In a shocking development Thursday evening, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) triggered a rarely used procedural option informally called the “nuclear option” to change the Senate rules.
Reid and 50 members of his caucus voted to change Senate rules unilaterally to prevent Republicans from forcing votes on uncomfortable amendments after the chamber has voted to move to final passage of a bill.
Reid’s coup passed by a vote of 51-48, leaving Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) fuming.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who said this week he prefers Jon Huntsman to Mitt Romney in the GOP Mormon presidential primary, has taken a lot of money from the Huntsman family, and the former Utah governor appointed Reid’s son, Josh, to Utah’s Board of Regents.
So no wonder Reid said Tuesday, “If I had a choice in that race, I’d choose Huntsman over Romney.”
These are the people who've spent trillions the past few years and delivered, well, nothing. The GOP tries to whack a few bucks off the budget and there's panic in the Senate. Now it's just getting stupid.
Senate Democrats are accusing Republicans of pushing spending cuts that will lead to higher energy prices.
In a letter Tuesday to House and Senate GOP leaders, the bulk of the caucus, including its leaders, take aim at House-passed spending legislation that would cut funding for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which polices oil futures markets.
“As we work toward a long-term budget compromise to keep the government running through this year, we urge you to abandon the reckless energy proposals in the House-passed Continuing Resolution (H.R 1) that will condemn our country to continued reliance on foreign oil and allow market manipulation that could lead to gas prices rising unchecked,” states the letter from 48 Democrats, including Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and other Democratic leaders.
Of course we could drill for our own oil here in America and reduce gas prices, but the Democrats won't allow that.
In 2008, President Bush called for increased offshore drilling. Said Harry Reid at the time:
Democratic leaders in Congress said the plan is going nowhere. "President Bush and John McCain are not serious about addressing gas prices," said Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.). "If they were, they would stop offering the same old ideas meant to pad the pockets of Big Oil and work with Democrats to reduce our dependence on oil."
It's comforting to know that in the midst of the Great Recession we still have the money for essential government services like military protection, law enforcement, and...the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.
Yes, we sure have cut spending to the bone, haven't we?
Thankfully, Iowahawk already has a contingency plan in place, in case NEA funding dries up:
Nevada maintained an unemployment rate of 14.4 percent in September, the highest unemployment rate of any state and the highest unemployment rate in the history of Nevada, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a division of the U.S. Department of Labor.
Nevada’s unemployment rate first hit 14.4 percent in August and stayed there for the month of September, according to data released by the Labor Department on Friday.
Since Sen. Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) became Senate Majority Leader in January 2007, the unemployment rate in Nevada has not declined in any single month. Sometimes in the period since January 2007 it has remained at the same level from one month to the next--such as from this August to September, when it maintained its record level of 14.4 percent--but it has never declined.
Help Sharron Angle put this arrogant economic wrecking ball out of commission on November 2.
Looks like his phony Tea Party candidate isn't quite helping split the vote. What a shame. Well, we've got a little more than six months to slap this clown around, so savor every moment of it.
U.S. Sen. Harry Reid must pick up far more support from crossover Republicans and independents to win re-election, according to a new poll that shows him losing to the GOP front-runner in a full-ballot election with eight contenders and a "none of these candidates" option.
The survey of Nevada voters commissioned by the Review-Journal shows Reid getting 37 percent of the vote compared with 47 percent for Republican Sue Lowden, who would win if the election were today, while the slate of third-party and nonpartisan candidates would get slim to no backing.
The latest Mason-Dixon poll for the first time measured Reid's and Lowden's support in a full general election test instead of in a head-to-head or three-way matchup to see how much of the vote the record number of Senate candidates on the Nov. 2 ballot would siphon off from the Democratic incumbent and the top GOP challenger, pollster Brad Coker said.
"The bottom line is that adding all these minor candidates won't really bleed support away exclusively from the Republican," Coker said. "They're not really bleeding much support from either candidate, Reid or Lowden, and if they do siphon off votes, it'll probably be about half and half."
According to the poll, the four nonpartisan candidates wouldn't pick up any measurable vote. Tim Fasano of the Independent American Party and "none of these candidates" would each get 3 percent, Scott Ashjian of the Tea Party of Nevada would get 2 percent, and 8 percent of voters are undecided.
Eight or nine out of 10 voters don't even know the names of the four nonpartisan contenders, according to the survey, which also found less than half of Nevadans recognized Fasano and Ashjian, a former Republican who isn't supported by local and national members of the Tea Party movement.
Ken Fernandez, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said voters rarely choose third-party and nonpartisan candidates in close races in which the stakes are high -- as in the nationally watched Reid race -- because "people don't want to throw away their vote."
On the upside, Reid will help boost the Nevada economy by wasting upwards of $25 million making stuff up about his Republican opponent.
He plans to raise a record $25 million to defend his seat, according to his campaign.
With that much money, Reid can tear apart his opponent's record and make voters feel the Republican isn't up to the Senate job, said Nathan Gonzales of the Rothenberg Political Report.
"It's up to Reid to change the dynamics of this race," Gonzales said. "He's going to have to completely demonize the Republican in the race, and he's got the money to do it."
As nasty as Democrats already are, expect the most negative campaign cycle ever this fall. It'll backfire badly.
Who could've seen this coming? Well, Jon Corzine and Martha Coakley for starters
During his whirlwind visit to Las Vegas two weeks ago, President Barack Obama mentioned U.S. Sen. Harry Reid by name four dozen times, gave him a big hug and talked him up as if he was a long-lost brother [brother? Isn't that racist?--ed.].
In remarks that could not have been more laudatory, Obama repeatedly characterized the veteran Democratic leader as a man "made of very strong stuff" who was making the right decisions for the state back in the nation's capital.
But as Reid faces an uphill path to win re-election to a fifth Senate term, Obama's enthusiastic endorsement does not appear to have improved the Senate majority leader's standing among constituents, according to a new poll conducted for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Reid got no bounce from Obama's visit on Feb. 19, when the president spoke highly of him at Green Valley High School and to business leaders at CityCenter, polling indicates.
A larger percentage of voters surveyed (17 percent) said they would be less likely to vote for Reid following the president's visit than said they would be more likely to vote for him (7 percent). Seventy-five percent said Obama's visit would have no effect on how they vote.
"Reid was not helped, and Obama was not any more popular than he was before he came to the state," said Brad Coker, managing director at Mason-Dixon Polling & Research.
Meanwhile, the Dim Bulb From Searchlight now trails GOP frontunner Sue Lowden by 13 points as he's cratered at a 33% approval. Reid also trails potential Republican challenger Danny Tarkanian by 11 points.
The only hope for Dingy Harry? Why, Nancy Pelosi's new-found friends from the Tea Party. Expect Reid to suddenly declare himself an populist.
Sue Lowden has emerged as a clear leader among Republicans fighting for the chance to run against Sen. Harry Reid this fall, according to a new poll that also shows the incumbent Democrat continues to trail against his major challengers.
But the polling done for the Las Vegas Review-Journal also shows this year's U.S. Senate race could undergo a major shake-up if a Tea Party candidate gets involved.
It would be a new ballgame, and Reid would be the big beneficiary.
A disaffected conservative running under the Tea Party banner would drain support from a Republican candidate, according to polling of a three-way contest.
In that case, Reid would draw 36 percent of voters, while the Republican nominee would get 32 percent and the Tea Party candidate 18 percent if the election were held today.
In a flight of fantasy completely ignoring Reid's dismal standing, his spokesthing desperately grasps at that silver lining.
Brandon Hall, Reid's campaign manager, said: "For the first time, the Review-Journal is releasing a poll that shows Senator Reid winning."
Hall apparently had no reaction to this news.
Reid's favorability ratings remained largely unchanged from polling a month earlier. He continues to be underwater with 33 percent of respondents having a positive view of him and 51 percent viewing him unfavorably.
The poll also shows that Lowden and Danny Tarkanian, another presumed Republican front-runner, continue to hold leads and may have widened them slightly over the past month in head-to-head matchups with Reid:
■ Lowden, a businesswoman and former state senator, bests Reid by a 52-39 percent margin if the vote were held today, according to the poll. Her lead in polling from Jan. 5-7 was 50-40.
■ Tarkanian, a Las Vegas businessman and attorney, would prevail over Reid by 51-40 percent today. In January, he held a 49-41 lead.
Coker, managing partner of Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, said those changes are statistically insignificant. But he said it's worth noting that Reid continues to be stuck at around 40 percent in the matchups.
So both Lowden and Reid increased their leads over Reid and his man is gushing. Keep dreaming, Brandon.
Now while some disaffected Republicans may be inclined to go Tea Party following the GOP primary, Republicans have to look at the big picture, and that's sweeping Reid and the Senate Democrats out of power. The Nevada tea Party can live on to fight other battles. Don't lose the war while fighting your first one. Assuming Reid doesn't find the sudden urge to retire, expect him to go out ugly.
Other analysts say don't write off Reid just yet. The dynamics of the race inevitably will change once a challenger emerges from the GOP primary in June, and Reid can target his multimillion-dollar war chest, they say.
"That is going to unleash the Reid tidal wave of attacks, and that is going to be harmful" to the challenger, said Damore, the UNLV professor.
Plus, Damore said, "The Dems will be able to show something in the next six-seven months in terms of legislative accomplishments. The numbers are going to close. I think this is going to be a nail-biter."
It felt more like a religious revival than a political rally, with shouts of "Amen" filling the air. A choir of third-graders raised their voices in song before a Baptist preacher led a prayer.
Remember during the presidential race when numerous videos came out showing elementary age school children singing the praises of Obama surfaced? Well, it seems the African American community is continuing to exploit their children for political purposes and they don't seem to have a problem with it.
There is a video at the link, but it only shows the tail end of the children reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and not of the singing. Based on the story on the video, it does not appear that the kids were actually singing any sort of song praising Harry Reid, but I am still disturbed by the fact that it appears to be okay now to use small children as stage props in political campaigns.
For the most part the video is merely a composite of various African Americans taking to the microphone proclaiming that Reid isn't a racist, and Republicans are bad.
"I think it was an innocent comment, but it shows he doesn't have any serious dialogue with the African-American community and only knows black politicians," she said. "If he had any real black friends, they would tell him, 'Hey, Harry, don't say that kind of shit.' "
In the final bit of irony I see that a Baptist minister gave a prayer. Ironic because in fact Reid is a Mormon and we all know how well that worked out for Mitt Romney.
It's quite amusing watching Democrats twist themselves into pretzels trying to defend Harry Reid from his "Negro" comments revealed this weekend. Now LA Times columnist Sandy Banks comes up with a most unique angle: It's Michael Steele who should apologize for comparing Reid's remarks with what happened to Trent Lott in 2002.
Harry Reid doesn't owe me an apology.
Sure, it was a little odd to see the term "Negro" used outside of a history class or documentary. Sounds like Reid is stuck in the last century.
But the Senate majority leader didn't say anything many Americans -- especially us Negroes -- don't already know.
If you're black, it is easier in this country to be light-skinned.
That's borne out not just by anecdote and experience, but by research documenting favorable treatment for fair-skinned blacks in criminal cases, employment prospects, even social and romantic liaisons.
Studies have shown that darker-skinned blacks are more likely to be unemployed, earn less and hold lower-prestige jobs. In the criminal justice system, convicted murderers with "stereotypically black" features are more than twice as likely as light-skinned defendants to receive death sentences from juries.
Don't blame Reid for the preference. Blame bigotry. Blame history.
Naturally, Banks ignores the history of the Democrats and their Klan associations. I guess she's forgotten about Robert Byrd and Al Gore's segregationist father.
Hilariously, she now calls on Michael Steele to apologize over comparing the plight of Reid with Lott.
I think the next apology ought to come from Michael Steele -- the light-skinned, dialectically flexible African American head of the Republican National Committee.
Steele has called for Reid to step down as majority leader, likening him to Trent Lott, the former Mississippi senator rebuked in 2002 for saying he was "proud" that his state had supported a segregationist candidate in the 1948 presidential election.
That candidate was Strom Thurmond, who famously declared during his White House campaign: "All the laws of Washington and all the bayonets of the Army cannot force the Negro into our homes, our schools, our churches."
Either Steele is playing politics with a combustible case, or he thinks Americans are so incapable of thinking intelligently about race that we can't tell the difference between Lott and Reid.
Now that offends me.
What offends me is Lott went on a nonstop apology tour over his remarks but there wasn't anyone on the left willing to accept his apology with lightning speed like the Democrats who quickly rushed to defend Reid. Lott's comments, while idiotic, were merely done as a tribute to a man celebrating his 100th birthday. They were relatively benign and weren't even noticed until some blogs made an issue out of it. Within 12 hours of Reid's comments being reported every Democrat under the sun rush to his side to defend him. I don't recall many Republicans defending Lott and in case Banks didn't notice, his career was pretty much over after that. Reid, meanwhile, isn't going anywhere right now, at least until he loses in November.
If your Democrat senator didn't get some sort of sweetheart deal from Harry Reid in exchange for a yes vote on the healthcare bill I think you owe them a phone call to find out why. Of course, if they didn't get some sort of bribe are they really the sort of person you want to send back to Washington? I mean after all if they can't get exemption for their state from having to fund Medicaid like Ben Nelson (D-NE) did, or $300 million like Mary Landrieu (D-LA) did, or even avowed Socialist Bernie Sanders (S-VT), who got a break on the Medicaid funding, are they really smart enough to hold the job they have?
Sure, I can understand why a freshman senator like Al Franken (Comedian-MN) couldn't get something. I mean after all he hasn't paid his dues yet and besides, he has one of the biggest symbols of our broken medical system, the Mayo Clinic, in his state. No sense rewarding him since they are a part of the problem.
C'mon, Democrats, I know you can unite behind this cause. If your Senator doesn't have enough clout or isn't smart enough to figure out how to wrangle some sort of bennie out of Harry Reid (Mormon-NV) maybe it's time to replace them. Hell, even Blue Dog Dems in the House can get Nancy Pelosi (Aging Hippie-CA) to throw them a bone every once in awhile for their vote, so I would think a Senator should be able to figure out how to get it done.
Oh, as far as the Senate is concerned, you see American people aren't really concerned that you are bankrupting this country and saddling our great-grandkids with a mountain of debt; what really impresses us is what it takes to buy your vote. Of course, the vote of the average American comes much cheaper. A building with your name on it to remind the good folks back home what a heck of a job you are doing is normally sufficient.
Yes sir, I sit in absolute awe of the truly unique ways you come up with to get that little million dollar earmark worked into a defense bill that goes for building a nice bike path in your district. We didn't need that money for defense and besides, those silly little terrorists will be so worn out from riding their bikes on that new path all day that they won't be able to carry out some sort of attack.
Yup, when I grow up I want to learn just how it is I can go up to somebody and get them to take millions or billions of dollars from a bunch of unsuspecting fools and give it to me and all I have to do in exchange is nod my head and agree.
One last question. Why is Bernie Madoff in jail instead of the Senate?
Things just ain't working out for the reality-based community and the Kossies are mad. Harriet Reid's a sellout and they're pissed at Obama. They've been used, tricked, lied to, blah, blah, blah.
With Tom Harkin pre-capitulating, telling TMPDC that "There's enough good in this bill that even without those two, we gotta move," even before the Dem caucus met to decide the way forward, the writing was on the wall. Add Rockefeller, who says he'll vote for the bill even without Medicare buy-in, and it's gone.
A number of sources are reporting that the majority capitulated to Lieberman, who was in attendance in the meeting, cuz, you know, he's with us on everything but the war.
Heh. Next thing ya know, the Kooky Kult Kiddyz will figure out that al-Gore's done quite well at lining his pockets from the 'global warming' hoax they've supported so ardently.
There seem to be fewer and fewer lucid moments for Harry Reid. Considering the dim bulb from Searchlight may be approaching the final year of his Senate career, he's now getting down and dirty with his angry gutter politics, unable to control his rage. His latest stunt, despicably claiming the GOP's opposing his healthcare scam is akin to wanting to preserve slavery, is so out of bounds with the alleged "decorum" of the Senate it demands censure and an apology.
Of course none will be coming and the media is basically ignoring his outrageous and historically incorrect assertions.
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele Tuesday demanded that the Senate Democratic leader apologize for invoking slavery as he criticized Republicans for their opposition to passing health care reform.
"Instead of joining us on the right side of history, all Republicans can come up with is this: Slow down, stop everything, let's start over," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said Monday.
"If you think you've heard these same excuses before, you're right," Reid also said from the Senate floor. "When this country belatedly recognized the wrongs of slavery, there were those who dug in their heels and said slow down, it's too early, let's wait, things aren't bad enough."
Steele, the RNC's first African-American chairman, took exception with Reid's remarks.
"It was not a sober moment for Harry Reid at all," Steele said Tuesday morning on CBS. "It was an ignorant moment.
"I'm kind of sick and tired of the left and Democrats in this country. When they get into trouble and don't get their way and their backs are up against the wall on legislation or whatever it is that they're trying to do, they go to that card. They play that race card, that slavery card, that civil rights card."
It's all they know. You oppose them? You're racist. You oppose the president's agenda? You're racist.
You have to figure his suicide mission to provide us with "free" healthcare will cost him his job next November, but what does he have to worry about? He'll get to keep his own cushy government plan even in retirement.
For a guy who's been in office as long as he has, a 38% approval means almost certain doom, ready to be submerged by the near-certain GOP tidal wave of 2010.
Nevadans aren't warming up to Sen. Harry Reid, despite plenty of early advertising designed to boost his image, a new poll shows.
Just 38 percent of respondents said they had a favorable opinion of the Democratic Senate majority leader, the same percentage as in October and 1 point higher than in August.
The survey of 625 registered Nevada voters by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research suggests the promotional bombardment that Reid launched more than six weeks ago has yet to hit its target.
"I'd be worried," said Michael Franz, an assistant professor at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, who studies political advertising. "I'd stop if I had aired ads for two or three weeks and it wasn't moving the needle."
According to the poll commissioned by the Review-Journal, 49 percent of respondents had an unfavorable opinion of Reid, while 13 percent were neutral.
"We've always said we will run an aggressive campaign that includes early television, and this is just the beginning," said Reid campaign manager Brandon Hall. "Senator Reid is fighting to make Nevada stronger every day, and his leadership position is particularly important during these tough economic times. We're confident that as voters begin to understand the clear choice between his leadership for Nevada and Republican candidates with no new ideas, they will ultimately decide that Nevada is best served by re-electing Senator Reid next November."
It's likely his GOP opponent could be a stone statue and will still win. Who needs any "new ideas" when all you'll need to do is point at this clown and ask whether you want six more years of a man who makes undertakers look cheery?
In hypothetical general election matchups, respondents favored Lowden over Reid 51 percent to 41 percent, with 8 percent undecided. They favored Tarkanian over Reid 48 percent to 42 percent, with 10 percent undecided. The margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Reid, who is seeking his fifth consecutive six-year term, was recognized by 100 percent of respondents, suggesting he is well-known to voters.
Pollster Brad Coker says Reid's early ad campaign to remind voters of his hardscrabble childhood in Searchlight and highlight his efforts to use his Senate status to create, save or protect tens of thousands of jobs "isn't doing him much good right now."
Q: How will U.S. Sen. (Edward) Kennedy's death affect things?
A: I think it's going to help us. He hasn't been around for some time. We're going to have a new chairman of that committee, it'll be, I don't know for sure, but I think Sen. (Chris) Dodd, (D-Conn.). He has a right to take it. Either him or (U.S. Sen. Tom) Harkin, (D-Iowa), whichever one wants it can have it. I think he (Kennedy) will be a help. He's an inspiration for us. That was the issue of his life and he didn't get it done.
Democrats and fraud, perfect together. And in what should be considered a stunning development, the word Democrat actually appears in the Reuters headline.
The U.S. attorney in New York on Tuesday charged a New York investor and major Democratic fund-raiser with a $74 million scheme to defraud Citigroup Inc (C.N).
Hassan Nemazee, 59, was charged with one count of bank fraud, and faces up to 30 years in prison plus a fine. His lawyer Marc Mukasey, a former federal prosecutor, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Nemazee was a national finance chair of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, and a supporter of John Kerry's run for the White House in 2004.
He typically donates more than $100,000 annually to Democratic political candidates, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senator Charles Schumer, and sits on the board of the Iranian American Political Action Committee .
Bill Clinton, when he was president, nominated Nemazee to be U.S. ambassador to Argentina.
Prosecutors said Nemazee, the chairman and chief executive of Nemazee Capital Corp, sought to induce Citigroup's banking unit to lend up to $74 million based on fraudulent and forged documents suggesting that he had hundreds of millions of dollars of accounts available as collateral.
They said Nemazee also provided Citigroup with fake references so that when the bank would try to confirm details about his accounts, it would actually be contacting him. The scheme lasted from December 2006 to this month, the prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said federal agents stopped him on Sunday at Newark Liberty International Airport as he prepared to board a flight to Rome, and that he repaid a more than $74 million loan to Citigroup the following day.
Sounds like he was going to abscond like another Clinton pal, Marc Rich.
Chuckie Schumer ought to be pleased to find out another of his major fundraisers now faces prison, just like his pal Bernie Madoff.
In addition to Nemazee and the now-imprisoned Norman Hsu, I wonder how many other criminal fundraisers were helping Hillary Clinton?
Here's a rundown of Democrats Nemazee contributed to: Also included are Democrat Senators Barbara Boxer, Joe Biden, Kirsten Gillibrand, Frank Lautenberg, Dick Durbin, Carl Levin, and Jay Rockefeller.
I'll wait with breathless anticipation for all of them to comment and offer to return his dirty money.
Michelle Malkin already has material for a new chapter of her best-selling book.
It's the highest stakes ever for a Nevada election, and former boxer Sen. Harry Reid is on the ropes early. Either Republican Danny Tarkanian or Sue Lowden would knock out Reid in a general election, according to a recent poll of Nevada voters.
The results suggest the Democratic Senate majority leader will have to punch hard and often in order to retain his position as the most accomplished politician in state history, in terms of job status.
Nevadans favored Tarkanian over Reid 49 percent to 38 percent and Lowden over Reid 45 percent to 40 percent, according to the poll.
Reid's status makes him an icon of the Democratic Party and ties him to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and President Barack Obama, both of whom are losing ground among centrist and right-leaning voters in the country.
Winning "becomes more difficult when you are actually the one having to carry the water for the president," said Richard Davis, a professor of political science at Brigham Young University in Utah. "He (Reid) has got to get something out of the Obama administration that he can claim as his own."
He's more than welcome to claim any number of Obama's failures. In fact, I wonder if Obama will even be campaigning for Reid, or anyone else for that matter, in 2010, considering his own dwindling fortunes.
We noted yesterday some gutless New York Congressmen holding town hall meetings on ObamaCare either in secret or announcing them after the fact. Now comes word the Senate Majority Leader, Dingy Harry, will be holding his over the phone.
Real leadership there, Harry.
A day after holding up a square of Astroturf to denounce the orchestrated attacks on Democratic town hall meetings on health care, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office said he would be talking with his Nevada constituents this month over the phone lines.
Reid’s office is scheduling a telephone town hall meeting for August, opting to avoid the shouting matches and microphone speeches that have erupted at events across the country. The senator expects to reach thousands of Nevadans, including those in the state’s rural expanse.
“It’s a forum that obviously lets us reach more people, but also provides a more respectful environment that allows all sides to be heard,” said Reid spokesman Jon Summers.
Oh yeah, I'm sure "all sides" will be invited to participate in this charade.
“It’s more the dialogue that town halls were meant to be, as opposed to the organized disruption we’re seeing in other town halls,” Summers said. “This is so Nevadans who want to be heard can voice their concern, support and their opinions.”
Absolute cowardice.
Noel Sheppard, meanwhile, wonders why this announcement from the highest ranking Democrat in the Senate has gone virtually unnoticed.
Likely because it shows Reid to be a pusillanimous pipsqueak.
Among the cash returned include $8,000 from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, $27,500 from Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd and $14,000 from Richard Shelby, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, Janvey's said on his website.
Naturally the Republican is identified while the word Democrat isn't noted anywhere.
Probably has those lousy poll numbers on his mind. Whatever the case, three screw-ups in one press conference may be some kind of record.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid became the latest Democrat to stray into rhetorical trouble Tuesday, botching statements on three subjects in one news conference -- including the fragile health of the chamber's most senior members.
The Nevada Democrat reported that one of them, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., was absent because he was receiving a new round of treatment for his brain cancer. Asked if the cancer was in remission, Reid replied, "As far as I know, it is, yes."
Kennedy's office refused to confirm Reid's comments or make any statement in response, the public silence a classic Washington disavowal.
Reid was then asked about Sen. Robert C. Byrd, at 91 the longest-serving senator in history, who was hospitalized over the weekend for an infection. Reid reported that Byrd was to be released from the hospital Tuesday or perhaps later in the week.
Not exactly.
"Senator Byrd is improving," responded his spokesman, Jesse Jacobs. "But his doctors, in consultation with his family, have not yet determined when he will be released."
Reid also mangled his party's position on the congressional news of the day, that Senate Democrats would join their House counterparts in withholding the money President Barack Obama needs to close the Guantanamo Bay prison until Obama comes up with a plan for relocating its prisoners.
But Reid went further than saying he wanted to see a plan for the money before Congress approves it. "We will never allow terrorists to be released into the United States," he said.
No one, of course, was talking about releasing terrorism suspects among the American populace. Imprisoning them, perhaps, but not releasing them.
I thought these comments were over the top to begin with and now CBS golf analyst David Feherty has apologized.
"Despite how the conflict has been portrayed by our glorious media, if you gave any U.S. soldier a gun with two bullets in it, and he found himself in an elevator with Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Osama bin Laden, there's a good chance that Nancy Pelosi would get shot twice, and Harry Reid and bin Laden would be strangled to death."
Feherty, a former Ryder Cup player who grew up in Northern Ireland, has gone to Iraq over Thanksgiving the past two years to visit with U.S. troops, and he created a foundation to help wounded soldiers.
"This passage was a metaphor meant to describe how American troops felt about our 43rd president," Feherty said in a statement. "In retrospect, it was inappropriate and unacceptable, and has clearly insulted Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid, and for that, I apologize. As for our troops, they know I will continue to do as much as I can for them both at home and abroad."
Feherty has lived in Dallas the past dozen years. Along with working for CBS Sports, he writes a monthly column for Golf magazine and has written four books, the last one titled, "An Idiot for All Season."
Maybe he should pretend to be a liberal and claim the satire defense? That usually seems to work. Or better yet, why doesn't he get a free pass like amateur comedian Wanda Sykes? After all, her comments about Rush Limbaugh the other night had them rolling in the aisles.
Needless to say, these comments aren't going over well. There might be some jokes you crack with your buddies that aren't suitable for print. This is one of them.
CBS Sports commentator David Feherty drew criticism Friday for suggesting any U.S. soldier would murder House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) if given the chance.
"From my own experience visiting the troops in the Middle East, I can tell you this, though: despite how the conflict has been portrayed by our glorious media, if you gave any U.S. soldier a gun with two bullets in it, and he found himself in an elevator with Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Osama bin Laden, there's a good chance that Nancy Pelosi would get shot twice, and Harry Reid and bin Laden would be strangled to death," Feherty wrote in an a D Magazine piece welcoming former President George W. Bush back to Dallas.
