Senator Kerry just spoke about the world economic crisis on the Senate...

[YvonneCa]

...floor. He spoke about the US responsibility to support the IMF by investing in their fund to stabilize developing countries...and how that is also a good investment for the US. He said the Obama Administration is proposing to do this. It was a very good speech...informative on the global economic situation. Sorry for not posting sooner...I'm sure C-Span has it on their website and will possibly replay it later.

[beachmom]

1. Other Senate business: Kerry among 90 who voted against funding to close Gitmo:

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00196

Why Democrats allowed themselves to be bullied by the minority's scare ads is beyond me.

Only Senators who voted for funding to close Gitmo:

Durbin (D-IL)
Harkin (D-IA)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Reed (D-RI)
Whitehouse (D-RI)

One can argue the Obama Administration could have handled this better. But this is really pathetic that Democrats couldn't get it together to get this done.

[Mass]

2. Many people have said they voted against it until there is an actual plan.

which is a reasonable worry.

Others, like Webb and Reid, have said that they refused to see prisonners on American soils (joining Inhoffe and other Republicans on that).

Not sure where Kerry falls on that.

[beachmom]

3. As a citizen I don't have a problem with terrorists being in prison

in America. There are already terrorists in American prisons. We are talking maximum security here.

As to a plan, not sure what happened, but it seems the Administration and the Congress did not discuss this in advance. Therefore, an egg on everyone's face.

It is interesting that Levin and Reed voted yes. They are always the ones we find squishy on things (remember the Levin/Reed Iraq amendment in '06?), yet they do log interesting votes like this one today (Levin voted against the IWR in '02).

[Mass]

4. More on this - The vote was fully expected, but I do not think it has a lot of significance

These funds will be passed in time. Only question will be what the plans will be.

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=news-000003121844

The amendment by Appropriations Chairman Daniel K. Inouye , D-Hawaii, represented an attempt by Democratic leaders to defuse Republican attacks over the possibility of detainees entering the United States from the prison at the U.S. Navy base.

But even as he worked to remove the funding from the bill, Inouye maintained that the prison must be closed.

“This amendment is not a referendum on closing Guantánamo,” he said. “Let me be very clear: we need to close the Guantánamo prison.”
...
And Gibbs actually agreed with them yesterday.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/269714,us-senate-blocks-funding-to-close-guantanamo-prison--update.html
The White House had conceded a day earlier that there should be a plan before Congress provides the 80 million dollars requested in a 91-billion-dollar funding bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We agree with Congress that before resources, that they should receive a more detailed plan," Gibbs said.

[Luftmensch067]

5. IMO, this is all hype by the GOP and the media

From the NPR reporting I heard, it was clear that the Republicans (and some idiot reporting!) are trying to present this as a "Republican victory" whereas it's mostly a matter of the Democratic majority doing their job and insisting on a clear and workable plan/exit strategy. There's nothing controversial or shameful in that. Everything doesn't happen neatly in government. Sometimes it's a matter of push and pull, give and take. The people who wanted Guantanamo closed before, including Obama (and JK!) still want it closed, it just has to be negotiated and worked out exactly how it will happen. It's certainly not a GOP victory! That said, some of the NIMBY quotes from even Dems (I'm looking at you Ben Nelson and Evan Bayh!) were absolutely BRAINLESS!!!!

[beachmom]

6. Well, but it is. It was I think two weeks ago that the GOP ran that

ad about this -- I thought it was a joke and nobody would fall for it. And now suddenly funding was stripped. If they felt there needed to be a plan first, then they should never have put the funding in there in the first place. Now Democrats just look silly like they fell for GOP scare tactics.

[YvonneCa]

7. DeMint Amendment defeated. It would have stripped...

...IMF funding from Iraq/Afghan appropriations bill. The senator gave another great speech against DeMint's amendment. Final vote was 64 - 39 (I think).

[Luftmensch067]

8. Good God

The man is even more unstoppable than he used to be! I'm watching the hearing from this morning right now. Amazing commitment, energy and focus.

I am talking about JK right now, btw, not DeMint.

:-)

[YvonneCa]

9. You'd better not be saying that...

...about DeMint. :7 Kidding...

I haven't yet seen the hearings, but am looking forward to catching up tonight. JK does have amazing commitment and energy and focus. And, you know what else I noticed is, on the Senate floor, he's very 'fatherly'...like he's guiding many of the newer members. It's cute to watch. :) VERY different, in a good way, from the 'Senate JK' in 2004-2005 after the election.

It seems like he is quite respected there, at last.

[beachmom]

10. Isn't the Senate now all archived? Can anyone find the video

for this? I want to see this fatherly thing. :)

[ObamaKerryDem]

11. I was watching some of JK on the Senate floor earlier today and I noticed this too! I like it. :)

He's truly one of the lions of the Senate. He really seems in his element there. And yes, it is indeed great to see him get the respect and acknowledgement that he deserves! :D

BTW, did anyone notice how DeMint (I think it was?) tried to talk over him at one point? How rude! x(

[beachmom]

13. Ha, ha. He helps confused old timers, too:

http://blogs.reuters.com/frontrow/2009/05/21/specter-still-finding-his-way-as-a-democrat/

Old habits are hard to give up, and that seems especially true for newly-minted Democratic Senator Arlen Specter.

As he entered the chamber through the Republican side for a vote on an amendment to a war funding bill, he stopped at the Republican desk where aides put information about the pending measure.

Democratic Senator John Kerry, standing by the Democratic desk, called out across the chamber to Specter: “Arlen, Arlen, we’re over here!”

[YvonneCa]

15. That's hilarious! I would love to have seen...

...the look on Arlen's face. :7

[Luftmensch067]

16. I love it!

I can just imagine the look on JK's face!

[beachmom]

12. Here is an article about it:

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/05/21/ap6454029.html

DeMint's idea met a bipartisan rebuke from Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, a Democrat, and Republican Judd Gregg, who said the IMF lending facility was critical to avoid financial instability in the world that could harm the U.S. economy.

"The fact is that if those emerging markets start to fade, not only do we lose the economic upside of those markets but we also run the risk that governments fail," Kerry said.

Both Kerry and Gregg said the true cost to taxpayers would be very small, since the U.S. government is given interest-bearing assets in return and never has lost money on investments in the Washington-based IMF. They said even the $5 billion cost to the U.S. Treasury, estimated by the Congressional Budget Office, was too high.

[YvonneCa]

14. Thanks for the article. The IMF money is all about...

...stabilization of the world economy, which benefits us all.