In January, after Massachussetts sent Republican Scott Brown to the Senate, destroying the Democratic supermajority needed to pass the health care overhaul without resorting to the reconciliation process, the plan appeared all but dead. Now, some view the bill’s success as comparable to the Resurrection, while others liken it more to the return of Jason [...]
When Republican Scott Brown won the special election for Ted Kennedy’s old Senate seat last month, it through a giant monkeywrench into the Democrats’ plan to pass a comprehensive health care reform bill. We covered the responses of both the online Massachussetts Republican community Red Mass Group (elation) and the online Massachussetts Democratic community Blue Mass Group (despair).
Yesterday, Brown — and a handful of other Republicans — voted with Democrats to block a Republican filibuster on the Democratic jobs bill. From the Los Angeles Times:
Monday’s vote was widely viewed as a test of whether the Senate could pass any significant legislation after Democrats lost their filibuster-proof 60-vote majority with Brown’s election. The chamber has been gridlocked by party-line squabbling for the better part of a year, with virtually every bill requiring a 60-vote supermajority.
So, with Brown contributing to half a political victory for the Democrats (the bill still has to pass the House), what do Massachussetts Republicans think of Brown now? Some comments on Red Mass Group
“Those who knew Brown’s position [on reform] were as likely to say it made them less likely (39%) to support him as to say it made them more likely to support him (41%).” A post on the Angry Bear economic blog argues that the vote for Republican Scott Brown in Massachussetts, which deprived Senate Democrats [...]
Duellling blogs covering state politics in Massachussetts, Red Mass Group and Blue Mass Group, tell the story of yesterday’s election: First, from Red Mass Group, a site “founded to revitalize the right-wing community in Massachusetts.” The People’s Victory A month ago they mocked you. Three weeks ago you were a mild inconvenience. Two weeks ago [...]
Among Democrats, the weeping, gnashing of teeth, and finger-pointing is in full bloom today. For Republicans, it’s all gloating, triumphalism, and “Told you so’s.” Comments from readers of the New York Times Room for Debate blog, Ezra Klein’s blog on Washington Post, and the political polliing and analysis blog FiveThirtyEight: If Democrats cannot pass health [...]
Yesterday on the blog FiveThirtyEight, Tom Schaller wondered if the Democratic candidate in the Massachussetts election would be more aptly named “Martha Choakley.” As you probably know by now, she lost 53% – 46% in a heavily Democratic state.
The Boston Globe is running an interactive feature through which Bay Staters can report what the turnout looks like at their particular polling stations.
“For 10 years, I’ve been watching a trend to manipulate elections through premature ‘call’ of the race by a media outlet.” That from a post by Bev Harris of Black Box Voting, a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to protecting fair elections in the U.S. The group, which was featured in the HBO documentary “Hacking Democracy,” [...]
Because health care is so critical to anyone’s financial planning, we’ve been covering both the debate and the legislative twists and turns since this blog launched. From the town hall tantrums to the tortured negotiations in the House and Senate to the eruptions of potentially deal-breaking issues like abortion — commentators and reporters have devoted [...]
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