Below is an article in the Detroit Free Press
March 17, 2009Levin, others oppose adding gas permits to budget debateBY ANDREW TAYLORASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON -- Michigan Democrat Carl Levin and seven of his fellow Democratic senators are opposing speedy action on President Barack Obama's bill to combat global warming, complicating prospects for the legislation and creating problems for party leaders.
The eight Democrats disapprove of using the annual budget debate to pass Obama's "cap-and-trade" bill to fight greenhouse gas emissions, a measure that divides lawmakers, environmentalists and businesses. The lawmakers' opposition makes it more difficult for Democratic leaders to move the bill without a threat of a Republican filibuster.
The budget debate is the only way to circumvent Senate rules that allow a unified GOP to stop a bill through filibusters.
"Enactment of a cap-and-trade regime is likely to influence nearly every feature of the U.S. economy," wrote the Democratic senators, mostly moderates. They were joined by 25 Republicans. "Legislation so far-reaching should be fully vetted and given appropriate time for debate."
It takes 60 votes to overcome a filibuster in the Senate, but Democrats and allied independents currently control 58 seats.
Under a cap-and-trade system, the government would auction off permits to emit greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. The auctions would raise almost $650 billion over the next decade, with the cost passed to consumers as higher energy prices.
The proposal is highly controversial, especially in heavily industrialized regions where people get their electricity from coal-fired power plants. Obama's promise to use most of the revenue to award $400 tax credits to most workers hasn't quelled the controversy since the increases in utility bills could easily exceed the amount of the tax cut.
The other Democrats who signed the letter, addressed to the chairman and top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, were Robert Byrd, West Virginia; Blanche Lincoln, Arkansas; Mary Landrieu, Louisiana; Evan Bayh, Indiana; Ben Nelson, Nebraska; Bob Casey Jr., Pennsylvania, and Mark Pryor, Arkansas.
The 25 Republicans were led by Sen. Mike Johanns of Nebraska.
The House and Senate budget committees are slated to vote on the resolution next week, with Senate debate scheduled for the week of March 30. (end of article)
As part of the Obama “team“, I have received several emails urging me to support the President’s Budget. I do not support it in its entirety, for the reasons given in the above article. “Cap and trade” should be debated separately on its merits and not pushed through as part of the Budget bill. If it stays in, I trust that Senator Levin will vote against it, and I hope my other senator, Debbie Stabenow, and my congressman, Gary Peters will do likewise. This budget need not be swallowed whole. Long-term goals and their proper implementation should be properly debated. What’s the big rush?
Here's my latest Huffington Post article on the race, posted on Wednesday, August 13:
I don't imagine that Senator Barack Obama's veep vetting team is paying much attention to what I have to say, but I want to make the case for who I think the Land of Lincolner should pick for his running mate.
Since Obama became my party's presumptive nominee on June 3, names like Joe Biden, Tim Kaine, Evan Bayh, and Kathleen Sebelius have dominated the headlines. Jim Webb and Mark Warner took themselves out of consideration earlier this summer, and there's been speculation this week that Hillary Clinton has been asked to deliver the keynote speech at Tuesday night's convention, which pundits say rules out any chance that the junior New York Senator might speak as a Vice Presidential candidate in Denver (never mind that Tuesday, except in 2004, has traditionally been the Vice Presidential nominee's night anyway, which the talking heads seem to overlook).
Excerpt:
A few months back I wrote a post analyzing the attributes of contenders for the VP spot. The conclusion of that post was that Gen. Wesley Clark was the best pick to be Obama's VP. I mentioned at the time that I had not weighted the different metrics that were used to rank the VP contenders. Given that we know a lot more now about how the general election is going to shape up, it's time to put some weights to the different categories and see if we come up with a different result. Here is my ranking of the metrics: Economic Issues (10 pts) Executive Experience (9 pts) Swing Staters (7 pts) Brand (6 pts) Foreign Policy (5 pts) Women (4 pts) Military Service (3 pts) Hillary Supporters (2 pts) Moderate / Conservative Values (1 pt) The weights are listed in parentheses. Using the categorization that we did in the Veepstakes section for each candidate, here is the ranking of all the VP contenders (it may surprise you)
A few months back I wrote a post analyzing the attributes of contenders for the VP spot. The conclusion of that post was that Gen. Wesley Clark was the best pick to be Obama's VP. I mentioned at the time that I had not weighted the different metrics that were used to rank the VP contenders. Given that we know a lot more now about how the general election is going to shape up, it's time to put some weights to the different categories and see if we come up with a different result. Here is my ranking of the metrics:
Economic Issues (10 pts)
Executive Experience (9 pts)
Swing Staters (7 pts)
Brand (6 pts)
Foreign Policy (5 pts)
Women (4 pts)
Military Service (3 pts)
Hillary Supporters (2 pts)
Moderate / Conservative Values (1 pt)
The full article
In my humble opinion, I do not think Evan Bayh is "in sync" with Barack Obama.
My pick would be Governor of Virginia, Tim Kaine.
Tim Kaine, the governor of Virginia, is supposedly in 'serious' talks to become Barack Obama's running mate. The other two most serious candidates are Evan Bayh and Joe Biden.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/28/AR2008072802041_2.html
Obama meets with the new Pakistani prime minister today, as well as with House Democrats.
The place to be in the west side of Indianapolis yesterday was the Pike Township Democrat Club Picnic. Everyone is on cloud nine with our candidate for president Barack Obama!!
In Indidana our Democrat Club in Indianapolis has face lean years. The state is so 50/50. When I was in high school the state was 40/60. I remember the day Birch Bayh upset the long time Senator Homer Capehart. I can still sing the catchy little jingle to the tune "hey look me over" that people sang and helped him win.
I just googled Birch Bayh. I had forgotten all of the wonderful things he did in the senate. I also had forgotten that he was in the plane crash in 1964 with Ted Kennedy. The night Birch won his first election to the senate, I attended the celebration party in down town Indianapolis. I was a senior in high school.
Now wouldn't his son Birch Evans Bayh III make a great vice- president?
Chris Cillizza makes an interesting case for Indiana's Evan Bayh as Obama's vice presidential pick. Personally, I think the choices are Evan Bayh, Joe Biden, and Sam Nunn, with Bill Richardson or Kathleen Sebelius as outside picks. What do you think?
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/07/the_case_for_obama.html?hpid=topnews
Word on the streets from Brooklyn to Boca is that former President Bill Clinton is shopping for a matchmaker. He wants to arrange a dream ticket between Hillary and “presumptive” Democratic Party nominee for President Barack Obama, a prospect that has Food Tasters For Obama salivating. That may help explain why New York Governor David Patterson reports “we’re starting to see a little desperation on the part of the woman who I support and I'll support until whatever time she makes a different determination.”
Hillary still insists she is within her legal rights to keep fighting for the nomination, which would allow her to tie the knot with Evan Bayh. You may remember that the Indiana Senator helped save Hillary’s honor in his home state’s primary, where she won by a scant 14,000 votes out of over 1.27 million. She is actively seeking out venues for a simple civil ceremony in Michigan or Florida, hoping such a chaseneh will be blessed by the Democratic Party’s Rules Committee on May 31. But Gov. Patterson dismissed Hillary’s strategy saying, “I don't think anybody in their right mind would do that, nor would they see it as a civil rights issue."
Meanwhile, Bill Clinton is trying to impress Obama with promises of a dowry. In order to arrange a graceful exit for Hillary from a losing race for delegates, Bill has offered to pay for a gala party in Washington DC next January. Hillary of course would invite her 10 million women supporters to celebrate the Obama-Clinton union. Bill boasts it would be “a party beyond anything anyone has ever seen before, beyond the imagination even of the biggest Hollywood machers.” But Obama has shown by raising lots of gelt for his campaign that he has no problem paying for his own simchas. In any case, with both his grass roots approach and green philosophy, Obama is more likely to encourage communities across American to organize their own celebrations when he takes office, rather seeing hordes of farshikkert supporters descending on Washington.
Obama is said to be unimpressed by Bill Clinton’s shtick, especially after the recently failed Bubba Tour in western North Carolina. Instead, the Obama team is apparently demanding through Veep Searchmeister Jim Johnson that Bill publish a list of donors to his opulent Presidential Library in Little Rock. According to Johnson, “after we can talk about a kalleh.”
Friends of Obama say he is far more intrigued by a possible union this November with Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius. Not only is she the chief executive of the state from which his maternal grandparents emigrated, she is also the daughter of former Ohio Governor John Gilligan. Political observers agree that Sebelius is a better turn-the-page match than Hillary. And as someone who has shown great interest in his own genealogy, Obama is undoubtedly fascinated by Sebelius’ pedigree. Little wonder that Bill Clinton has threatened Obama with lots of tsuris if he rebuffs Hillary, noting he and his Ozark kinsmen can always arrange a shot-gun wedding in Denver this August.
*For Yiddish purists, the proper term for matchmaker is “shadchen”, but the name Yenta, referring to the character in Fiddler on the Roof, has become a widely-used title.
Campaign Appearances
April 28, 2008 - Town Hall with Barack, Wilson, NC April 28, 2008 - One-Stop Early Voting Rally with Barack, Chapel Hill, NC April 28, 2008 - Town Hall with Barack, Wilmington, NC April 29, 2008 - Town Hall with Barack, Winston-Salem, NC April 29, 2008 - Town Hall with Barack, Hickory, NC
We all need to email him and let him know we need him here in rural Indiana, particularly Terre Haute since the Clinton's have been here four times and Sen. Bayh is always wit Hillary and he is from here and popular.
Please everyone send him an email. Go to the Home pare of Brack Obama.com (Change We Can Believe In) and click on ACTION at the TOP of the page and then CLICK CONTACT and you can email Michele or several people.
Let them know we need them to come to Terre Haute badly and other rural towns close by. Maybe he could come back to Plainfield or GreenCaste also.
We just need to let him know how hard Hillary is trying to win this state!!!
Thanks,
LuAnn Terre Haute........any ideas you can call me at 812-514-9547 or email
BrownIzz7943@aol.com
We are running out of time...but "Yes We Can" if we all try and work hard!
I heard one commentator today describe this proposal makes the Clinton campaign look a little desperate but I think it deserves a little examination. The gist of the proposal, floated by Clinton supporter Evan Bayh, is this: “So who carried the states with the most Electoral College votes is an important factor to consider because ultimately, that’s how we choose the president of the United States,” Mr. Bayh said on CNN’s “Late Edition.” Interesting but perhaps specious.
INTRODUCTION
This analysis is inspired by the e-mails I have been receiving from the Vice President Speculation Forum and from posts and discussions. Since November, I have been looking for the perfect candidate to be Barack Obama’s running mate, and it is proving difficult. I have set forth what the ideal candidate should possess to adding value to the ticket and the criteria below:
Basically, I will explore some of the possible candidates for vice-president (VP) and how some of these candidates could better fulfill cabinet positions, instead. As a note, foreign policy will be used as examples for my arguments, because this is the area of concentration I am most familiar. I welcome anyone who has suggestions based on other areas of concentrations concerning arguing his or her possible VP choices.
Can you imagine if Al Gore were humble enough to accept the nod for Veep again on an Obama/Gore ticket? There's nothing in the Constitution prohibiting it, right? Unlikely story, but it would be an unstoppable ticket.It can't be Barack Obama/Bill Clinton unfortunately (although that would be swell!), because the 12th Amendment says "no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States." *single tear*
The following post is in response to a question posed in the Barack Obama (One Million Strong for Barack Obama) Facebook group: "Who should be Barack Obama's Vice Presidential running mate when (not if) he wins the Democratic nomination?"
