MSNBC correctly notes that it's not as momentous as Specter's switch, since Griffith has been voting with the Republicans on many/most major issues anyway.
However, like Specter's move (and unlike, say, Jim Jeffords' move several years earlier, which was fully ideological) it is based almost entirely on his desire to get re-elected. In fact, it may be even more so than it was for Specter.
After all, when Specter first got elected to the Senate as a Republican back in 1980 as part of a massive influx of new Republicans that allowed them to win control of the Senate, he was hardly the only moderate Republican. Lowell Weicker (later ditched the party and served as Independent Governor of Connecticut), Charles Percy, Nancy Kassebaum, Bill Cohen, Charles Mathias, David Durenberger, John Danforth, Warren Rudman, Mark Andrews, Mark Hatfield, Bob Packwood, John Heinz, John Chafee and Bob Stafford were all very moderate Republicans, and perhaps Ted Stevens, Bill Roth, Rudy Boschwitz and Al D'Amato (and maybe even Bob Dole). This year, it was Arlen, the two ladies from Maine, and then after them, next would be Dick Lugar, who probably wasn't even in the top half when it came to moderate Republicans back then.
On the other hand, even though the Democratic house majority was only slightly smaller (244-191), the majority in the Northeast was much, much smaller, 65 out of 113, 57.5% (as opposed to 76 out of 92 today 82.6%)
Outside of the northeast, the majority was actually larger (55.6%) in the 97th Congress than today (52.8%). This was of course due to the difference in the South, where the voters hadn't made the big switch yet. In the greater South (defined as the 11 Confederate states plus Oklahoma and Kentucky), in the 97th Congress, Dems had 79/121 (65.3%) of the seats; today they have 61./142 (43.0%). The difference is even more dramatic if you leave out the border states of Arkansas, Virginia and North Carolina (which all have a larger percentages of Democrats in their delegations today than in the 97th Congress). 69/96 (71.9%) in the 97th Congress. 44/114 (38.6%) today.
Anyway, outside of the greater South and the Northeast, in the 97th Congress, Dems had 100 of 201 (49.8%), just shy of the majority, while today, they have 120/201 (59.7%). This is, of course, mostly due to the significant Democratic gains in the West
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
12 Republicans vote against Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act
I'm wondering whether anyone will have the cojones to accuse these 12 of letting the terrorists win.
The bill, introduced by Adam Schiff, does the following (according to the Congressional Research Service)
Now, Ron Paul presumably voted against it because he's only for freedom of the press when it comes to his discussion of the high ground speeds obtained by black criminal youth in his political report.
The bill, introduced by Adam Schiff, does the following (according to the Congressional Research Service)
Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act of 2009 - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to require inclusion of specified freedom of the press information in the Department of State's annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.
Directs the Secretary to administer a grant program to promote freedom of the press worldwide, which shall be administered by the Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.
Now, Ron Paul presumably voted against it because he's only for freedom of the press when it comes to his discussion of the high ground speeds obtained by black criminal youth in his political report.
Cloture on the bill--Of course, it's hardly over yet
60-40; a united Democratic caucus vs. a united Republican caucus.
Wow. But we still got the actual vote, the conference, etc. etc. etc. Never too late to get your hopes up prematurely.
Wow. But we still got the actual vote, the conference, etc. etc. etc. Never too late to get your hopes up prematurely.
Who are the Seven Ship-Jumping Kadima MKs?
Frankly, I don't really have a problem with Kadima disintegrating. At least, so long as Yair Lapid (or someone with views similar to those he expresses in his Ynet column) actually seizes the void and get a party together to do the things he mentions in the linked column (the column itself is kind of a Debbie Downer, unless it's read as a (crosses fingers) precursor to !!!זאת עכשו
.
Seven Kadima MKs are apparently about to jump ship to the Likud, though the Post notes that every MK they asked (they didn't specify how many they did ask) denied such a thing. Unforunately, even counting the Labor rebels, it's still not enough to allow him to ditch Shas and UTJ and actually get something done.
I would assume Tzachi Hanegbi and Othniel Schneller are one of them, since I'm still not entirely clear why they joined Kadima in the first place. Schneller was Secretary General of the Yesha Council in the 1980's, and still lives in the West Bank, in Ma'ale Mikhmas. While Ma'ale Mikhmas is not one of the 20 settlements I've identified (with a combined population of about 25,000, maybe a bit less) that Israel can't possibly hold onto under any circumstances even under the most minimal contiguous Palestinian state, it is one of the 20 or 25 in the "next lowest ability to hold onto" category.
Hanegbi pretty much only jumped to be with Sharon in the first place.
But who knows. I could be wrong about the two of them, and anyway even if I'm correct, there are five others. I guess we'll see ...
But that doesn't tell us who the other g
.
Seven Kadima MKs are apparently about to jump ship to the Likud, though the Post notes that every MK they asked (they didn't specify how many they did ask) denied such a thing. Unforunately, even counting the Labor rebels, it's still not enough to allow him to ditch Shas and UTJ and actually get something done.
I would assume Tzachi Hanegbi and Othniel Schneller are one of them, since I'm still not entirely clear why they joined Kadima in the first place. Schneller was Secretary General of the Yesha Council in the 1980's, and still lives in the West Bank, in Ma'ale Mikhmas. While Ma'ale Mikhmas is not one of the 20 settlements I've identified (with a combined population of about 25,000, maybe a bit less) that Israel can't possibly hold onto under any circumstances even under the most minimal contiguous Palestinian state, it is one of the 20 or 25 in the "next lowest ability to hold onto" category.
Hanegbi pretty much only jumped to be with Sharon in the first place.
But who knows. I could be wrong about the two of them, and anyway even if I'm correct, there are five others. I guess we'll see ...
But that doesn't tell us who the other g
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Ben Nelson Gives the 60th Vote; Will Lieberman Make it to the Hill Today?
Yeah, I'm totally violating the Shabbos to post this, but as far as I'm concerned, in the capital, Shabbos violate YOU (though technically that's the Israeli capital, not the American one, but I think it's close enough for government work)!
Apparently Ben Nelson has finally agreed to support the healthcare bill after Reid (who himself oppposes abortion rights, but not as vehemently) semi-caved
I guess it's somewhat ironic. With a blizzard in DC on Shabbat, we get to 60 votes with all the Democrats, the socialist, and Republican Olympia Snowe (of course, for a Maineiac like Ms. Snowe, I believe this is short-sleeves weather), while Joe Lieberman's in shul at Kesher Israel.
I wonder whether he'll make it the 3.5 miles or so to the Hill today. He did it during the last snowstorm on Saturday, but this one's a lot worse.
Apparently Ben Nelson has finally agreed to support the healthcare bill after Reid (who himself oppposes abortion rights, but not as vehemently) semi-caved
He did so with stronger prohibitions on abortion than those floated by Senator Casey, contained within Reid's manager's amendment. Under the latest set of provisions, not only would federal funds be prohibited from being used for abortion coverage but states can also prohibit abortion coverage on their exchange.
I guess it's somewhat ironic. With a blizzard in DC on Shabbat, we get to 60 votes with all the Democrats, the socialist, and Republican Olympia Snowe (of course, for a Maineiac like Ms. Snowe, I believe this is short-sleeves weather), while Joe Lieberman's in shul at Kesher Israel.
I wonder whether he'll make it the 3.5 miles or so to the Hill today. He did it during the last snowstorm on Saturday, but this one's a lot worse.
Two Girls, One Copt: Polygamy in the Middle East
Now, technically, this article is about Islam, not Copts (who are Christian). However, it is about polygamy and it was published in Egypt, the ancestral homeland of Coptic Christians (though more and more have fled discrimination). As such, I really could not resist the allusion to the shock video.
Nadine al-Bedair, a Saudi female journalist (though the Saudi female journalist may be more accurate), wrote an article in the Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm (the Daily Something [my knowledge of a similar Semitic language (Hebrew) isn't helping me figure out the meaning) pushing for allowing women to be polygamous.
Islam, of course, allows four wives to a man, if they're treated equally, though in practice they rarely are. (as a side note, it wasn't always alone in Middle Eastern religions in that respect, though Judaism banned polygamy 1000 years ago at the Rabbinical Synod of Worms initiated by R' Gershon ben Juda. Interestingly, this synod also banned divorcing a woman against her will and the reading of private mail). al-Bedair argues that women should be allowed to marry multiple men, or if not, that significantly greater restrictions should be put on men regarding multiple wives.
Unsurprisingly, her article was pretty much universally denounced, with what I presume was a Muslim Brotherhood (of which Hamas is a breakaway/affiliate) MP filing a lawsuit to shut down the newspaper. The only clerical defender mentioned wasn't technically defending it. Rather, he was saying she didn't really mean it and was just trying to bring attention to the plight of women in polygamous marriages. One hopes that we'll see progress, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
Nadine al-Bedair, a Saudi female journalist (though the Saudi female journalist may be more accurate), wrote an article in the Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm (the Daily Something [my knowledge of a similar Semitic language (Hebrew) isn't helping me figure out the meaning) pushing for allowing women to be polygamous.
Islam, of course, allows four wives to a man, if they're treated equally, though in practice they rarely are. (as a side note, it wasn't always alone in Middle Eastern religions in that respect, though Judaism banned polygamy 1000 years ago at the Rabbinical Synod of Worms initiated by R' Gershon ben Juda. Interestingly, this synod also banned divorcing a woman against her will and the reading of private mail). al-Bedair argues that women should be allowed to marry multiple men, or if not, that significantly greater restrictions should be put on men regarding multiple wives.
Unsurprisingly, her article was pretty much universally denounced, with what I presume was a Muslim Brotherhood (of which Hamas is a breakaway/affiliate) MP filing a lawsuit to shut down the newspaper. The only clerical defender mentioned wasn't technically defending it. Rather, he was saying she didn't really mean it and was just trying to bring attention to the plight of women in polygamous marriages. One hopes that we'll see progress, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Knesset United Against Sheldon Adelson? (Israel Hayom)
While he may well have pissed off most American Jews over the years with his incessant funding of the right-wing lobbying group Freedom's Watch that he founded, I would not have expected this in Israel.
After all, Adelson has given quite a lot to Israel through his foundation: The Adelson Center for Strategic Studies at the Shalem Center, $25 million annually etc. to Taglit-Birthright Israel, $30 million to Yad Vashem, etc.
But it seems like his goodwill has run out with his attempt to buy the free daily paper Israel Hayom.
According to Ha'aretz, 19 Knesset members from 8 parties have introduced a bill to ban foreign ownership of Israeli newspapers.
8 parties. That's quite impressive, considering that there are (if I counted correctly) 12 parties in the Knesset, and the 3 Arab parties almost certainly aren't supporting it, meaning that 8 of the 9 Jewish parties have MKs supporting the bill; I would lean towards Meretz or possibly UTJ as the holdout, but I haven't seen for sure and sadly, far too many Israeli websites (including the Knesset's equivalent of thomas.loc.gov) were designed for Internet Explorer only, meaning those of us who don't use Windows are out of luck.
However, despite this show of multipartisanship, it is unlikely to pass. This is partly because he and Netanyahu are BFF. The rest has to do with lobbyist power.
After all, Adelson has given quite a lot to Israel through his foundation: The Adelson Center for Strategic Studies at the Shalem Center, $25 million annually etc. to Taglit-Birthright Israel, $30 million to Yad Vashem, etc.
But it seems like his goodwill has run out with his attempt to buy the free daily paper Israel Hayom.
According to Ha'aretz, 19 Knesset members from 8 parties have introduced a bill to ban foreign ownership of Israeli newspapers.
8 parties. That's quite impressive, considering that there are (if I counted correctly) 12 parties in the Knesset, and the 3 Arab parties almost certainly aren't supporting it, meaning that 8 of the 9 Jewish parties have MKs supporting the bill; I would lean towards Meretz or possibly UTJ as the holdout, but I haven't seen for sure and sadly, far too many Israeli websites (including the Knesset's equivalent of thomas.loc.gov) were designed for Internet Explorer only, meaning those of us who don't use Windows are out of luck.
However, despite this show of multipartisanship, it is unlikely to pass. This is partly because he and Netanyahu are BFF. The rest has to do with lobbyist power.
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