Former President George H.W. Bush Announces Support For START Treaty

George HW Bush gives Susan Collins go ahead on START vote
Via Steve Benen, Susan Collins has lost one more excuse for joining in obstructing START. She had previously said that she'd be much more comfortable voting for the treaty if it just had the approval of the Bushes. Never mind that it had the approval of Richard Lugar, Brent Scowcroft, Henry Kissinger, James Baker, Reagan Secretary of State George Schultz, Reagan Chief of Staff Kenneth Duberstein, Reagan Chief of Staff Howard Baker, and Colin Powell. Well, now she has Bush the Elder's approval. ...

George H.W. Bush Announces Support For START Without White House Pushing
WASHINGTON -- For weeks, there has been talk of the White House rolling out a prominent Republican supporter of START, the Nuclear Weapons treaty negotiated with Russia. The chatter heightened last week, when a conspicuous opening was seen in the president's daily schedule. But the endorser that go-round -- former Secretary of State Colin Powell -- had already spoken in favor of START in the past. And his subsequent reaffirmation of support made little news. On Wednesday, the White House lan...

START Treaty Opposed By Potential GOP Presidential Candidates
WASHINGTON — Republicans weighing a White House bid fiercely oppose a new nuclear arms treaty with Russia and stand in stark contrast to two presidents, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican George H.W. Bush, on a critical Foreign Policy issue. "It's an obsolete approach that's a holdover from the Cold War and a bilateral treaty without taking into account multilateral threats," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Wednesday, becoming the latest potential 2012 Candidate to object to sw...

George H.W. Bush Endorses Arms Treaty
Former President George H.W. Bush, who signed and won Senate approval of the original Start Arms Control treaty with the Soviet Union in 1991, endorsed the proposed follow-up treaty with Russia on Wednesday, Lending another well-known Republican voice to the White House campaign for approval. “I urge the United States Senate to ratify the START Treaty,” Mr. Bush said in a one-line statement that offered no elaboration. His spokesman, Jim Appleby, said by telephone that the former president ...

White House hopefuls take aim at arms pact
Republican likely presidential hopefuls have united in opposition to the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which could make the agreement with Russia a 2012 Campaign issue. South Dakota Sen. John Thune (R) was the latest to offer his criticism. "First and foremost, Missile Defense remains a major point of disagreement between the United States and Russia, and this treaty only makes the situation worse," he wrote in an opinion piece for National Review Online. Former House Speaker...

Senate sets up cloture vote for Monday on tax bill
Senate Democrats are moving ahead with a package to extend the Bush Tax Cuts for two years setting up a Cloture vote for 3 p.m. Monday.  A draft bill is still expected to be released soon with Senate Democrats ironing out the final details of the package, that extend the Bush-era Tax Cuts for two years and federal Unemployment Benefits for 13 months. The House has balked at the plan and said they will wait to see what the Senate does before determining whether they'll bring up the bill.  Hou...

START Treaty Backed By George H.W. Bush; Biden Predicts Passage
Former President George H.W. Bush came out Wednesday in support of the arms-control treaty with Russia known as New START, and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who served under former President George W. Bush, backed the pact on Tuesday. Whether the Endorsements can budge skeptical Senate Republicans remains to be seen, but the Obama White House remains optimistic it can get the 67 votes -- a Supermajority -- needed for New START to pass. Vice President Joe Biden, briefing a small gro...

Likely GOP hopefuls line up against nuclear treaty
WASHINGTON -- Republicans weighing a White House bid fiercely oppose a new nuclear arms treaty with Russia and stand in stark contrast to two presidents, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican George H.W. Bush, on a critical Foreign Policy issue. "It's an obsolete approach that's a holdover from the Cold War and a bilateral treaty without taking into account multilateral threats," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Wednesday, becoming the latest potential 2012 Candidate to object to swift pas...

On START, Kyls Now Irrelevant
On START, Kyl’s Now Irrelevant The Politico reports that Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) doesn’t think there is enough time to get New START done. Well, at this point, who cares what Kyl thinks. He is no longer pivotal to the ratification effort. The fact is Harry Reid controls the Senate calendar and has pledged to hold a vote on START and enough Republicans now support it to make ratification increasingly likely. Importantly, you can’t Filibuster a treaty, since it only takes 50 v...

First president Bush backs Russia nuke deal
WASHINGTON—Former President George H.W. Bush is urging the Senate to ratify a nuclear arms pact with Russia. His backing gives a potentially significant boost to the treaty sought by President Barack Obama but viewed skeptically by some Senate Republicans. The first president Bush announced his support for the New START Treaty in a brief statement: "I urge the United States Senate to ratify the START treaty." He is the latest prominent Republican to support the deal, which would limit how...

GOP Blocks 9/11 Health-Care Bill
Senate Republicans on Thursday voted down a bill to provide Health Care and compensation to sick Ground Zero workers, a major setback for one of New York's biggest legislative priorities and one that left the bill's supporters scrambling for one more chance against shrinking odds. In a straight party vote of 57-42, Democrats fell short of the 60 needed under Senate rules to advance the bill. New York Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand said they would try every means possible to revive ...

Former President George H.W Bush Supports START
The Obama Administration has been eager to get more Republicans on board for a nuclear arms treaty with Russia (also called START), and Wednesday they were able to tout the support from a former GOP president, George H.W. Bush. Bush lent his support to the treaty in a very, very short paper statement that simply stated, "I urge the United States Senate to ratify the START Treaty." Last week the White House was also happy to show former George W. Bush Administration Secretary of State Colin Powel...

Enough presidential comparisons to make your head spin
Mr. Obama ran for President with the goal of being Ronald Reagan. Over the last two years the Republicans have tried to turn him into Jimmy Carter so that he couldn't be Franklin Roosevelt. Faced with a more-hostile Congress next year, commentators have wondered whether he'd be Harry Truman or Bill Clinton. But after watching the events of this week I wonder if he'll end up being George Herbert Walker Bush. Oh, Christmas Tree! Tax deal larded up with TARP special interest provisions Is your mem...

Items added to tax cut bill to draw support
WASHINGTON — As Democrats in Congress battled in public over a proposal to extend Bush-era Income Tax cuts, a group of Democratic lawmakers are pushing to make subtle changes to help sweeten the pot. The agreement worked out between President Obama and Republican lawmakers would extend the expiring cuts for all Taxpayers for two years, continue jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed and cut Social Security Payroll taxes next year. Many Democrats have balked at the Compromise, particu...

history
Shortly after the 74th Congress convened in January 1935, President Roosevelt sent his "Economic Security Bill" to Capitol Hill. The Administration proposal was transmitted to the Congress on January 17, 1935 and it was introduced that same day in the Senate by Senator Robert Wagner (D-NY) and in the House by Congressman Robert Doughton (D-NC) and David Lewis (D-MD). The bill was referred to Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways & Means Committee. The House Ways & Mean...

Renewable energy industry banking on more grants
WASHINGTON—Officials in the wind industry say that a hard-fought extension of a cash grant program for Renewable Energy will be a lifeline for domestic producers, saving tens of thousands of jobs. "Factories across the country will restart production lines, recall workers and avoid layoffs that would have followed the loss of this key incentive for Wind Energy, which with consistent policies like this one can generate 20 percent of America's electricity within 20 years," Denise Bode, CEO ...

HuffPost TV: Howard Fineman On The Tax-Cut Revolt Among House Dems (VIDEO)
HuffPost's Howard Fineman appeared on MSNBC's "Countdown" Thursday night to discuss the revolt among House Democrats against the White House over President Barack Obama's tax-cut Compromise with Republicans. "They're angry. They feel ignored, which they were," Fineman told host Keith Olbermann. "I just think the White House has been focused for the last two years primarily on the Senate ... and they took their eye off the ball, in the case of the House." WATCH: Visit msnbc.com for breaking ne...

The Eerily Prescient Mr. Brooks
The NY Times is now front-paging the notion that David Brooks floated (as a trial balloon on behalf of the White House?) last week - Obama is considering a re-branding as a champion of tax simplification and reform. I thought, and think, that the idea is absurd, as explained in my earlier post.  Still, here was Brooks imagining a bold declaration from Obama: We will extend the Bush rates for everybody for one year, along with Unemployment Benefits. But during that year we will enact a co...

US Senate blocks repeal of military gay ban
The US Senate dealt a potentially deadly blow to efforts to Repeal a ban on gays serving openly in the US Military, in another setback to a "deeply disappointed" President Barack Obama. Lawmakers voted 57-40 -- three votes short of the 60 needed -- to move forward with annual Military Spending Legislation that included a measure ending the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. The motion was a defeat for Obama, who has made repealing the 1993 law a priority in the year-end "Lame Duck" session of Con...

US Senate blocks repeal of military gay ban
The US Senate dealt a potentially deadly blow to efforts to Repeal a ban on gays serving openly in the US Military, in another setback to a "deeply disappointed" President Barack Obama. Lawmakers voted 57-40 -- three votes short of the 60 needed -- to move forward with annual Military Spending Legislation that included a measure ending the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. The motion was a defeat for Obama, who has made repealing the 1993 law a priority in the year-end "Lame Duck" session of Congr...

Senate fails to pass 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal, Dream Act, 9/11 responders' health bill
WASHINGTON -- Senate Republicans blocked a major year-end push by Democrats to lift the Military's ban on Openly Gay Troops on Thursday, dealing a huge blow to Gay Rights groups' hopes for Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" any time soon. In other action, a politically charged showdown vote on Legislation carving out a path to legal status for foreign-born youngsters brought to this country illegally was delayed; and Republicans derailed a bill to aid responders who were sickened after exposure ...

Tax Plan Spurs Deal Making
WASHINGTON—The sweeping tax package negotiated by President Barack Obama and Republican lawmakers gained new momentum toward passage in the Senate, building pressure on balking House Democrats to accept the Controversial deal. The framework of the package seems likely to remain intact, but lawmakers and Lobbyists were trying to attach favored provisions into what is likely to be one of the biggest bills to pass the Lame Duck Congress. Potential additions include a grant program for clean-e...

Russian Civilian Nuclear Cooperation Deal: Prelude to Controversy?
Get alerts when there is a new article that might interest you. While nuclear experts in Washington are wringing their hands over the fate of the New START agreement in the U.S. Senate, a formal U.S.-Russian civilian nuclear cooperative agreement will come into force next week with barely a whisper of public debate. Although the White House is sure to quietly push this deal through, in time it's likely to cause quite a stir. One reason why so little attention has been paid to the agreement is be...

Obama and Bill Clinton to Meet
Bill Clinton in Manila last month. The latest on President Obama, the new Congress and other news from Washington and around the nation. Join the discussion. WASHINGTON — Former President Bill Clinton is to meet on Friday with President Obama at the White House for a post-election conversation about moving the agenda forward in a new political environment, a senior Democrat told of the meeting said. The meeting will be the first between the two men since the Midterm Elections, when voter...

Senate reworks tax bill; House defies president
WASHINGTON — The Senate opened debate late Thursday on a reworked tax package that would add incentives for Renewable Energy, which many Democrats have demanded, but leave intact the core elements of a deal negotiated by the Obama Administration and Republicans. As the Senate steamed toward a Monday vote on the package, House Democrats were in open revolt. Amid chants of "Just say no," they agreed overwhelmingly during a private meeting Thursday to block the measure from going to the Hou...