Cocksuckers Ball: Let Them Die

This afternoon, the Senate held a cloture vote on the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, a $7.4 billion bill to provide healthcare to first responders and others sickened in New York by the 9/11 attacks. It failed, with the final tally at 57 votes for, 42 against. The vote was almost straight along party lines, with only one Democrat (Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, in a legislative maneuver that has no need of being explained here) voting against cloture. In the twisted world of the United States Senate, a fifteen-vote majority was not enough to end debate and send the bill to a floor vote. Yet another instance when the upper house of Congress shows just how broken it is. Continue readingCocksuckers Ball: Let Them Die”

Cocksuckers Ball: The Assassin of the Senate

“If you compared it to the alternative, it looks good. If you compare it to the possibilities, it looks sad.” So said Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island upon emerging from a closed-door meeting of Democratic Senate leadership on Monday evening, as it became clear that even the compromise plan of allowing Medicare buy-ins by persons aged 55-64 (the replacement for the public option) would not be enough to get healthcare reform to 60 votes. Continue readingCocksuckers Ball: The Assassin of the Senate”