Thursday, February 28, 2008

Feb. 28, 2008:  Al Qaeda debate gives way to impending vote on housing package

McConnell says that Republicans are interested in a housing bill

[17:29]
Minority leader McConnell says that he offered Reid an agreement to proceed to the housing bill with each side offering five amendments. But Reid turned down the offer. A cloture vote on a motion to proceed to the bill then failed.

Reid takes insult at a McConnell assertion that Reid didn't run the bill by banking committee chairman Chris Dodd (CT). It's hard for me to conceive how my friend could say that, he says.

Vote on Democratic housing bill

[17:07]

Here are the votes:

Aye: Dems and
Nay: Reps and

It falls, with 48 ayes and 46 nays. 60 ayes needed. This was a housing bill that among other things, offered $4b in funds to subsidize the purchase of foreclosed properties.

After the bill, Reid says that the big banks just won again.

I am hearing something about Republicans opposing progress on the bill because Harry Reid (NV) filled the amendment tree. I was not aware of this. Filling the tree means controlling what amendments can be offered. But Reid has said something similar to what he said when he filled the tree on the Farm Bill. Come to me with your amendments, Republicans, let's talk. If we can agree to the language on them we can vote on them. But we can't vote on them if you oppose cloture on the motion to proceed. It's another game of chicken.


Reid pleas for Republicans to consider housing package

[16:46]
Senators will soon be voting on a motion to proceed to legislation addressing the rise of foreclosures. Sixty votes are necessary to begin debate on the bill. It is not likely to pass, according to Mel Martinez (FL). The way Reid is now talking it sounds as though the Republicans will indeed oppose cloture on the motion to proceed.

Yesterday, senators invoked cloture on a motion to proceed to legislation requiring the U.S. gov't to articulate a strategy for defeating al Qaeda. It first appeared that the Senate would be locked in debate on that legislation for 30 hours, post-cloture.

That is not the case. I looked in the Senate off and on all day and I didn't hear much about al Qaeda. It's possible I missed a senator talk about the U.S. strategy to defeat al Qaeda but I didn't see it. I heard about Iraq, and al Qaeda in Iraq. But nothing about Osama bin Laden or Waziristan.

The two sides of the aisle must've agreed that they didn't want to spend thirty hours talking about al Qaeda, as they spent 30 hours discussing Iraq on Tuesday and Wednesday after senators invoked cloture on the motion to proceed to a similar piece of legislation (also the work of Russ Feingold (WI)) requiring that the U.S. begin to redeploy troops from Iraq within 120 days.

Senate will spend 30 hours on al Qaeda strategy

[9:34]
Just as the Republicans did with a Feingold measure calling for redeployment of troops from Iraq, they will force the Senate to burn through the maximum of 30 hours post-cloture debate. Majority leader Harry Reid (NV) complains now about this on the floor but I'm wondering why he brought the al Qaeda strategy legislation to a vote if 30 hours of debate was too much for him.

He wants to talk about Iraq it seems. He is holding up newspapers. He says that 30 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq this month, more than one a day for the month, he says.

So, the pending business is al Qaeda but Reid talks only about Iraq. Jon Kyl (AZ) follows for the minority. He is talking mostly about Iraq, but also about al Qaeda in Iraq. Two birds with one stone.

Precap:

[9:30]
Senators agreed overwhelmingly yesterday to begin debating the U.S. strategy for defeating al Qaeda. The pending legislation is a Feingold measure requiring the Executive to formulate a strategy for eradicating al Qaeda.

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