In the House, courtesy of the Office of the Majority Leader:

FLOOR SCHEDULE FOR WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2008

House meets at 10:00 a.m.: Legislative Business
Fifteen "One Minutes" Per Side

Last vote predicted: 6:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Suspensions (8 Bills):

1.     H.J.Res. 93 - Approving the renewal of import restrictions contained in the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003 (Rep. Crowley – Ways and Means)

2.     H.R. 6532 - To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to restore the Highway Trust Fund balance (Rep. Rangel – Ways and Means)

3.     H.Res. 1360 - Honoring and commemorating the selfless acts of heroism displayed by the late Detective John Michael Gibson and Private First Class Jacob Joseph Chestnut of the United States Capitol Police on July 24, 1998 (Rep. Edwards (MD) – House Administration)

4.     H.Res. 645 - Expressing the gratitude and appreciation of the House of Representatives to the professionalism and dedication of the United States Capitol Police (Rep. Mario Diaz–Balart (FL) – House Administration)

5.     H.Res. 1286 - Recognizing and celebrating the 20th anniversary of the National Black Arts Festival (Rep. Lewis (GA) - Education and Labor)

6.     H.Res. 1355 - Expressing support for designation of Disability Pride Day and recognizing that all people, including those living with disabilities, have the right, responsibility, and ability to be active, contributing members of our society and fully engaged as citizens.  (Rep. Davis (IL) – Education and Labor)

7.     H.Res. 655 – Honoring the life and accomplishments of Katherine Dunham (Rep. Rangel – Education and Labor)

8.     H.Res. 1296 – Supporting the designation of a National Child Awareness Month to promote awareness of children's charities and youth-serving organizations across the United States and recognizing their efforts on behalf of children and youth as a positive investment for the future of our Nation (Rep. Calvert - Education and Labor)

H.R. 3221 - American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 (Rep. Frank– Financial Services) (Subject to a Rule)

H.R. 3999 - The National Highway Bridge Reconstruction and Inspection Act (Rep. Oberstar –Transportation and Infrastructure) (Subject to a Rule [That rule is contained in H. Res. 1344])

Postponed Suspension Bill (1)

1.     H.R. 6545 - National Energy Security Intelligence Act of 2008 (Rep. Cazayoux – Intelligence)

In the Senate, courtesy of the Office of the Majority Leader:

Convenes: 10:00am

Resume motion to proceed to S.3268, Energy Speculation, post cloture.

Time until 11:00am equally divided and controlled with the Republicans controlling the first half and the Majority controlling the next half. The time from 11:00 until 4:00 controlled in 30 minute alternating blocks with Republicans controlling first 30 minutes and the Majority controlling next 30 minutes.

Recall that post-cloture debate can go on no longer than 30 hours, with no Senator speaking for more than one hour during that time. (See Rule XXII). Cloture was invoked by a vote of 94-0 at 11:28 a.m. yesterday, and will wind up at 4:00 p.m. today, technically about an hour and a half short of 30 hours, but with the benefit of not having to stay up and in session all night to run the 30 hour clock. The Senators, by agreement, just gave themselves the 30 hours that Republicans could have forced them all to sit through, provided they had enough of them lined up to eat that clock up one hour at a time.

Considering that the cloture vote was 94-0, it might seem an unlikely prospect. But as a matter of courtesy, the 30 hours were preserved. Without that courtesy, it's possible that Republicans may well have found enough malcontents willing to inconvenience everyone, just to make the point that you shouldn't stick your finger in anyone's eye if you don't have to. I mean, if you can vote against your own filibuster -- which is exactly what they just did -- then anything's possible.

On the Radar:

• The "Coburn Omnibus" has been introduced and assigned a bill number: S. 3297.
• The House Judiciary Committee has Attorney General Michael Mukasey before them today, for a general DOJ oversight hearing. But look for some close questioning of the AG on topics including Karl Rove's claim of "absolute immunity" from subpoena, Mukasey's own refusal to turn over FBI reports of their interview with Dick Cheney regarding the Valerie Plame outing, and the enforcement of contempt of Congress charges against various officials, possibly to include Mukasey himself.

Off the Radar:

• Senate appropriators are likely giving up on moving their bills forward for the rest of the 110th Congress. Just as with their House counterparts, Republicans trying to shoehorn offshore drilling into every bill has frayed the Democrats' last nerve.
• A Senate "resolution of disapproval" aimed at blocking the Bush "administration's" heap of new rules making it harder for states to expand their SCHIP programs may now be doomed, a victim of poor clock management. The resolution, permitted under a procedure for negating executive rule-making established by the Congressional Review Act of 1996 (PDF), was submitted too late to qualify under the rules as privileged, which puts a motion to proceed to consideration of the motion at risk of a filibuster. Whose job was it to be watching the deadline? Why, none other than Health Subcommittee Chairman Jay Rockefeller. Where do you suppose his head has been, lately? Whoops! Sorry, kids! But at least we'll be able to tell when you're sick by monitoring your calls to the doctor. And maybe the phone companies will pick up your health care bills, now that they don't have to spend their money on lawyers.

Exxon Ed Whitfield has been trying to clean up his voting record for this election year. He knows it is a bad year for Republicans, and that he has been a shameless enabler of every failed policy of the Bush Administration. All the election year scuffling to clean up his record cannot hide the fact that he has been a constant, bitter opponent to reform of our healthcare system, and of providing equal access to those in poverty as those with wealth to healthcare. Lets look at some of Exxon Eddie's votes to limit the access of healthcare to working Americans.

America's Health Insurers to the Rescue . . . of themselves.

AHIP has a new website ahipbelieves.com that lets them jump on the "Health Care Reform" bandwagon. (Warning.  You may want to shower after visiting this site.)

Their plan has 5 "key elements:"

Expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to make eligible all uninsured children from families with incomes under 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).

Improving and expanding Medicaid to make eligible all uninsured adults, including single adults, with incomes under 100 percent of the Federal Poverty Line.

Establishing a Universal Health Account (UHA) to allow all individuals to purchase any type of health care coverage and pay for qualified medical expenses with pre-tax dollars, with federal matching grants for contributions made by working families to the UHA.

Establishing a health tax credit of up to $500 for low-income families who secure health insurance for their children.

Establishing a new $50-billion Federal Performance Grant to assist states in expanding access to coverage.

Now let's pick these apart in detail.

The best cure for losing is winning. Passage of the Medicare bill (the one that Ted Kennedy dramatically assisted with) has raised speculation about 'what next?', especially with a stronger Dem majority in Congress and Obama in the White House. For example, Paul Krugman:

And when the Senate came back in session, it turned out that the doctors — and the Democrats — had won: Senator Kennedy was there to cast the extra vote needed to break the filibuster, a number of Republicans switched sides and the bill passed with a veto-proof majority.

   If the Democrats can win victories like this now, they should be able to put a definitive end to the privatization of Medicare next year, when they’re virtually certain to have a larger Congressional majority and will probably hold the White House.

But why wait? From CQ Politics:

After Medicare Vote, SCHIP Gets Another Look

After watching Republican opposition to a Medicare bill crumble in the Senate this week, emboldened Democrats are considering whether to force a new vote on expanding a children’s health insurance program.

Lawmakers, aides and lobbyists say House Democratic leaders may schedule a vote in September on an expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), a priority for Democrats since they took over Congress last year.

A House Democratic leadership aide said a new SCHIP vote is "a strong possibility," and another House Democratic aide said that the party’s success with the Medicare bill (HR 6331) had encouraged its leadership to again challenge Republicans on SCHIP.

And why not? Why should Republicans follow President 23%'s dictates instead of saving their own endangered skin?

Sometimes good policy is good politics.

In a disturbing report on Wednesday, CBS News offered Americans a glimpse of their health care future under President Bush, John McCain and their Republican allies.  Detailing two cases of patients dying untreated and unnoticed in New York and Los Angeles emergency rooms, the story shows the exceptions that may increasingly become the rule.  Call it the Republicans' "Emergency Room" health care plan.

We talk all the time about the problem with healthcare and the lack of health insurance and, yes, this is a major problem.

But, as I've learned today, the problem extends further to dental care. In 2006, the National Association of Dental Plans reported than only 57% of Americans had dental insurance. That means something like 135 million people are without any dental insurance.

Perhaps you can get by without dental insurance with good oral hygine, but even then, those small problems can come up that can cause chaos. I brush my teeth everyday, twice a day, and floss, (perhaps not well I gather) but this morning I woke up in excrutiating pain coming from a molar in my upper left jaw. The pain was so bad, I was tearing up and banging my head against the wall just to blunt the pain.

What does John McCain’s voting record, and what do his public statements, suggest about his views on women and families? It’s a pretty lengthy, damning, and devastating list...

The Republican party has been courting the Christian vote with their endless efforts to overturn Roe vs. Wade because some Christians believe life begins at conception, and therefore, abortion violates the commandment, "Thou Shalt Not Kill". Christians want to protect the souls of woman that get pregnant, but do not want the child, from eternal damnation. While I don’t personally believe that a loving god would send anyone to hell, this article isn’t about Christian theology. I also don’t really want to make this article about when life begins, nor do I want to debate if the woman’s right to choose should supercede the fetus’ right to life.  This article is instead intended to show that the Republicans are using Christians like pawns for their own political gain. That indeed, the Conservative movement is morally bankrupt.

The issues listed here were "key bills" in the US Senate, as identified by WaPo http://projects.washingtonpost.com/... Below the fold, I rated each of McSame’s votes for 2007 with either a +1 or a –1 and I keep a running total.

In a little reported development a few weeks back, senior McCain adviser Charlie Black relabeled his man, "slightly right of center." After having already adopted virtually the entire Bush agenda and just weeks after running an ad titled "True Conservative" during the Republican primaries, John McCain had started his mad dash back to the political center for the general election.

But when it comes to running away from his moribund party, its discredited brand and its wildly unpopular president, no Republican can match the extreme makeover of Oregon Senator Gordon Smith. No doubt, he is running as the UnRepublican.

crossposted from unbossed

Which matters more? Providing health care to all children, or protecting insurance companies, even if it means poor children have no health care coverage?

After repeatedly delaying the release of his medical records, John McCain has a received clean bill of health, at least according to the AP.  Given that the McCain campaign provided a tightly restricted pool of reporters only three hours to pore over almost 1200 pages of material covering the past 8 years, reviewers focused almost exclusively on the skin cancer history of the man who routinely proclaims himself "older than dirt."

But those strict time constraints and prohibitions on copying McCain's voluminous records mean that a broad investigation of the 71 year old candidate's health was not possible this morning.  Here, then, are five things still to look for in John McCain's medical records:

In the New York Times today, Bill Kristol elevated Republicans' wishful thinking into the GOP's presidential election strategy this fall.  Dragged down by President Bush's record-setting unpopularity and a brand one of its own leaders likened to tainted dog food, the GOP's last best hope, according to Kristol, lies in the "exceptionalism" of John McCain.  That is, the GOP can maintain its grip on the White House precisely because John McCain is a different kind of Republican animal able to distance himself from his moribund president and his fading party.  Sadly for Kristol, the record shows that John McCain is utterly the same.

On Mother’s Day, what better than to talk about a mother’s love for her children. And here is a mother with tender thoughts about her 2-year-old daughter, and about her own mother, and how it translates into a run for Congress against steep odds.

MORE under the fold, cross-posted on www.miami-dade-dems.blogspot.com with photos and a YouTube video of her speech.

Hey there DKos community --

I was catching up on some news last night when I came across an article in The Washington Post entitled, "Republicans Vote Against Moms; No Word Yet on Puppies, Kittens."

This seems interesting, I thought, as I read on. Everyone loves their mom.

Friends – I am saddened to say that I thought wrong.  Let me explain.

www.voteTaddeo.com

The record of politicians issuing challenges to the press is not a happy one.  Just before his Donna Rice scandal broke in 1987, Democratic frontrunner Gary Hart dared the media to "follow me around."  The rest, as they say, is history.  Now, South Carolina Senator and John McCain water carrier Lindsey Graham has issued a challenge of his own.  Claiming on CNN that McCain "is his own guy," Graham then threw down the gauntlet, "Good luck making him George Bush."

Challenge accepted.

Dear Friends,

It is with great pleasure that I am writing and posting my first diary here on Daily Kos.  My campaign staff posted on my behalf yesterday, but I’d like to take a moment to introduce myself.

In the wake of Charles Gibson and George Stephanopolous' abominable performance in the ABC Democratic debate Wednesday, I created a list of 10 debate questions John McCain will never be asked.  (The Real McCain author Cliff Schecter subsequently featured my Perrspectives list over at The Huffington Post, AmericaBlog and Crooks and Liars.)

Now, as it turns out, this Sunday's guest on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopolous is none other than Arizona Senator and Republican presidential nominee John McCain.