“This may be a moment in Senate history, when a senator made a proposal that, when given an opportunity for a vote on that proposal, filibustered his own proposal…I don’t think this has ever happened before.”

Sen. Dick Durbin, after Mitch McConnell’s latest scheme blew up in his face. McConnell introduced legislation today that would allow the president to unilaterally raise the debt limit, suspecting that Democrats wouldn’t have the guts to vote for it. When it became clear that Democrats did indeed have the votes to pass the bill with a simple majority, McConnell filibustered it, preventing its passage. The United States Senate, ladies and gentlemen. source (via shortformblog)

(via shortformblog)

High-res govtoversight: Dear Super Committee: Defense Contractors are “Second to None” In Wasteful Spending In what some are calling an “unprecedented” campaign, defense contractors as an industry bloc are fighting reductions in national security spending to preserve their place on the government gravy train. Spearheaded by the Aerospace Industries Association, the so-called “Second to None” campaign has reportedly enlisted the help of LMG Inc., a Washington public affairs firm, the conservative Heritage Foundation, and the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments to push its agenda. This is on top of at least $700,000 they have donated to Members of the Super Committee in the past five years. The campaign’s website sets up a straw man by asserting that “extreme voices” are asking for massive cuts to national security… >continue< Photo from Flickr user melanieburger.

govtoversight:

Dear Super Committee: Defense Contractors are “Second to None” In Wasteful Spending

In what some are calling an “unprecedented” campaign, defense contractors as an industry bloc are fighting reductions in national security spending to preserve their place on the government gravy train. Spearheaded by the Aerospace Industries Association, the so-called “Second to None” campaign has reportedly enlisted the help of LMG Inc., a Washington public affairs firm, the conservative Heritage Foundation, and the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments to push its agenda. This is on top of at least $700,000 they have donated to Members of the Super Committee in the past five years.

The campaign’s website sets up a straw man by asserting that “extreme voices” are asking for massive cuts to national security… >continue<

Photo from Flickr user melanieburger.

(via zeitvox)