Dems Claim Control of Senate!

Republicans lost by 3,000 votes in Montana, but, though not requested, there will be an automatic vote count.

Democrat Webb beat Republican Allen by 8,000 votes, but a recount was requested.

If the results hold, The Democrats will have 51 Senate seats vs 49 for republicans.

http://www.examiner.com/a-387027~Democrats_on_Brink_of_Controlling_Senate.html

Huzzah!

Having given the results I forgot about Joseph Lieberman who won as an independent. So are they counting him as a Democrat or what?

He's being listed as an independent.

Control of the Senate is actually only real if the party with the majority controls at least 60 seats, and, actually, they'd need 67 seats, because crucial Senate votes require a two-thirds majority.

There's a lot of talk about control of the House and the Senate--but it doesn't mean squat. Effective control only arises from effective management, and that means horse-trading and compromise.

I know Lieberman is an independent, but the newspapers reported a 49-49 Democrat/Republican split. And the Democrats picked up two more seats for a 51/49 win. So where does Lieberman fit in?

Re: Dems Claim Control of Senate!


More government funding to continue your gender reassignment? Having problems with dangling bits?

There already was one independent, a Republican who bailed in 2004. The Democrats picked up 5 seats, and Lieberman won as an independent. Therefore, 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans and two Independents. I cannot explain why you are getting conflicting information; but if you are encountering contradiction, one or more of your sources must be wrong.

Never saw Joe say it, but many pundits are saying he'll vote with the dems. He also wants a chairmanship, and that's the only way he can get it; but that works both ways.

Maybe less government funding (to the tune of 7 BILLION a month) to some little foreign adventure. This is money too sir.

The National Endowment for the Arts is less than 3 F-22 Raptors.

farmerman, I agree that arts is important, but I can think of some unfunded mandates that really needs to be financed by the feds.

The Democrats are counting the two Democrat-voting senators in their win. The new's report below has not yet counted Webb over Allen in Virginia. Counting Webb the Democrats have 51 over the Republican's 49 seats.

"That meant the election of 48 Democratic senators as well as two Democratic-voting independents _ Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Bernie Sanders of Vermont." http://www.examiner.com/a-387027~Democrats_on_Brink_of_Controlling_Senate.html

Lieberman was quoted at the weekend as saying he would "caucus" with the Democrats, and was not ready (as some CT voters feared) to throw his lot in with the Republicans. We have his word as a politician.

That was just an example of magnitudes of scale.
1We have a war to the tune of 85 to 95 Billion a year
2 Compare that to the entire NEA that costs less than 400 million.


I agree that we have line items to nbe funded, but Id like to see something left over for non military or weapons related activity. The interest alone is gonna choke our kids

farmerman, I agree. If we lose culture in our society, we've lost much more than just the arts.

WTF??? Which party controls the committees means a whole lot. Lieberman and Sanders will caucus with the Dems.

Just to expand on that a little.

When a bill or nomination gets introduced in the House or Senate, it gets assigned to the appropriate committee. When a nomination starts, it gets assigned to the appropriate Senate committee. If a majority of the Representatives or Senators on that committee don't like the bill or nomination, it dies in the committee and the larger house or Senate never gets a chance ot vote on it.

Every two years, after each Federal election, the House and Senate hold a vote to set up committees. Which ever party holds a majority in the House-even by just one member-votes for a lineup where EVERY committee has a majority of that party and EVERY committee chairman is from that majority party.

Same thing goes for the Senate and their committees. However, if there is a 50-50 split in the 100 member Senate, the Vice President casts the deciding vote. As the Vice President is now Republican, that means that the Democrats need to have 51 Senate seats aligned with them to get control of the committees.

The two independents in the Senate are Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut. Bernie Sanders was an independent in the House of Representatives before this and always voted with the Democrats on these committee setups, (called "procedural votes"). There is no reason to think he will not continue to do so now that he is in the Senate.

Joe Lieberman has been a Democrat from the start, he lost his party's nomination this time so he ran as an "independent Democrat" and won. He has said from Day One of his independent candidacy that he will "caucus" with the Democrats as he always has done, (which means he will meet and plan strategy with them). Most assume this means he will vote with them on these "procedural votes", (committee setups), as well.

Lieberman has not spelled out exactly that he will vote for a Democratic majority and Democratic chairman in EVERY committee, by the way, he just said that he will continue to "caucus" with the Democrats. Nobody has raised this issue yet, which is surprising since the Republican support is what got Lieberman elected this time. I think it is conceivable that Lieberman might surprise people and vote for a Republican majority or Republican chairman on a few committees then tell his fellow Democrats, "But I only said I would caucus with you, I never said I would vote a straight up and down Democrat committee ticket".

At any rate, the Democrats and general public are under the impression that Lieberman will vote the straight Democratic committee ticket, and until such time as he does otherwise he is to be considered a Democrat. And even if Lieberman does depart from the straight Democratic vote norm, I doubt he will do this for more than a few committees anyway.

In short, the two independents are to be considered Democrats when figuring the majority party in the Senate.

Definitely a full five on the laughing emoticons.

Hey Bill, long time. Whats on the menu for today?

Looks like he brought the cheese to go along with my whine.