In the spirit of "if you can't say anything nice", here's the story now up at FOX without comment. (For now.) Meanwhile, at least his death is slowing down the financial-regulatory bill in Congress.
Byrd's Death May Imperil Finance Reform Bill
Published June 28, 2010
The Wall Street Journal
Sen. Robert Byrd (D., W.Va), Congress’s longest-serving member, died Monday, diminishing the chances of the Senate putting the financial-overhaul bill to a vote this week.
Byrd, aged 92 and Congress’s longest-serving member, was admitted to a Washington area hospital late last week for what was thought to be severe dehydration and heat exhaustion brought on by this summer’s near triple-digit temperatures.
Byrd has been in frail health, sparking speculation in the past about his retirement. His death could have one, immediate impact -– decreasing the chances of the Senate voting on the financial-regulatory bill this week. Senate Democrats have only a razor-thin margin for passing the bill, final language on which the Senate and House agreed to last week. It remains unclear whether Senate Democrats have the 60 votes needed to fend off any Republican efforts to block voting on the measure.
There are 59 Democrats and independents who caucus with the Democrats in the Senate. Two Democrats, Sens. Maria Cantwell of Washington and Russell Feingold of Wisconsin, voted against the financial- overhaul bill when it was on the Senate floor in May, and they aren’t expected to change their votes.
That means Democrats would only have 56 of the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture on the bill. Four Republicans, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Olympia Snowe of Maine, Susan Collins of Maine, and Charles Grassley of Iowa, voted for the bill in May, and Democrats would need the four to back it, in order to get exactly 60 votes. Brown on Friday said he was concerned about a bank assessment Democrats added to the bill last week, and his vote is now considered more uncertain.
Democrats are hoping to have the financial-overhaul package agreed to by a “conference” of lawmakers last week up for a vote in the House of Representatives on Tuesday and possibly up for a vote in the Senate as soon as Thursday. If the measure passes both chambers, President Barack Obama could sign it into law before July 4. If the measure isn’t passed by then, it likely won’t see votes until at least the middle of July.
3 comments:
Good riddance to bad rubbish.
I'm just waiting for the stories to start coming out now that the old reprobate has finally died. I've heard jaw-dropping stuff about this slimeball and will be interested to hear how much of it was true.
May his grave be infected by the "race mongrels" he feared.
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