The new Senate, Who Will Take Control?

[JackLuis]

Remember that the Senate is key to any change in the status quo and the fact that there are 24 Rethuglican seats up for election and only 10 Democrats, the Slim 54-44 Majority of the Party of NO! may be in danger.

Russ Finegold is running again and has a ~11 point lead in the polls.

An interesting one in Arizona.

Arizona
Main article: United States Senate election in Arizona, 2016

Five-term Senator and Republican Presidential candidate in 2008 John McCain was re-elected with 59.3% of the vote in 2010. He will be 80 years old in 2016. Despite speculation that he might retire,[148] McCain is running for re-election.[18]

McCain may face a strong primary challenge, particularly from Tea Party groups.[149][150] Fair Tax activist Alex Meluskey,[19] businessman David Pizer,[20] talk radio host Clair Van Steenwyk,[21] and State Senator Kelli Ward[22] are running for the Republican nomination. Representatives Matt Salmon and David Schweikert were both mentioned as possible candidates,[151] but both chose not to run.[152][153] Other potential Republican candidates include former Governor Jan Brewer,[154] businesswoman and 2014 gubernatorial candidate Christine Jones,[155] former Governor of Alaska and 2008 Vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin,[156] former U.S. Representative John Shadegg,[157] and former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods,.[157]

Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick[17] and teacher Lennie Clark[16] are running for the Democratic nomination. Other potential Democratic candidates include U.S. Representative Ruben Gallego, former Surgeon General and 2012 nominee Richard Carmona, 2014 gubernatorial nominee Fred DuVal, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, and retired astronaut Mark Kelly, who is the husband of ex-Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.[158][159]

Old Walnuts has a mother lode on his plate.

How does your State match up. Will a Democratic Senate confirm BHO to the Supreme Court as soon as Bernie gets elected, or will the Dark Lords of Wall Street ordain Hillary to do the honors?

 

[JackLuis]

In looking at the races, it is remotely possible that the Democrats could end up with a 60-40 majority and be able to jamb anything they want thru the Senate. Justice Michelle Obama has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

 

[Hypoxia]

Do not expect a Dem takeover of Arizona. I speak from having lived a decade off-and-on in Bisbee, the rare Blue island in a Red state; my sisters still live in Tucson and Prescott. The state's politix are nutz, exacerbated when Obama pulled Janet Negroponte out of Phoenix, leaving the inmates to run the asylum. Arizona is Tromp territory.

Could Tromp-hate in the rest of USA wrest the Senate (and maybe even the House) from GOP hands? Sure. But the Dem winners will still be mostly corporate mascots beholden to the 1%. I remain pessimistic. Shit, if Hilly wins, she might even install Billy on the Supes. Ay yi yi.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

Youre fulla shit again, Jack. For all intents and purposes Democrats and Republicans are the same spineless, gelded animal; what matters is if Trump wins and fucks the donors. Donors control the pols. After Reagan won in 1980 most Democrats switched to GOP.

 

[JackLuis]

Youre fulla shit again, Jack. For all intents and purposes Democrats and Republicans are the same spineless, gelded animal; what matters is if Trump wins and fucks the donors. Donors control the pols. After Reagan won in 1980 most Democrats switched to GOP.

Jimmy, this is about the Senate, not the Presidency. If Trump wins and has a Democratic Senate, would the Demo's be the obstructionists that Mitch has been?

See that is the Danger, if people forget about the senate and just concentrate on the Presidential race, we could end up with another Congress like that last three.

 

[Comshaw]

Ain't you been keepin' up on the latest? Trump's been acquiring stock in Monsanto and talk is he's going to clone himself and take over the whole damn kit and caboodle. The new slogan is "TRUMP AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN.....!"



Comshaw

 

[sr71plt]

I think the new congressional elections (having already started with Cantor/Bratt) seem most likely to bring in more nominal Republicans on the Tea Party fringe and Congress will get even wilder.

 

[Hypoxia]

If this clusterfuck goes on much longer, our alien overlords will get pissed, and reveal themselves, and take control personally -- and THEN we'll be sorry!

Worse yet: they WON'T come forward and take the reins, and we'll be even sorrier.

But guess what? This campaign year is mild compared to 19th century America, when candidates and congresscritters horsewhipped and caned and shot each other -- a role model for the South Korean legislature. Everybody in DC now is a fucking wussy. Cruz should just walk up to Tromp and sucker-punch him, to show who's the Alpha Male. He'd take out Sanders next. But watch out for Hillary's knitting needles!

Visualize the Senate chambers as a mud-wrestling pit. Who can control it? And where are the alligators when we need them?

 

[RobDownSouth]

I think the new congressional elections (having already started with Cantor/Bratt) seem most likely to bring in more nominal Republicans on the Tea Party fringe and Congress will get even wilder.

History doesn't seem to agree with your analysis.

Special elections and non-presidential election cycles tend to favor extremist candidates, as older white bitter-clingers turn out in large numbers.

In presidential election years, however, many more demographics turn out to vote and centrist and democratic candidates often prevail (absent a crisis, real or imagined).

 

[sr71plt]

History didn't agree with Bratt knocking Cantor out either. If you're counting in historical perspective in this mess, I think you need to hang onto your hat.

 

[Tigersman]

Both the House and Senate should be abolished as a waste of taxpayers money. Our Constitution did not say anything about paying for a staff for House or Senate members but yet they cost taxpayers over a million dollars per year per member to keep them in office.

 

[Hard_Rom]

Bring back the monarchy. Totalitarian leadership if they control the majority of seats in the commons. The vice-regal appointed by the leader. And a head of state who looks like everybody's nanna and just waves at the adoring crowds.

Control the majority and no bickering or in-fighting allowed. Rule as you will as long as it is legal. Righties will love the power.

God save the Queen. Even the fundies can get behind that slogan.

Righties, lefties, fundies and libs all happy.

Lets all say it together... GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!

 

[Hypoxia]

Lets all say it together... GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!

You omitted the rest. It goes:

God save the queen
The fascist regime
They made you a moron
Potential H-bomb

God save the queen
She ain't no human being
There is no future
In England's dreaming

Don't be told what you want
Don't be told what you need
There's no future, no future,
No future for you

God save the queen
We mean it man
We love our queen
God saves

God save the queen
'Cause tourists are money
And our figurehead
Is not what she seems

Oh God save history
God save your mad parade
Oh Lord God have mercy
All crimes are paid

When there's no future
How can there be sin
We're the flowers in the dustbin
We're the poison in your human machine
We're the future, your future

God save the queen
We mean it man
We love our queen
God saves

God save the queen
We mean it man
And there is no future
In England's dreaming

No future, no future,
No future for you
No future, no future,
No future for me

No future, no future,
No future for you
No future, no future
For you

 

[Hard_Rom]

You omitted the rest. It goes:

God save the queen
The fascist regime
They made you a moron
Potential H-bomb

God save the queen
She ain't no human being
There is no future
In England's dreaming

Don't be told what you want
Don't be told what you need
There's no future, no future,
No future for you

God save the queen
We mean it man
We love our queen
God saves

God save the queen
'Cause tourists are money
And our figurehead
Is not what she seems

Oh God save history
God save your mad parade
Oh Lord God have mercy
All crimes are paid

When there's no future
How can there be sin
We're the flowers in the dustbin
We're the poison in your human machine
We're the future, your future

God save the queen
We mean it man
We love our queen
God saves

God save the queen
We mean it man
And there is no future
In England's dreaming

No future, no future,
No future for you
No future, no future,
No future for me

No future, no future,
No future for you
No future, no future
For you

Point taken. Still a better political system than the US!

 

[JackLuis]

New Hampshire’s Kelly Ayotte And Maggie Hassan Gonna Lady-Fight For Senate Seat

Our plucky competitors this week are both veteran New Hampshire politicians: Republican incumbent Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who’s seeking a second term in the “World’s Greatest Deliberative Body” (we chuckle every week we write that), and Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan, who almost certainly could have won a third term as governor but decided to challenge Ayotte for 2016. (Trivia Fact: New Hampshire governors only have two-year terms. They don’t trust government there, do they?) Both candidates are well-liked in New Hampshire, with roughly similar favorability ratings (Ayotte 45 percent, Hassan 43 percent) in October 2015, when Hassan announced she’d take on Ayotte. Get ready for Big Spending in the coming months: Hassan was enthusiastically recruited by national Democrats, and Ayotte has the backing of the National Rifle Association and the Koch Brothers. Please feel free to boo and hiss theatrically; that support is a ready-made campaign issue for Hassan. Money? Oh, yes, there will be SO MUCH MONEY FREE SPEECH in this race:
9

 

[JackLuis]

Alan Grayson snags big endorsements in Fla. Senate race

Democracy for America (DFA) and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) endorsed Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) over his Democratic primary rival, Rep. Patrick Murphy, for the open Florida Senate seat.

The Tuesday endorsements give Grayson a huge boost as he seeks the Democratic nomination for the seat vacated by former GOP presidential candidate Marco Rubio.

“Having a fighter like Alan Grayson in the U.S. Senate would be nothing short of game-changing for our country and Florida’s struggling working families, and we couldn’t be more excited to help make that happen in the weeks and months ahead," DFA Chairman Jim Dean said in a statement.

"Every step of the way — from Wall Street reform to expanding Social Security to being a national leader for Medicare expansion — Alan Grayson has stood with progressives as one of our boldest and most reliable allies," PCCC co-founders Adam Green and Stephanie Taylor said in a statement. "He's a national leader for expanding Medicare and has consistently said no to cutting Social Security benefits."

The powerful progressive groups — which both tout more than 1 million members nationwide, including more than 75,000 DFA members and more than 59,000 PCCC members in the Sunshine State — provide Grayson with an advantage as the party's establishment rallies behind Murphy.

Another anti-establishment Democrat in the Senate would be good.

 

[JackLuis]

McCain faces toughest reelection of his career

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is facing what may be the toughest reelection of his Senate career in an unpredictable presidential year, when many voters are angry with Washington.

Early polls show McCain tied with his Democratic challenger, Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.), at around 40 percent despite having nearly 100-percent name recognition in the state he has represented in either the Senate or House since 1983.

“The basic problem for John McCain is the same kind of thing that faces a lot of incumbents right now. He’s been there a long time. People are leery of Washington. They don’t like Washington,” said former Republican Rep. Jim Kolbe, who served 18 years alongside McCain in Arizona’s congressional delegation.

“This is a very tough challenge, probably the toughest race that he's faced since he was first elected,” Kolbe added.

McCain’s path to victory is complicated by the likelihood the GOP ticket will be headed by Donald Trump, who has an overwhelmingly negative rating among Hispanic voters, a powerful and growing electoral bloc in Arizona.

Trump has scheduled three events in Arizona Saturday with an eye on the winner-take-all presidential primary Tuesday. He will campaign with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, whose get-tough approach to illegal immigration has made him a national lightning rod.

Hundreds of Latino activists plan to protest Trump’s events.

 

[phrodeau]

Do not expect a Dem takeover of Arizona. I speak from having lived a decade off-and-on in Bisbee, the rare Blue island in a Red state; my sisters still live in Tucson and Prescott. The state's politix are nutz, exacerbated when Obama pulled Janet Negroponte out of Phoenix, leaving the inmates to run the asylum. Arizona is Tromp territory.

Could Tromp-hate in the rest of USA wrest the Senate (and maybe even the House) from GOP hands? Sure. But the Dem winners will still be mostly corporate mascots beholden to the 1%. I remain pessimistic. Shit, if Hilly wins, she might even install Billy on the Supes. Ay yi yi.

McCain faces toughest reelection of his career

I visited Arizona last month, and based on what I saw and heard in that brief time, I have to agree that it's likely to remain solid red this election.

 

[JackLuis]

Pennsylvania Democrats Have Hot 3-Way In Race To Take On Pat Toomey (R-Yawn)

Welcome back to our newish feature, our weekly countdown of U.S. Senate races, yes, even the ones where there’s no real contest. But not this week! Last time, we looked at Maryland’s primary between two ridiculously well-qualified Democrats; the primary is likely to decide the outcome of the general, because 1) Blue State and B) really lame Republican candidates. This week, we’ll look at Pennsylvania’s hot 3-way Democratic primary for the chance to unseat first-term Republican incumbent Pat Toomey, who won his seat in a squeaker of a 2010 election against one of the current Democratic candidates, former Navy admiral and congressman Joe Sestak. The other two Dems in the primary are Katie McGinty, former chief of staff to Gov. Tom Wolf, and Braddock Mayor John Fetterman, who looks more like a biker than a senator. With Pennsylvania having gone Democratic in every presidential election since 1992 and a chinchilla-headed wankstain the likely Republican presidential nominee, Democrats wanting to retake the Senate are optimistic Toomey can be given the heave-ho in November. Let’s see who’s hoping to benefit from Democratic presidential coattails!

 

[JackLuis]

Maryland Has Two Awesome Democrats Running For Senate. Can We Have Both?

This week, our Senate preview will be a little different from the usual format: We’re off to Maryland, where the two parties’ candidates haven’t yet been chosen. Barbara Mikulski, who served in the Senate for five terms, announced last year she would retire, so she could spend less time raising money and more time “raising hell,” and we wish her all the best with that hell-raising. Even with Mikulski’s retirement, Ballotpedia rates Maryland’s senate race “safely Democratic,” so chances are the real election to replace Mikulski will be the April 26 primary. There are 10 Democrats running, and 14 (!) Republicans, but the two actually serious for-reals Democratic candidates to replace the longest-serving woman in Congress are quite familiar with Capitol Hill, since they already serve in the House: Rep. Donna Edwards and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, who are running an intense but relatively civil race for the nomination and the chance to go up in November against whatever pile of yard scrapings the Republicans choose. They’re both capital-P progressives, they agree on just about all the issues, they’re virtually tied in the polls, and we frankly would like to have ’em both cloned and sent to run in other states as well, please.

 

[BoyNextDoor]

The scenarios are interesting.

If Trump is not the nominee, and Bernie is:
The angry mob stays at home, the Dems are energized and the Dems take the senate and reverse the majority, plus, 55-45

If Trump is the nominee, and Bernie is not:
The angry mob votes, Rethuglicans keep the senate 51-49

If Trump is not the nominee, and Hillary is:
GOP is fractured and a "major" third party candidate shows their face. Sales in wheelchairs and walkers goes up as the aged and decrepit get whipped by a massive GOTV effort. Dems take Senate 51-49

 

[JackLuis]

Meet The Lady Who Just Might Kick Grumpypants John McCain Out Of The Senate


Yes Arizona is a Red State, but it is still a horse race and shit happens.

So let’s get this new feature rolling with a look at the Senate race from the Great State of Arizona. John “Walnuts!” McCain is seeking a sixth term, even though he’ll be turning 80 in August. While he has a primary challenger, Lake Havasu City tea partier Kelli Ward (who thoughtfully arranged a 2014 public meeting on chemtrails, although she is not a chemtrails enthusiast herself), McCain is expected to beat her easily. But not so his Democratic challenger, Ann Kirkpatrick, who’s giving up her seat in the U.S. Congress to run against McCain. And by golly, she might just pull it off.

Kirkpatrick made Big Media waves last week when she released an ad emphasizing McCain’s repeated statements that as a good Republican, he will support the party’s nominee for president, even if it’s Donald Goddamned Trump. McCain’s party loyalty earned him this ad from Kirkpatrick’s campaign, apparently the first attempt this year to use Trump against a Republican candidate in a down-ticket race:

 

[Hypoxia]

Meet The Lady Who Just Might Kick Grumpypants John McCain Out Of The Senate

Yes Arizona is a Red State, but it is still a horse race and shit happens.

McCain (who qualifies for Leviticus 20:10) is indeed in trouble but state gov't is still dominated by a Mormon infrastructure. Sorry, earlier I said AZ was a Tromp zone, and I was wrong -- he's despised by faithful Mormons as well as Latinos as much as he's loved by cranky gringos. How will AZ go in November? Depends on the outrage turnout.

 

[JackLuis]

Revealed: Leaks show senate staffer threatened Colombia with loss of foreign aid over cheap cancer drug

A new report says that the pharmaceutical industry is using the U.S. Congress as its enforcement arm against firms that want to manufacture cheap cancer drugs abroad.

Colombia’s Minister of Health Alejandro Gaviria received a dire warning via diplomatic channels that his plan — announced on April 28 — to begin production of a generic leukemia drug could cost the South American country hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid.

According to The Intercept, leaked communications from the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Colombian embassy in Washington expressed concern about possible congressional retaliation if the country approved plans to manufacture a version of imatinib, used in treating chronic myeloid leukemia and gastrointestinal tumors.

The current annual cost of treatment using imatanib is over $15,000 — almost twice the average Colombian’s income.

The Senate Finance Committee is head by powerful Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch (R) who has close ties to the pharmaceutical industry, with the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) awarding an outside nonprofit $750,000 to back Hatch’s re-election in 2012.

Buy a congress critter folks, it a sure bet.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

Alan Grayson snags big endorsements in Fla. Senate race



Another anti-establishment Democrat in the Senate would be good.

Grayson is a fugggin loon who cant compete statewide.