***Wake Up!: Senate Resumes Debate, Live on CSPAN2***

[Clio the Leo]

Seriously ......... right now ..... at 12 am ......... what else are you going to watch? Hardball for the third time?

http://cspan.org/Watch/C-SPAN2.aspx

(The GOP is expected to vote AGAINST the defense funding bill ...... that's almost worth the price of this month's cable right there!

[Clio the Leo]

1. And Sen Franken has the gavel ..... which seems oddly appropriate. NT

[slipslidingaway]

2. 130 billion for war funding! nt

[Clio the Leo]

5. I know, they could insure five people with that! NT

[HuckleB]

3. Books are good!

So is sleep!

[Clio the Leo]

6. huh? what? NT

[angee_is_mad]

4. Thanks

for the heads up.

[babylonsister]

7. The GOP, the first time in a decade, is voting aginst the defense bill?

What's their "reasoned":spray: reasoning?

[Clio the Leo]

9. Well, see, the Democrats now like war.......

.... or at least the "bad" ones do.

So yeah. They have to do their "no" thing ...... at least they're consistent.

[Cha]

19. Obama's the President or any Dem..can you imagine

them going along with Kerry or Gore?

[Bobbie Jo]

8. Thanks...can't sleep.

It's kinda scary you knew I had Tweety on, though. :evilgrin:

[Clio the Leo]

10. I'm also listening to Lady Gaga's Christmas song....

... which makes for an interesting combination.

http://www.playlist.com/searchbeta/tracks#gaga%20christmas

(And what good Democrat doesn't have Tweety on this time of night? lol)

[tridim]

11. Great political move Dems.

This guarantees the Republican obstruction-for-obstruction's-sake will get media play all day tomorrow.

[Undercurrent]

12. Yes. The GOP is voting against

cloture on the funding bill to try to tie up the Senate in order to slow down movement on the health reform bill.

Their little trick didn't work. We Dems had an emergency meeting earlier today, and are going to vote for cloture to thwart the GOP staling tactic, even if some Dems break away for the actual vote.

[Clio the Leo]

17. well watching Dems vote for cloture on ANYTHING is a sight to behold.

the best part is getting to hear the GOP argue against it ........... which should be starting now....

[Undercurrent]

42. LOL

You got that right. A cat herd doing the same dance moves!



Watching GOPers squirm always makes for good entertainment.

[cry baby]

13. Thank you, Clio!! streaming and reading DU!!

[RoyGBiv]

14. I'm WAY too sober for this ...

I love Franken, and I mean absolutely no disrespect, but this time of night plus Al Franken without the SNL theme song just does not seem appropriate.

This is a good political move, I think, but, really ... Durbin, shut up.

[Clio the Leo]

21. here....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_mwsDFm7bQ

this man is now directing the upper body of Congress .... is this not a great country?

[RoyGBiv]

27. It is ...

I'm more happy about Franken being in the Senate than just about any ....

Wait, sorry ... lost my train of thought. This Hutchinson person made my brain spin around in my skull.

Now watching video ... ahhh, there, that's better.

Please, please, PLEASE, Kay, ask Franken for more time. PLEASE!!!

[BlueIdaho]

15. Olberman nailed it...

The GOP has reduced itself to bunch of political pranksters. This is becoming surreal.

[MiniMe]

16. Vote will be at 1am EST

Why are they doing it this way?

[tomm2thumbs]

18. lol - hardball a 3rd time - too funny

I'd rather stick pins in my eyes

Kay Bailey is punchdrunk - it is Waayyyyy past her bedtime and she can't even talk coherently right now

poor thang - they are gonna use this chatter in ads against her in the primary

[Clio the Leo]

20. lol, no Sen Hutchison is taking her time alloted to debate the defense bill...

... to talk about why she thinks the Bill needs to be Killed. (not the defense bill ...... Bill, THE BILL.)

[cry baby]

23. yup - I don't get it.

[Clio the Leo]

25. oh *I* get it.....

.... they dont want to go on record as speaking against defense spending .... that's a campaign commercial waiting to happen right there.

[RoyGBiv]

33. Nononono ...

She's. Taking. Her. Time...alloted. To debate...the defense. Bill.

[spoony]

22. Heh, so much for them believing their own "support the troops"

propaganda! We know they aren't against funding because they oppose the war, so they must HATE THE TROOPS. I hope that gets thrown back in their faces from here to the midterms.

[tomm2thumbs]

24. seeing them try to drag this on and looking stupid makes me want to let them filibuster

they can't even form coherent thoughts right now, imagine after a week of chattering

[spoony]

36. I know, I've never heard such dribbling stream of consciousness

I'm thinking it'd run dry pretty quickly.

[SpartanDem]

34. This should make for some nice ads

[Jamastiene]

135. Actually, this is pretty big.

We could even use this in 2012 too.

[MiniMe]

What does any of what KBH is saying have to do with the defense spending bill?

[Clio the Leo]

29. Jack Squat NT

[SpartanDem]

26. Somebody forgot to tell Kay what bill they're debating

[Clio the Leo]

28. did you see her at the beginning?

She was like "we all know this spending bill is going to pass, so lets go back to talking about this evil health care bill and why it needs to be killed" (paraphrased)

[tomm2thumbs]

31. Levin is being polite - he should slam his hand down and wake Kay Bailey back up

she was sleep talking just a minute ago - they grabbed her from a nap and shoved her to the floor and told her it was the health care debate.

[MiniMe]

30. She really has no idea of what bill they are debating

[RoyGBiv]

32. Speaking. With. Periods. After. Each. Word.

She's channeling Captain Kirk ... I'm sure of it.

[MiniMe]

35. LOL

She lacks the passion of Captain Kirk

[Clio the Leo]

37. Kyl: "Republicans dont control the Senate..."

Well DUH! Joe Lieberman does, everyone knows that!

[RoyGBiv]

38. He's a complete moron ...

He's been talking for a minute and has already made me dumber.

[jillan]

41. lol - you are too funny Clio!

[Clio the Leo]

45. yeah and this snark exchange....

... is enough to make me want to run for office...

... in Connecticut.

[SpartanDem]

44. what an asshole

[RoyGBiv]

39. Ouch ...

Okay, I'm sorry I told Durbin to shut up. That was excellent.

[Clio the Leo]

43. You did WHAT!

Dont tell the Barack Obama 2004 introduction guy to shut up!!! Lol

[Clio the Leo]

40. Nothing beats some good old fashioned Senate snark .... at midnight.

[Clio the Leo]

46. lol, poor Al is sweepy. NT

[tridim]

47. Barrasso reminds me of a Disney Animatronic character

[Clio the Leo]

49. lol

[Clio the Leo]

48. Sen Barasso: "I love the troops! Now, let me tell you why we need to kill this commie bill!"

(paraphrased)

[MiniMe]

54. He is talking about health care again

Trying to tell us how much he supports the troops but everybody wants to kill this bill so it kills the health care bill because that is what the troops want. What a bunch of bullshit

[Cha]

107. And the corporatemedia lets them get away with it.

[tomm2thumbs]

50. oh no, the man-woman is talking

republicans are really bad liars - and bad at faking emotional outrage

[Clio the Leo]

53. lol

[grantcart]

51. Wyoming national guard asked him about the health care jobs that

Wyoming is going to lose.

Now that's funny.

[grantcart]

52. And the Senator from Mississippi could hear that conversation lol

[Clio the Leo]

55. CSPAN has to have some old footage of the President doing this very thing...

... on the Senate floor.

THAT would be fun to watch.

[MiniMe]

56. Now they are trying to blame Obama for being out of the country

[Clio the Leo]

64. for 24 hours. NT

[Clio the Leo]

57. lol @ Harry "on the West Coast, there'll be a lot of people watching this...."

No Harry, it's just the five of us.

[grantcart]

59. now 6

[lamp_shade]

63. 7

[grantcart]

58. ah yes 42 seconds lol

[RoyGBiv]

62. I have to give it to Al ...

He's made timekeeping far more entertaining than it ever has been.

The only way he could make it better is to go to tenths of a second.

"My good friend from Wyoming has 31.2 seconds remaining."

[Clio the Leo]

66. I wish he'd ask one of the Republicans....

"your time has expired ..... would you like some more?" lol

[RoyGBiv]

70. LOL ...

The Timekeeper Nazi ...

NO time for you!

[RoyGBiv]

60. My good friend ...

I'm all for being civil, but COME ON!

All I hear when some Senator says this is "Bless his little heart ..."

[tomm2thumbs]

61. ouch - abandoning the troops during the course of a war - just, ouch!

I guess 'my friend' only applies to the other person in the room, and not the military

[Eric68601]

65. Simply disgusting

I've been watching for about an hour now, it's fucking unbelievable these god damn childish games the Republicans are playing with the troops. I REALLY REALLY hope the troops are seeing this bullshit.

[Clio the Leo]

67. BILL KILLERS!!! NT

[cry baby]

69. no they're probably not, but they will hear a summary from Rush Limpballs on AFRadio nt

[MiniMe]

68. If they are here this weekend working they are going to get snowed into the Senate

DC is expecting a foot of snow Friday night and Saturday. I'm sure the folks in Buffalo would laugh and call it a snow flurry, but as a rule, we just don't get that kind of snow in DC.

[Clio the Leo]

71. Is it up to a foot now?

I'd heard five inches.

I hope you all have more snow plows than we do in TN.

[MiniMe]

73. They don't know as usual, but the forecast is 6-12 inches right now

The DC area just doesn't deal with snow well.

[dgibby]

CNN was reporting at least 20inches of snow for Va and DC,

but that was earlier today.

I was a student at GMU when the Presidents' Day blizzard hit back in the early 80's. We had 3 ft of snow with 5 ft drifts. Most amazing storm I've ever seen. Took us all day to get out of the house 'cause the snow had drifted against the front door. When we opened it, it was just one gianormus white out!

Good luck, traffic's going to be a bear!

[MiniMe]

108. We've had some big snows around here

And it is usually the ones that come up from the south, which this one is. But I haven't heard anything more than a foot, and it will be a Saturday. Of course the retailers are going to hate it.

[tomm2thumbs]

72. finally getting to the end of the carnival

they should have an early morning vote on something just to watch the Republicans walk in with bed hair

[grantcart]

74. Will all of the rats now vote against cloture.

[cilla4progress]

75. No TV (and limited bandwidth)

I enjoyed this thread so much! Thank you! Sounds great. Once my daughter goes off to college, I'm going to sneak TV back into the house!

[Clio the Leo]

78. i could live easier without air! lol

(than live w/out a tv)

[dgibby]

106. You and me both. I even sleep with it on.

I have a small set right next to my computer, too. I'd go crazy without it.

[tomm2thumbs]

79. can you watch on computer? nevermind, your limited bandwidth would be an issue w/video

[SpartanDem]

81. at cspan.com

[tomm2thumbs]

86. yup, watching now... was someone shouting 'shame' during the applause?

[Clio the Leo]

92. thats what it sounded like didn't it? NT

[tomm2thumbs]

94. maybe because the other side could have pulled a member out to allow him to rest

but they made him show to prove a point

[Clio the Leo]

98. oh....

.... so if there are only 39 Republicans on the floor then you only need 60 votes for cloture?

[tomm2thumbs]

99. I can't believe they voted against it - they are so unbelievably stooopid -

they are going to be talked about all day tomorrow for using this as politics - I think it is 2/3rds - so as a percent, I believe so

[tomm2thumbs]

134. found out it was Senator Byrd, from his WHEELCHAIR, shouting shame at the GOP

for using the military bill as a tactic.... I love that he was shouting SHAME as they were wheeling him in for a vote. THAT was as much a shame as the fact that they were playing that game...

[Clio the Leo]

76. Ooohweee! A cloture vote!!! Makes me all tingly!!!

Is Byrd there? ..... there was a LONG wait recently for him to make it to the Senate floor to vote for cloture.

[dmr]

77. Sweet to see Franken as Mr. President

:bounce:

[MiniMe]

80. Is Senator Byrd there?

Does it seem like Al Franken's mic is turned up louder than anybody elses?

[grantcart]

83. the rest don't have mics

[MiniMe]

89. They did while they were "debating" the issue

[grantcart]

95. they walked up to the mic they weren't individually mic'ed

[tridim]

84. He is now!

[MiniMe]

91. Nice to hear the applause for him

[grantcart]

85. there is Byrd

of course the pricks could have offered to have one of their Senators stay away so they didn't have to drag him in.

[Clio the Leo]

87. Do they applaude for him every time?

Or was this a special 1am thank you?

[MiniMe]

93. Asking a 90 something year old man to come in and vote at 1am deserves applause

[grantcart]

82. what was it 300 votes that put Franken there?

just think how hard it would be if we had 59

[Clio the Leo]

90. ha ha, we'd probably have used reconciliation three months ago! NT

[Cha]

88. So what are the Soldiers and the military

thinking of that?

[grantcart]

96. Adults 60 Petulant Children 40

[RoyGBiv]

104. I ask unanimous consent for a motion ...

... that the Republican Party be renamed "Petulant Children"

[Clio the Leo]

119. Without objection, so ordered. NT

[RoyGBiv]

123. The chair having heard no objection ...

... it is so ordered.

On another note, *thank you* for starting this thread. It made my evening.

[cilla4progress]

127. Mine too!

I want to stay here forEVER!

[tridim]

97. How screwed are the repukes if the vote no party line?

Seems like voting against the troops is a big no-no.

[Clio the Leo]

100. i think they're just voting against cloture....

.... not against the bill ....... the opposite of us .... we're all voting FOR cloture but not necessarily for the bill

[tomm2thumbs]

102. exactly - especially when just saying they support them, but then say 'no' to funding

unless they are doing it for thrills and then are going to go back and change all their votes before it is official

[MiniMe]

101. This is almost funny after Kyl stood there saying "of course we will vote fot the bill"

[Eric68601]

103. So how many was that?

By my count, that was 32 Republicans, including John McCain, who do not support our troops.

[Boxerfan]

105. #8 on the west coast-Thanks for the heads up.

By my count we passed the 1st cloture hurdle-they sure are taking thier time to announce it.
Oh-I see-snake ass Republicans changing to aye...wanna avoid the tarnish eh...

[dmr]

109. They did. Guess they need to give everyone a chance to go on record

[MiniMe]

113. Yup, so they can explain why they were against the bill before they were for the bill

Sorry, couldn't resist that one.

[dmr]

116. 63 yea, 33 nay

[tomm2thumbs]

110. they'll still be held accountable for the 'vote' even if they changed it - at least in ads...

they'll still be shown to be playing politics with it - so they are pretty stupid to be doing it on any level when they know the Democrats have 60 anyway

[MiniMe]

112. I think once Byrd came in they realized that the dems were going to have 60

I started hearing more ayes from them at that point.

[lamp_shade]

111. Collins, Snowe, Hutchison - Aye

[Clio the Leo]

117. they're practicing they're health care cloture votes!

(heh)

[Clio the Leo]

114. Now if you REALLY want to see something good....

watch this....

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/185413-1

and scroll to the 188 minute mark. ;)

(he's arguing against the nomination of Alberto Gonzales)

[RoyGBiv]

128. I watched Dodd's comments too ...

They were quite excellent. Thanks for that.

[MiniMe]

115. 63-33 for cloture

Now they will vote for passage.

[grantcart]

118. lol Lieberman has to wake up early and take a long hike - priceless

[Clio the Leo]

121. IN THE SNOW!!! NT

[MiniMe]

120. Who didn't show up?

That is only 96 votes, and Byrd was there.

[tomm2thumbs]

122. isn't inhoffe trying to kill Global Warming in Copenhagen?

[MiniMe]

124. Yeah, but he turned around and came back. But he probably wasn't in the Senate

[SpartanDem]

125. They gluttons for punishment

they just could've just agreed to a UC request and pass the bill now. Now there is a Saturday 730am vote with a snow storm heading to DC.

[tomm2thumbs]

126. the GOP is hoping to get snowed in so they can sleep with the pages

it's entirely innocent, I'm sure

[MiniMe]

129. They are still going

Another spending bill.

[MiniMe]

130. Senate just adjourned for the night.

[dmr]

131. Well, they're going to bed & will be back at 11am

Hope the most of them sleep uneasy sleep.

[Clio the Leo]

132. It was Robert Byrd yelling "shame!" btw.....

.... at the Republicans last night .... Contessa just reported this morning.

[Clio the Leo]

133. lol! Funny tweet from Todd Zwilich...

You need a) more sleep; & b) a life when you're jolted awake by the abrupt start of a CSPAN piano concerto during a quorum call

http://twitter.com/Todd_Zwillich