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   Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Gnter Grass still thinks reunification was a bad idea.
 Forty years of writing from Taylor Branch, James Fallows, Katherine Boo, Marjorie Williams, Joshua Micah Marshall, and more.
 With help from Washington, the for-profit college industry is loading up millions of low-income students with debt they'll never pay off.
 The best recent memoir from republican Washington is a hoax. That should tell you something.
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February 10, 2009
CORNYN'S BUSY SCHEDULE.... Last night, the Senate defeated a Republican filibuster of the economic stimulus package, leading to a floor vote today on the bill. The vote last night was 61 to 36. Looking at the roll call, however, one notices that Sen. John Cornyn (R) of Texas didn't show up for the vote. Other than Commerce Secretary-designate Judd Gregg, who has recused himself, Cornyn was the only senator who skipped the vote. So, where was he? Ben Smith tracked Cornyn down.
Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) can't walk, but he showed up for this key vote. Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) has brain cancer and recently suffered a seizure, but he showed up for the vote. And Cornyn can't pry himself away from some far-right fat cats? Sure, we knew how he would have voted last night, and yes, he'll no doubt oppose the bill when it passes today. But it's one of those developments with bad "optics." —Steve Benen 9:20 AM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (21)Comments
Cornyn knows that he doesn't matter, so he goes somewhere that has people who humor him. He's just so Republican. Posted by: freelunch on February 10, 2009 at 9:20 AM | PERMALINKHmmm... what a stark contrast to how he presents himself in the dandy of a campaign ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Gq5YaXBcYE
That's his real constituency, not Texans, so it's really not surprising at all. Posted by: Allan Snyder on February 10, 2009 at 9:23 AM | PERMALINKWhy work when you can pose, posture and grandstand? Posted by: JoeW on February 10, 2009 at 9:35 AM | PERMALINKOptics? Since Cornyn views the world through his nether eye, it's small wonder his optics are a bit on the fragrant side. Was it really a bad thing for Cornyn to have been hundreds of miles away? After all, with him being in New-By-God-York-City, the air in Washington would have been considerably lacking in---shall we say---foul stenchiness.... Posted by: Steve W. on February 10, 2009 at 9:40 AM | PERMALINKGoes without saying he did not open with "How 'bout them Cowboys" Posted by: berttheclock on February 10, 2009 at 9:55 AM | PERMALINKi'm a texas democrat. my friends and family spent some time last week making calls to senator cornyn's office leaving variations on the following message--"this country is on the edge of an economic catastrophe and what we need is more spending, fewer tax cuts, and if you can't get behind the president's bill then at least get out of the way. i'm not claiming credit for anything but i wonder if dozens of calls from texas democrats might have made it easier for him to be away. Posted by: navarro on February 10, 2009 at 10:17 AM | PERMALINKQuestion: Did the vote defeat a filibuster or the threat of a filibuster? Posted by: Carlos on February 10, 2009 at 10:21 AM | PERMALINKLast night, the Senate defeated a Republican filibuster of the economic stimulus package, Really? I saw no filibuster. Posted by: craigie on February 10, 2009 at 10:23 AM | PERMALINKCornyn & DeLay are cast from the same mold. Governor Rick Perry is not far behind. How they hoodwink most working class Texans into thinking they have (and had in DeLays case)their constituents best interests at heart are beyond me. They care only for their own self-interest, power & money. Posted by: whichwitch on February 10, 2009 at 10:24 AM | PERMALINKYeah, craigie, you didn't see the all night old fashioned reading of the Louisville Yellow Pages. However, this 60 vote level has to be overturned. Posted by: berttheclock on February 10, 2009 at 10:35 AM | PERMALINKAs a Texan I am ashamed by the actions of our senator but I'm not surprised. Posted by: ATXDem on February 10, 2009 at 11:17 AM | PERMALINKTo invoke cloture, 3/5th of the senators "duly chosen and sworn" must vote in favor. That is, Johnson and Kennedy have to actually show up to be 'in favor' of cloture. But not showing up is the equivalent, in this case, to voting against. The 37 Republicans who voted 'no' could hav also just not shown up, as Cornyn did, and the result would have been, in effect, the same. Posted by: Robert Earle on February 10, 2009 at 11:21 AM | PERMALINK"The 37 Republicans..." Sorry, make that 36. I forgot about Gregg (whose recusal was also an effective 'no'.) Posted by: Robert Earle on February 10, 2009 at 11:24 AM | PERMALINK"Did the vote defeat a filibuster or the threat of a filibuster?" The cloture vote defeated what is known as a "procedural filibuster", which is in effect the same as a 'real' filibuster, but without forcing the side filibustering to literally 'hold the floor'. Posted by: Robert Earle on February 10, 2009 at 11:30 AM | PERMALINKAren't we being unfair? Not voting and voting no are exactly the same thing. The vote could have been 58-1 and the motion would have been defeated. Gregg voted NO!!! for that matter, Franken voted NO!!! Why shouldn't the Republican actually accomplish something rather than waste his time by recording a vote that wasn't necessary. Kennedy's vote might have been necessary. Cornyn's vote never would be. Posted by: neil wilson on February 10, 2009 at 11:53 AM | PERMALINK"for that matter, Franken voted NO!!!" Well, no. Franken isn't a senator "duly chosen and sworn". At the moment, he has no vote, one way or another. There are currently only 99 senators "duly chosen and sworn". That means cloture requires 3/5th of 99 = 59.4 'yes' votes. That is, 60. If, for example, Gregg were to resign, leaving only 98 senators, the 3/5th requirement would drop to 3/5th of 98 = 58.8, or 59 votes. Posted by: Robert Earle on February 10, 2009 at 12:00 PM | PERMALINKThink how much better it would have been for TX and the country had Texas voters elected Rick Noriega (and booted Senator Box Turtle Cornyn) in November. :-( Posted by: Me on February 10, 2009 at 12:33 PM | PERMALINKI don't care if his presence affected the outcome or not, this was a vote on a critical bill that will directly or indirectly affecting almost everyone in America. Cornyn not only didn't show up, he spent the time hobnobbing with Wall Street fatcats at a time when Wall Street is realy unpopular with the public. If the Democratic Party and/or their allies don't use this against him, immediately and repeatedl, they are idiots. Posted by: tanstaafl on February 10, 2009 at 1:49 PM | PERMALINK
November 2009
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