An American Life "but with more meat on the bone." She tweeted: If we printed the health care bill in regular size font it would be same legnth as Sarah Palin's book, but with more meat on the bone. The Senate healthcare bill is 2,074 pages long. Palin's book is 413 pages long with 16 pages of photographs.
Both healthcare and Palin's book have grabbed the attention of the media and the public this week. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) today set the first major procedural vote for the healthcare reform bill for 8 p.m. on Saturday. Meanwhile, Palin launched her book tour last night and also began tweeting again. She had taken a nearly four month-long hiatus from the microblogging service until she tweeted on Tuesday on her old account announcing that her new handle would become active.
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