http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/322265
Jim Webb's Time to Fight
posted by Katrina vanden Heuvel on 05/19/2008 @ 11:55pm
Jim Webb can make the Four Seasons seem like a diner in Owensboro,
Kentucky. It's that kind of blue-collar street cred that may be
just what it takes to propel the first term Senator from Virginia
onto the Democratic ticket as Vice-President.
(clip)
When asked if he'd consider being a Vice-Presidential candidate on
an Obama ticket, Webb's non-reply--" I like being a Senator" --
--suggested to me that he's ready to rumble. And his media blitz
these last few days --Meet the Press, Late Show With Letterman,
Olbermann and Dobbs tomorrow--second that emotion.
Through all of this, the Senator's wife struck a striking, yet
serene, presence. "She keeps those turbulent waters calm," Webb
said of her influence on him. He also spoke movingly of her life
as part of the promise of America--a woman whose maternal
grandparents were killed by the Vietnamese Communists, comes to
the US and gets a degree at the University of Michigan and then a
law degree at Cornell. I couldn't help but think what a striking
pair Webb and his wife would make if they were to join the
Democratic ticket.
"We should measure the health of our society not at its apex, but
at its base. Not with the numbers that come out of Wall Street,
but with the living conditions that exist on Main Street. We must
recapture that spirit today," Webb told a nation last year, as he
rebutted and rebuked President Bush. It is that spirit that offers
a path forward for progressives not only to win elections but to
govern.
We can recapture that spirit today. Yes, we can.
----
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/09/senate-drops-funding-for_n_491493.html
Senate Drops Funding For Summer Jobs Program And Enhanced
Subsidies For Poor Families With Children
Just a week after Senate Republican Jim Bunning's infamous
obstruction of an unemployment benefits extension, the GOP is
taking another stand that pits deficit reduction against aid to
the poor and jobless.
On Tuesday, Senate Republicans -- along with some Democrats --
defeated a measure to provide $1.3 billion for summer jobs for
young people this year and a $1.3 billion extension of enhanced
subsidies for poor families with children.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who introduced the amendment along
with Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), pleaded with her colleagues not to
object.
"I have personally heard the stories of these young men and women
whose summer jobs changed their lives across the country," she
said. "This amendment will provide $1.3 billion to create up to
500,000 temporary jobs this coming summer. It will invest in
critical employment and learning programs that will help not only
these young people but the businesses who hire them."
Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) was not moved. "Why do we keep doing
this?" said Gregg, arguing that the amendment was not paid for.
"Why do we keep passing on to our children these debts?" His
stance recalled Bunning's defense of his controversial decision
last week to single-handedly block an extension of unemployment
benefits -- he finally caved and allowed passage of the bill.
Murray unsuccessfully argued that the amendment was paid for over
a 10-year period. But Democrats could muster only 55 votes against
Gregg's budgetary point of order, five short of the supermajority
needed to overcome it. Democratic Sens. Claire McCaskill (Mo.),
JIM WEBB (Va.), Mark Warner (Va.), and Ben Nelson (Neb.) joined
the Republicans in voting no.
(clip)
_______________________________________________
pen-l mailing list
[email protected]
https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
