Comments on: Hilda Solis Confirmed As Labor Secretary, 80-17

By: cinnamonape

cinnamonape — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:15:45 +0000

All Democrats FOR…two absent including Kennedy (for good reason). I thought it might be interesting to list the Republicans who voted FOR confirmation though.

YEAS: Alexander (R-TN), Barrasso (R-WY), Bennett (R-UT), Brownback (R-KS), Chambliss (R-GA), Cochran (R-MS), Collins (R-ME), Corker (R-TN), Enzi (R-WY), Graham (R-SC), Grassley (R-IA), Gregg (R-NH), Hatch (R-UT), Hutchison (R-TX), Isakson (R-GA), Johanns (R-NE), Lugar (R-IN), Martinez (R-FL), Yea McCain (R-AZ), McConnell (R-KY), Murkowski (R-AK), Snowe (R-ME), Specter (R-PA), Voinovich (R-OH),

NAYS: Bond (R-MO), Bunning (R-KY), Burr (R-NC), Coburn (R-OK), Cornyn (R-TX), Crapo (R-ID), DeMint (R-SC), Ensign (R-NV), Inhofe (R-OK), Kyl (R-AZ), Risch (R-ID), Roberts (R-KS), Sessions (R-AL), Shelby (R-AL), Thune (R-SD), Vitter (R-LA), Wicker (R-MS)

Some interesting splits showing up here. Esp. by State (AZ, KS, KY, MS, SC, TX). I wonder if any of this is patterned on upcoming elections? I notice that even McConnell voted with the Ayes, here, though. Is this a sign of disunity in the Caucus?

By: cobernicus

cobernicus — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 11:39:49 +0000

Here is the link:

http://senate.gov/legislative/.....vote=00066

By: RevBev

RevBev — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:58:55 +0000

Interesting that TX Hutchison is not on that list. I heard today that she is polling well ahead of our current Gov GoodHair in the upcoming Gov race. He must hate that!

By: lokywoky

lokywoky — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:47:13 +0000

One thing will be easy - under Chao, almost a quarter of the people who worked there left. So she will be able to fill all those positions with people she wants and trusts to do the right thing.

There are of course, the burrowers (in all departments). But I think the old hands will readily identify those people and help marginalize them.

But you are right - she will need a lot of help.

Actually every single new department head needs the same kind of help since the same destruction has taken place in all of them.

By: laborite57

laborite57 — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:38:23 +0000

Solis will need a lot of help from the White House and from the electorate to turn the Dept. of Labor around and make it an effective advocate for working people. Bush/Chao did a lot of damage, but the truth is the Department has been marginalized since the Reagan era (Clinton did little to reverse the damage). Good luck to her – and to us.

By: foothillsmike

foothillsmike — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:58:03 +0000

He said during the campaign that his wife was a newspaper reporter that had accompanied Obama throughout the campaign. (May have been Bloomberg)

By: Raven

Raven — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:53:43 +0000

Actually, as I said, I like him. I recall defending his “pimp” deal and getting hammered.

By: Christy Hardin Smith

Christy Hardin Smith — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:48:53 +0000

Ooops – hit return too quickly — meant to say that I got the impression he was trying to laugh it off a little with the guy in case it was nerves on his part. Teevee interviews make people really freaked out sometimes, myself included — my nerves go through the roof before something like that. But that didn’t seem to sink in…

By: Christy Hardin Smith

Christy Hardin Smith — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:47:26 +0000

Yeah, I think that was a joke — he’s snarky in that nerdy way that often falls flat in real life, too. Truly. Having spent many hours with him at the Libby courthouse, you realize it’s a bug, not a feature.

By: ShotoJamf

ShotoJamf — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:44:10 +0000

When the stim package came up for a vote in the house, I called my asshat congressman’s office and said in no uncertain terms that the country was facing an economic emergency, similar in scope and threat to what the country faced going into WWII. That being the premise, I then stated that any life form in congress who deliberately obstructed the process was (therefore) being - essentially and fundamentally - un-American.

This fight needs to be framed in these terms in the MSM. Principled debate? OK. Deliberate obstructionism? Unacceptable. Un-American.

A good place to begin would be with Bobby Jindal, right after he completes his diatribe this evening. No more free passes for these self-serving clowns.

So hey, Shuster, KO, Maddow (maybe even Tweety). You willing to rise to the occasion? You up for a fight? CNN? No? Who’s Real and who’s a little bitch? Takers?