Visual.ly put together this representation of "friends" in the U.S. Senate based on their similar votes, which ran in Yahoo! News. As you drag the slider to the left and right you can see the effects of partisanship and where clusters break up and come together. Clicking on any of the dots will show you the number of votes they have in common with each party.
Not sure you can make huge claims from it, but it's an interesting visual nonetheless.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Media Politics on the Hill
A few points of style:
The new environment (Malecha, 26):
Mail, E-mail, and Congress
Congress and Social Media
"Branding" and parties in Congress
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Words uttered on talk radio and cable TV, once considered almost entirely disposable, are now etched onto servers around the world. They can end up on sites such as YouTube where they are viewed time and again by people well beyond the target audience. They can be redirected to potential critics via e-mail, as happened in this case. In other words, they live on and can come back to haunt the people responsible for them.Newt talks about the new Washington of the 1980s.
Mail, E-mail, and Congress
Congress and Social Media
"Branding" and parties in Congress
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Monday, March 25, 2013
Funny Vote-A-Rama Highlights
Harry Potter metaphors...NCAA Basketball...Patty Murray using her skills as a former preschool teacher to control the Senate...Sen Wyden on an IPad. Check out this article which details some of the behind-the-scenes and more entertaining moments of the vote-a-rama. Also check out this article detailing Sen. Cruz and Sen. Landrieu arguing over China's abortion policies (not as interesting as the first article, but dramatic considering the argument occurred at 4am).
Caitlin Halligan: Judicial Nominations Meet Senate Procedures
On Friday, the White House withdrew the nomination of Caitlin Halligan, President Obama's judicial nominee for the DC Court of Appeals. This was actually Halligan's second nomination. Her recent retraction marks the second time her nomination was blocked by Senate Republicans. Senate Republicans were disgruntled over Halligan's previous work with then-New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo that aimed to hold gun manufacturers legally responsible to some degree over gun-related violence in New York, which angered the NRA.
Halligan's failed nomination(s) joins the pile of blocked or stalled nominations that come at a very problematic time, where judicial vacancies have become an increasing problem throughout the country. It also gives us a great example of different Senate procedures that come into play that we've been discussing in class. In a slightly more dated article in The New Yorker, Jeffrey Toobin highlights some Senate mechanisms that are pivotal in cases of delayed or blocked judicial nominations, most often done by the minority party:
Halligan's failed nomination(s) joins the pile of blocked or stalled nominations that come at a very problematic time, where judicial vacancies have become an increasing problem throughout the country. It also gives us a great example of different Senate procedures that come into play that we've been discussing in class. In a slightly more dated article in The New Yorker, Jeffrey Toobin highlights some Senate mechanisms that are pivotal in cases of delayed or blocked judicial nominations, most often done by the minority party:
- The Filibuster and Cloture: Unlike the old-fashioned filibuster Senator Rand Paul used during John Brennan's confirmation vote, the filibuster that killed Halligan, along with many other judicial nominations, was the threat of a filibuster by Senate Republicans. Despite obtaining a majority of votes for consideration, Halligan failed to achieve the 60 votes necessary to enact cloture, with 41 Senate Republicans voting against.
- Unanimous Consent: Toobin notes how because the Senate calendar operates on unanimous consent, Senate Republicans must agree to addressing judicial nominations, in which they can take their time in doing or refuse to do, stalling or preventing the nomination from coming to a vote.
- The Nuclear Option: Toobin notes how Senate Democrats were also guilty of halting and blocking President George W. Bush's judicial nominees through the same use of the filibuster. When Senate Republicans grew frustrated with the obstruction of the Democrats, they threatened to force a rules change that would limit the filibuster through sheer number of party-line votes, otherwise known as the nuclear option. In 2005, the bipartisan "Gang of 14" reached a truce that prevented the option.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Hey everyone,
Please follow me, Debbie Stabenow, on Twitter. My twitter handle is "DtotheStabs" (you would really be surprised at how many different names involving Debbie Stabenow were already taken). Please do not get me confused with the twitter accounts of Sen. Debbie Stabenow or Debbie Stabenow because that would be very problematic. See you Monday.
Please follow me, Debbie Stabenow, on Twitter. My twitter handle is "DtotheStabs" (you would really be surprised at how many different names involving Debbie Stabenow were already taken). Please do not get me confused with the twitter accounts of Sen. Debbie Stabenow or Debbie Stabenow because that would be very problematic. See you Monday.
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