Petty is the key word here. These old geezer conservatives hate people more than they do taxes.
sandyh | 11.15.09 - 11:40 pm | #

It's astounding that they'll go for billions and billions for war, though.
Barbi | 11.16.09 - 2:31 am | #

I thought you needed 41 Senators to block a bill (or at least needed not to have 60 support moving it forward.)

If one Senator can block a bill that the other 99 support then no wonder nothing gets done in the Senate.
Eli_Blake | 11.18.09 - 7:13 pm | #

I'm sorry, Eli. I should have added this, which helps explain:

GOP Senator Tom Coburn using secret hold to block bill on veterans benefits

We always knew "support the troops" didn't really mean anything to Republicans. It was a slogan, nothing more. And, that's being confirmed by Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) who is using the anonymous "hold" procedure in the Senate to prevent action on a bill designed to support veterans. Usually, these "holds" are secret, but the veterans have outed Coburn:

Thirteen major military and veterans groups have joined forces to try to force one senator — Republican Tom Coburn of Oklahoma — to release a hold that he has placed on a major veterans benefits bill.

Coburn has been identified by Senate aides as the lawmaker preventing consideration of S 1963, the Veterans’ Caregiver and Omnibus Health Benefits Act of 2009, by using an informal but legal practice of putting a hold on a bill.