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Without sixty votes in the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) would not be able to invoke cloture, or cut off debate. Anything short of sixty would allow a filibuster and doom Obama’s health care plan. The present 60-vote majority is artificial, the result of undemocratic means. Consider how three of these votes came to be: Roland Burris- Appointed by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich just prior to his removal, Democratic leaders including Harry Reid pledged that he would never be seated. Barack Obama, along with other Democratic officials in Illinois, called for a special election to fill the seat. When...

Congress has been working on a health care bill for the better part of a year. The coverage of the legislation inevitably takes on a day-to-day, blow-by-blow account of the political machinations in Washington, D.C. The public option is in, then it's out, then maybe it's in with a trigger, then it's out, then maybe Medicare is expanded to include some as young as 55, then that's out. The legislation will have changed more between the time we write this and you read it. Anything to come up with 60 votes in the Senate in a big hurry. What's easy...

Al Franken joked about rape in a skit on SAturday Night Live while he was a writer on the show. EXCERPT "MN GOP Hits Franken Over Rape Joke In 1995 Article" ST. PAUL (AP) Democrat Al Franken's past work again complicated his present bid to become a U.S. senator, when Republicans on Thursday circulated 13-year-old quotes of him joking about rape while co-writing a skit for "Saturday Night Live............"

Since I posted some audio of Senator Al Franken (D-MN) sending me to his press secretary recently, Mr. Franken has acted up quite a bit on the Senate floor in an unusual fashion for a freshman senator. He had an intense exchange with Senator John Thune (R - S.D.), the number four Republican in the GOP leadership, on Monday after Mr. Franken introduced a motion for the health care bill to change an excise tax to surtax(video below).

Sorry for the vanity folks, but I stumbled across this video last night. It's a couple years old, before Al Franken was shaming the state of Minnesota as a Senator. An excerpt from a public forum featuring he and Ann Coulter, I think this so perfectly encapsulates Franken's weaselly methods in his attempts to smear conservatives as "liars," that it deserved addressing. Please take a few minutes to watch. Then, take a minute to read the ACTUAL ARTICLE by Thomas Friedman in question, and come back for my commentary. Now, did you notice what Franken did there? He started in...

A hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday before Judge Nina Gershon on whether Congress can ban federal funds to ACORN. Rep. Darrell Issa, ranking Republican on the House Government Reform committee, released this statement: “Next week, the federal government has the opportunity to vigorously defend what the President signed and Congress overwhelmingly passed—a bipartisan recognition that ACORN is not fit to receive federal funds to perform duties on behalf of the American people. After hearing the government's case, hopefully Judge Gershon will reconsider her previous ruling and the taxpayers will no longer be forced to subsidize this criminal organization." Last...

Former Dem V.P. nominee gets cut off by comedy clown!It's a sign of just how bad things have gotten in the Senate under Democrat rule: [VIDEO AT SITE] These new Dems have no respect for the traditions and rules of the Senate. They deserve no respect in return!(Excerpt) Read more at floppingaces.net ...

Democratic Sen. Al Franken took the unusual step Thursday of shutting down Sen. Joe Lieberman on the Senate floor. Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, currently is the target of liberal wrath over his opposition to a government-run insurance plan in the health care bill. Franken was presiding over the Senate Thursday afternoon as Lieberman spoke about amendments he planned to offer to the bill. Lieberman asked for an additional moment to finish -- a routine request -- but Franken refused to grant the time. "In my capacity as the senator from Minnesota, I object," Franken said. "Really?" said Lieberman. "OK." Lieberman...

Democratic Sen. Al Franken took the unusual step Thursday of shutting down Sen. Joe Lieberman on the Senate floor. Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, currently is the target of liberal wrath over his opposition to a government-run insurance plan in the health care bill. Franken was presiding over the Senate Thursday afternoon as Lieberman spoke about amendments he planned to offer to the bill. Lieberman asked for an additional moment to finish — a routine request — but Franken refused to grant the time. "In my capacity as the senator from Minnesota, I object," Franken said. "Really?" said Lieberman. "OK."

WASHINGTON – Democratic Sen. Al Franken has taken the unusual step of shutting down Sen. Joe Lieberman on the Senate floor. Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, currently is the target of liberal wrath over his opposition to a government-run insurance plan in the health care bill. Franken was presiding over the Senate Thursday afternoon as Lieberman spoke about amendments he planned to offer to the bill. Lieberman asked for an additional 30 seconds to finish — a routine request — but Franken refused to grant the time.

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) sparred sharply on the Senate floor Monday evening, a departure from the usually dormant speeches in the august chamber. Franken said he was struck by a speech in which he said Thune had refused to highlight when benefits to the health care bill would kick in and instead emphasized the negative parts of the bill. “You know, again, we are entitled to our own opinions, we’re not entitled to our own facts,” Franken said, his booming voice rising. And in a reference to a chart Thune held up, Franken said: “If...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken today urged the Senate to pass an extension of unemployment and COBRA benefits before the end of the year, citing the 10 percent unemployment rate and the annual rise in heating bills coming this winter. The Minnesota Democrats joined 22 other senators who signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, asking for a vote on the issue by Dec. 31. A 65 percent subsidy of premium costs for those with COBRA benefits, authorized by the stimulus bill, is set to expire at the end of the year.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama's choice for a top job with the Treasury Department is having tax problems. A congressional report says Obama's nominee for undersecretary of the Treasury for international affairs, Lael Brainard, was late in paying real estate taxes in 2005, 2006 and 2007. The report by the Senate Finance Committee staff also challenges the accuracy of a deduction Brainard claimed for running an office from her home.

Regardless of how lively an election season might be, a new study shows that more 3.3 million voters on current registration rolls across the country are dead. Another 12.9 million remain on voter registration lists in an area where they no longer live. The analysis was conducted by the Aristotle International Inc., a technology company specializing in political campaigns, developing software and databases for politicians. In total that means about 8.9 percent of all registered voters fall under the category of “deadwood” voters on the rolls, the term for voters who should no longer be eligible to vote in a...

KSTP investigated absentee ballot inconsistencies and reported their findings last night, and you can watch the video here. Many cities put up roadblocks to their investigation request -- and Bloomington threatened felony charges against KSTP if they reported on their findings. The most damning part is Sec. of State Mark Ritchie's denial of problems and response when asked to look at ballot envelopes and comment. "Ritchie first told us he could not read our examples, then said he wouldn't look at photocopies of absentee ballot envelopes." A 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS investigation has found that mistakes made with absentee ballots in...

Sometimes the dems know no bottom to the cesspool within which they live. Franken offers an amendment to the Defense appropriations bill. It stems from the awful case of Jamie Leigh Jones who was allegedly sexually abused while working for contractor Halliburton/KBR in Iraq.

If the next election is the first time you will vote there is something called a "spoiled ballot" and they will not count your if challanged and it is spoiled. In Minnesota, incumbant Republican Norm Coleman lost to radio talk show host Al Franken in a very close election. The election was decided by a few hundred votes. Each of the states have their own rules about conducting elections. In Florida the Bush v. Gore election was close and "voter intent" seemed to be the Florida standard with the hanging chad. Take a look at this ballot. Here the voter's...

Theresa Marie Barslou said she voted for the first time in the November 2008 elections. Nearly a year later, her vote has come back to haunt her. Barslou, 29, of St. Paul, illegally voted as a felon on probation, states a Ramsey County criminal complaint charging her with felony voter fraud. Barslou was arrested Monday after she failed to appear last month at a court hearing. She was released the next day on $3,000 bail. Barslou is one of the 23 felons charged with voter fraud in Ramsey County since the 2008 elections, County Attorney Susan Gaertner said. During a...

Homeland Security: Provisions of the law that spared New York another 9/11 are set to expire Dec. 31. So why do Democrats want to gut this law and remove the immunity telecom companies have for helping protect America? To borrow a British expression from World War II, it was a very near thing. The capture, arrest and indictment of 24-year-old Afghan immigrant Najubullah Zazi before he could set off bombs made from store-bought chemicals prevented a tragedy of potentially devastating proportions. It wouldn't have happened if the critics of Patriot Act had their way. The capture of Zazi was made...

A conservative group and several gubernatorial candidates are asking Democratic Attorney General Lori Swanson to investigate ACORN over voter registrations and other activities in Minnesota. Minnesota Majority president Jeff Davis says a felon convicted of registering illegally in Ramsey County claimed an ACORN canvasser helped her. He was joined at a news conference on Wednesday by a handful of GOP candidates and one Democrat.

Did ACORN Elect Al Franken? Remember Franken won his seat by a little more than 300 votes and ACORN might have helped Franken to get his "landslide" margin in one of two ways,in the actual counting of the votes, or the new voters registered by ACORN... Minneapolis Secretary of State Mark Ritchie was the guy in charge of counting the votes. Richie a former Community Organizer, was elected two years ago with help from former self-described Nazi Collaborator George Soros and ACORN. In 2006, the Minnesota ACORN Political Action Committee endorsed Ritchie and donated to his campaign. According to the...

Here's a shocker. ACORN may have helped Al Franken steal the US senate seat from Minnesota. The Minnesot Star-Tribune reported: But ACORN does have a special place in its heart for at least one prominent Minnesota politician. Last year, it showered praise on Al Franken, endorsing his run for the U.S. Senate. Franken returned the esteem: "I'm thrilled and honored to receive this endorsement," he gushed in a press release. He added that he was "more motivated than ever to work with ACORN."

Unless you've been stuck in the Gobi Desert, you've read the headlines about the scandal at ACORN -- the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Earlier this month, ACORN staffers in four states were caught giving not-so-sage advice to two journalists, posing as a pimp and a prostitute, on how to defraud the government, cheat on taxes and wangle a mortgage for a home-based brothel. ACORN was once the darling of Democrats for its support of every item on the left-wing wish list. Suddenly, its employees can hardly find a Democrat who will answer their phone calls. When the...

Rasmussen Reports has just released a new approval/disapproval poll from the late great state of Minnesota, a state which has elected Jesse Ventura and Al Franken into statewide & federal offices, perhaps the two largest disgraces to elected office in history. Anyhow, polling data does not go well for Senator Franken, who is entering his third month in the United States Senate, after ballots mysteriously we're found to give him the edge over Republican Senator Norm Coleman. The polling data is not good for Franken, as he has to be the least liked new Senator in the United States of...

Tony Trimble couldn't catch a break. As one of the lead attorneys for Sen. Norm Coleman following Election Day, he hadn't stopped working in months. And as he watched the Republican's lead over Democrat Al Franken slip steadily and then finally vanish in the largest recount in American history, he marveled at how everything seemed to be breaking Franken's way. Clerical corrections, countless one- and two-vote shifts from sloppily filled-out ballots, major judicial rulings. They all added to Franken's vote quarry. In the closing days of the recount, Trimble watched, dumbstruck, as 933 rejected absentee ballots — once the domain...

After a banner bounce-back year for Democrats in 2006, many believed the 2008 Senate race was theirs to lose. In 2002, when Coleman was elected with Bush's blessing, 70 percent of Minnesotans approved of the president's performance. By 2008, 70 percent disapproved. A hurricane had flooded New Orleans in 2005, and two years later at the other end of the Mississippi River, an interstate bridge in Minneapolis had collapsed into those waters. Polls showed the state of Minnesota, like the rest of the country, wanted change. The campaign got personal early. Already being knocked around for his jokes and writings,...

The state's judges are paying tribute to the three-judge panel that decided the winner of Minnesota's disputed U.S. Senate election between Democrat Al Franken and Republican Norm Coleman. The Minnesota District Judges Foundation has presented its Community Service Award to Judges Elizabeth Hayden of Stearns County, Kurt Marben of Pennington County and Denise Reilly of Hennepin County. It says they displayed "the highest levels of professionalism, public service, and judicial independence and integrity." The three judges declared Franken the winner by 312 votes in April. The Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed the panel's decision in June. Coleman decided not to appeal...

In a pair of crowded, cluttered, work-ripened hotel suites, campaign workers quietly tapped at their laptops and could hardly believe what they saw. The roars and tears of supporters of Barack Obama and John McCain had long subsided. It was the early morning after Election Day 2008, time for them to either celebrate or drown their sorrows. But these stalwarts of the bitter red-vs.-blue U.S. Senate battle between Norm Coleman and Al Franken stayed at their posts and nervously watched the numbers. Which were frozen. After two years and $40 million, Coleman and Franken were tied and headed into overtime....

On the linked video, Al Franken engages in a debate about healthcare with a group of tea partiers. Based on the title and the reaction from his supporters (link, link), I'm going to guess Franken won the debate handily. 1. While the people in the video might have valid concerns, perhaps it would be smarter if they had put their egos aside and let someone else express those concerns to Franken. Franken is a politician and he's familiar with the legislation; a trial lawyer who's familiar with the legislation might have been able to show how Franken is wrong about...

What was supposed to be a swanky Summit Avenue fundraiser for Sen. Al Franken on Thursday was abruptly canceled when Franken discovered that the host of the event served a year in prison for swindling some northern Minnesotans. Mark Erjavec, who describes himself as an entrepreneur specializing in distressed real estate, may be a newcomer to the political scene but he is well known in the courtroom. Besides the 1997 theft by swindle conviction, the 33-year-old Erjavec has faced over $100,000 in tax liens and civil judgments. General Electric sued him for copyright infringement. His personal website has a link...

Sen. Al Franken holds his first meetings in the Twin Cities that focus on health care reform. The first meeting Wednesday brings together faith leaders, union representatives, health and welfare groups and consumer advocates to talk about what they want for Minnesota as the federal government grapples with policy changes. The second discussion Wednesday focuses on women's health issues, with an array of women's groups on the agenda. Franken is a Democrat who took office seven weeks ago after a lengthy unresolved election.

Senator Franken, being an upstanding member of Congress, is spending the recess meeting with constituents and discussing the hot topic of health care. That’s commendable. Except, I noticed something quite peculiar about an email I came across this morning from Franken.

Franken's staff didn't tell media that today's meetings were private, but do tell how Franken plans to discuss health care with his constituents. Twila Brase updated us: I have just talked with Sen. Franken's office which informed me that the press release about the meetings was misunderstood by the media. The roundtable meetings are closed to the public. Franken will be meeting this afternoon with a select group of people from the health care industry. When asked about town hall meetings for the rest of the public, I was told that Sen. Franken will be meeting people at the State...

Constituents of Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann have two chances this week to discuss pressing issues with her, including a public forum on health care. The 6th District Republican will be in St. Cloud today to tackle questions about Social Security. The seminar is geared toward women and Bachmann says she'll be joined by an official from the Social Security Administration. On Thursday, Bachmann heads to Lake Elmo for the health care forum. She'll be accompanied by Congressman Michael Burgess, a fellow Republican from Texas who has a background in medicine.

Politics: The mantra from 2000's presidential recount doesn't seem to apply to the 2008 Minnesota Senate race. As the GOP incumbent pursues his court challenge, Democrats want the game called due to leading.This week in St. Paul, Minn., Republican Sen. Norm Coleman got to present his case of a stolen election before a three-judge panel, the last step in a very long and winding contest. The Democrats get to conduct an exercise in hypocrisy in this "election contest," as it's called, that may last three to four weeks. "Let every vote count" was the rallying cry after Al Gore lost...

Politics: Should the election law in Massachusetts be changed to keep Ted Kennedy's seat filled and get ObamaCare passed? As in Minnesota and Illinois, the voters might lose again.Recognizing his own mortality and waging a valiant battle against brain cancer, Kennedy has written a letter to Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, state Senate President Theresa Murray and state House Speaker Robert DeLeo asking them to change the law so his seat might be filled immediately until a special election could be held. His letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Boston Globe, does not specially mention his illness or...

When politicians first take office, they usually ride on a bubble of good will among their constituents. Consider it the triumph of hope over experience; after an election, most people hope they will do well even if they didn’t support the winner in the election. With that in mind, Eric Ostermeier looks at Al Franken’s initial job-approval ratings after a month in office, and finds that bubble missing entirely: A newly released SurveyUSA poll conducted only two weeks into Franken’s tenure finds Minnesotans unsurprisingly divided about how he is conducting himself as their Senator in Washington. The poll finds 43...

Minnesota Senator Al Franken made a stop at the Mayo Clinic today as the U.S. Senate works on its own health care reform bill. One of the more heavily debated issues when it comes to reform is that so-called public option or government run health care. So today, we found out where Minnesota’s Senators Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar stand on that very topic. Minnesota Senator Al Franken walked into the Kahler Grand Hotel this afternoon after touring Mayo Clinic. Health care reform is one of the biggest domestic issues facing the federal government right now and Franken was quick...

Americans across the country have noticed that their politicians have gone missing during the health care debate. They are nowhere to be found. So we here at The Big Feed feel compelled to do our part. We have decided to sponsor the search effort for one of those senators. (Picture) Here's the list of the rest of the missing politicians, via Hot Air: * Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO) * Rep. Paul Hodes (D-NH) * Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH) * Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) * Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) * Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) * Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) * Rep....

Color of Change has an axe to grind with Glenn Beck -- and it's personal. The extremist racial grievance group isn't happy that Beck did several news packages on Van Jones, President Obama's controversial green jobs czar who describes himself as a communist. [...] Jones is a founding board member of Color of Change, but [the group] doesn't want you to know that. Maybe having an avowed America-hating radical on the group's board is bad public relations. The group deleted references to Jones on its "about" page. [...] The old page still exists in the Google cache. [...] The 501(c)(4)...

As the national health care debate grows more strident, members of Minnesota's congressional delegation say constituents are swamping their switchboards and e-mail in-boxes to weigh in on the issue. Despite a full plate of other issues facing the Obama administration and Congress -- from the still-sickly economy to dual wars overseas -- health care trumps them all. Fully half the calls made to Democratic Sen. Al Franken's office are on health care. It's also Topic One in the office of U.S. Second District Rep. John Kline, where more than 3,000 calls, letters and e-mails have poured in, with most running...

Just weeks into his Senate term, Al Franken's portfolio compares favorably to any of the Senate's freshman members. He loves policy. He has signed on as co-sponsor to a half dozen bills, asked thoughtful questions of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, and immersed himself in a thorny debate over health care reform. Before he was seated, Franken and his aides intoned he would take a path well-trod by already-famous Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama before him. The idea is to work hard, pick a few issues and do your best to drown your celebrity by focusing on the...

It took four years of George Bush’s second term to push Republicans to a recent nadir in registration in Minnesota. It only took six months of Barack Obama to push the GOP back into parity with the DFL, the state’s Democratic Party. Eric Ostermeier at Smart Politics looks at the suddenly-stronger Republican Party and draws at least one of the correct conclusions: The SurveyUSA poll finds 34 percent of Minnesotans now identify as Republicans - the largest percentage enjoyed by the GOP in 63 surveys conducted by the organization dating back to its inaugural tracking poll in May 2005, when...

Five years after he put his money behind the Swift Boat ads that helped tanked John Kerry’s presidential campaign, Senate Democrats gave T. Boone Pickens a warm welcome at their weekly policy lunch Thursday. Or at least most of them did. Kerry skipped the regularly scheduled lunch; his staff said the Massachusetts Democrat “was unable to attend because he had a long scheduled lunch with his interns and pages.” Sen. Al Franken managed to make time for the lunch – but then let Pickens have it afterward. According to a source, the wealthy oil and gas magnate and author of...

As predicted by many, it appears the meltdown of the most emotionally unstable member of the United States Senate is finally underway.After being a good boy during the Sonia Sotomayor confirmation hearings, the newly fraudulently installed Sen. Al Franken (D-ACORN), couldn't resist letting T. Boone Pickens have it for funding those delightful Swift Boat ads that helped bury John Kerry's presidential prospects.The Politico reports According to a source, the wealthy oil and gas magnate and author of "The First Billion is the Hardest" stepped up to introduce himself to Franken in a room just off the Senate Floor after the...

The Census Bureau today is reporting what Minnesotans have long known and can be proud of: Minnesota's citizens consistently lead the nation in casting their ballots. Newly released census figures show that in the 2008 presidential election, Minnesota and the District Columbia led the nation in turnout with 75 percent. The national average was 63.6 percent. For the nation as a whole, about 131 million people reported voting in the 2008 presidential election, an increase of 5 million from 2004. The increase included about 2 million more black voters, 2 million more Hispanic voters and about 600,000 more Asian voters,...

This is a two-minute clip from Glenn's TV show yesterday, highlighting two of the most ABSURD moments from the Sotomayor hearing. It's too funny (and depressing) at the same time.

Sen. Al Franken got some chuckles at Judge Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing with a cheeky observation about the classic TV show "Perry Mason": "It amazes me that you wanted to become a prosecutor based on the show, because in 'Perry Mason' the prosecutor on that show lost every week" except for one episode. Grilled further, Sotomayor couldn't remember which episode the famed defense attorney came up short — and neither could Franken. ------------------------- You can see a video of the genius in action HERE.

Here is video today from the Senate Judiciary Committee's confirmation hearing for Sonia Sotomayor, where new Minnesota Sen. Al Franken used his precious time and opportunity to talk with her about -- Perry Mason episodes! The Senate has a bright new bulb on display! . . . . (Watch Video)

We've never had an Official U.S. Senate Pornographer before, though pornographic behavior is frequently the entertainment provided to the public by the world's oldest deliberative body. So Al Franken, the answer to Harry Reid's prayer, should fit right in. Some of the Democrats can't wait to see what mischief they can do. "With the Minnesota recount complete," Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York said after the Minnesota robbery was completed, "it is now clear that Al Franken won the election." (Keep reading, it gets better)