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Louisiana Senate Democrat Mary Landrieu is doubling down on her support for Obamacare. She says, if a vote for Obamacare were held tomorrow, she'd again vote to support the bill. "No more free riders. Everybody has to share responsibility so we can keep a healthy work force and keep it strong. And I can give you more information about it. If I had to vote for the bill again, I'd vote for it tomorrow. There are a lot of good things about this bill," said Landrieu. Landrieu is up for reelection in 2014.

Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander (R) Montana Senator Max Baucus (D) Alaska Senator Mark Begich (D) Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss (R) Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran (R) Maine Senator Susan Collins (R) Texas Senator John Cornyn (R) Massachusetts Senator William "Mo" Cowan (D) Illinois Senator Dick Durbin (D) Wyoming Senator Mike Enzi (R) Minnesota Senator Al Franken (DFL) South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham (R) North Carolina Senator Kay Hagan (D) Iowa Senator Tom Harkin (D) Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe (R) Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns (R) South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson (D) Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu (D) Michigan Senator Carl Levin (D) Kentucky...

Senator Mary Landrieu says she will be introducing legislation to make sure anyone who likes their health care plan can keep it if the wish under Obamacare, but she still supports the law. **SNIP** Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon said about 80,000 Louisiana policyholders will lose their policies because of Obamacare. Landrieu’s legislation would allow policyholders to keep their insurance as long as they kept paying their premiums.

When President Barack Obama appears at the Port of New Orleans tomorrow, he won't be joined by Louisiana's only statewide elected Democrat, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu. Landrieu will travel with Obama to New Orleans on the president's plane, Air Force One, but she doesn't plan to attend his speech about boosting exports. The U.S. Senator has a long-standing engagement in Lake Charles that takes place at the same time and she can't be in both places at once, staff said. Her absence at Obama's public appearance in Louisiana this year could raise some questions. Landrieu is expected to face a...

Senate Democrats vented their frustrations over the faulty rollout of the Affordable Care Act in a meeting Thursday with White House chief of staff Denis McDonough and other senior officials. “There’s a lot of frustration, everywhere,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said after the meeting. McDonough tried to assure angry senators he is personally taking charge of the disparate federal offices in charge of implementing the massive law, which has been plagued by technical errors. “He gave us the impression that he’s taking charge of the different elements and cracking the whip. He said to let him know if we had...

The firestorm over President Obama's "you can keep your plan" lie now threatens to singe vulnerable Democrats next year, so they're springing into action to try to force the administration to keep its word. Louisiana's Mary Landrieu -- an ardent Obamacare supporter -- is scrambling to undo one of the obvious consequences of a law she's voted to pass, fund, and retain: Sen. Mary Landrieu said Wednesday she would propose legislation to ensure all Americans could keep their existing insurance coverage under Obamacare, a fresh sign of the political problems the law’s rollout has created for congressional Democrats. Landrieu, a...

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Today, Senate Conservatives Fund (SCF) endorsed retired Air Force Colonel Rob Maness (R-LA) for the U.S. Senate in Louisiana. SCF Executive Director Matt Hoskins made the following statement. "Colonel Rob Maness is a constitutional conservative with a remarkable record of service to our country. He understands the value of our freedoms and will fight to repeal Obamacare and stop the massive spending, bailouts, and debt that are bankrupting our country. He offers voters a compelling choice over Senator Mary Landrieu because he's not a Washington insider. Colonel Maness is a principled leader who will make Louisiana proud."...

All of the congressional Republicans with viable 2016 presidential ambitions voted against the bill enacted overnight to reopen the government and increase federal borrowing. So did two members of the Senate GOP leadership and three members of the party’s House leadership. The opponents also included a majority of the Republicans who are chairmen of House committees and most of the members of the House GOP caucus who aspire to election to the Senate next year. While the Democrats were unified in their support for the legislation, a review of Wednesday night’s back-to-back roll calls in Congress reveals just how divided...

On Monday, Congress unanimously agreed to pass a standalone measure to pay the troops during the partial government shutdown, and President Obama signed the bill into law. But on Thursday morning, Senate majority leader Harry Reid blocked votes on House-passed bills to fund veterans, the military reserves and National Guard, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and national memorials. As Politico reported Thursday, during the 1995 government shutdown congressional Republicans and President Bill Clinton were able to agree to a "stopgap bill to assure funding for veterans, welfare recipients and the District of Columbia." Why won't Senate Democrats and President...

Louisiana Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy might be feeling some empathy for Mitt Romney after a challenger has compared his past health care bills to Obamacare. On Wednesday, Rob Maness, who is running against Cassidy in the 2014 Senate race, coined the term “Cassidycare,” attacking the congressman for bills he proposed as a state senator that bear similarities to some of the components of the Affordable Care Act. The two are challenging Sen. Mary Landrieu, a Democrat who has represented the Bayou State since 1997. “Mary Landrieu was the deciding vote on Obamacare through the Senate but Mr. Bill Cassidy, who...

Democratic senator Mary Landrieu says she's embarrassed to go to places in Europe like France and Spain because some Americans do not have health insurance. Landrieu, who is up for reelection in 2014, represents the state of Louisiana. “People are scared when they’re sick, and they’re much stronger when they’re well,” Landrieu said at a Friday lunch, according to the American Press. “It’s embarrassing to me to go to places like France and Spain ... and their workers all manage to have health insurance that can’t be taken away.” The report adds: Landrieu said Louisiana has “more working people that...

In 2005, then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist threatened to end the filibuster for judicial appointments by forcing a mid-session rule change on a majority vote, an act that would have ended two centuries of precedent. Before he could act, though, the Gang of 14 arose, led by Republican John McCain, to preserve the senatorial tradition, brokering a deal that left conservatives fuming by depriving Frist of his partisan majority. Eight years later, with Harry Reid threatening to take the same action on executive-branch appointments, where is that Old Gang of Ours? According to NBC, at least McCain might be riding...

Senate votes on climate change and the Keystone XL oil pipeline laid bare divisions among Democrats — and underscored why the White House, not Congress, will be where the critical climate decisions reside in President Obama’s second term.Several votes during the freewheeling debate over a nonbinding budget plan provided a political barometer of where the chamber, including vulnerable Democrats, stand on the topics. Advocates of the proposed pipeline scored a symbolic victory Friday when 62 lawmakers voted for an amendment backing the project to bring oil from Canadian tar sands projects to Gulf Coast refineries. Seventeen Democrats supported Sen....

With the usual note that the source is not reliable, the Washington Post reports big money Democratic donors such as Buzzfeed’s Kenneth Lerer have given the Democrats an ultimatum.. Pass gun controls or you get no more money from us On the other hand, if the Dimmos do pass gun control they will almost certainly suffer the consequences in both Congress and at the State level. Which puts Andy Jackson’s Jackass Partei on the horns of the dilemma. Briefly quoting the item linked above: Lerer also said he would be intensifying his contributions to Democratic Senate candidates in the next...

Stopping veteran Dem retirements is top priority for Reid, SchumerBy Alexander Bolton - 11/25/12 06:00 AM ET One of the highest immediate political priorities for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Democratic political guru Charles Schumer (N.Y.) is to persuade veteran colleagues not to retire in 2014. Democratic sources identify four senators as most likely to retire: Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). Another possible veteran retirement is Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.), who has yet to announce his decision. But Democratic aides expect him to run...

Will Senator Mary Landrieu vote to REPEAL ObamaCare? At first glance this sounds like a silly question because most of you will reply, "Of course she won't since she voted for it in the first place." However, now that the mandate has been relabeled as a tax by Roberts, Landrieu and the other Senators who voted for it, would now be reluctant to support the BIGGEST TAX INCREASE IN HISTORY. Their out might be that now that this is a tax increase, not a mandate, they no longer support it. Keep in mind that the senator whose vote was bought...

The New Louisiana Purchase: 'Obamacare's' $4.3 Billion BoondoggleBy Avik S. A. Roy, The Atlantic | National Journal – Tue, Mar 6, 2012 Do you remember the Louisiana Purchase? I don't mean Thomas Jefferson's acquisition of land from Napoleon, but rather Democrats' acquisition of support from Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Landrieu, critics believe, pledged her vote in exchange for gaining $200 million additional federal funds for Louisiana's Medicaid program. Except that, due to a drafting error, the law ended up giving Louisiana $4.3 billion in extra Medicaid funds -- more than twenty times...

Dem Keystone support creates tougher fight for Reid, ObamaBy Alexander Bolton - 12/16/11 04:08 PM ET Republicans want to jam Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on the Keystone oil sands pipeline and the Democratic leader will have a tough time resisting, given support within his caucus for the project. GOP leaders have made clear to Reid that they will not approve an extension of the payroll tax holiday unless it includes language to speed up construction of the pipeline. Senate Republicans estimate as many as 14 Senate Democrats support the project. Labor unions have also voiced strong backing, complicating...

The Senate rejected a Republican measure Wednesday to expand offshore oil and gas drilling in U.S. coastal waters, signaling a continued partisan stalemate over energy policy and, more specifically, how to respond to rising gas prices. The bill was defeated in a 42-57 vote. Sixty votes were required for passage. Five Republicans -- Alabama's Richard Shelby, Louisiana's David Vitter, Maine's Olympia Snowe, South Carolina's Jim DeMint, and Utah's Mike Lee -- voted against the bill.

TRENTON — Conservative activist James O'Keefe has released a video — titled "Teachers unions gone wild" — claiming to show undercover footage from a New Jersey Education Association leadership conference at the East Brunswick Hilton hotel. The video shows people identified as teachers playing arcade games on "their dime," chanting about kicking Gov. Chris Christie "in the toolbox," and talking about how hard it is to fire a tenured teacher. NJEA spokesman Steve Baker said O'Keefe is "completely and utterly discredited." "It’s James O’Keefe and that’s all you need to know," Baker said, citing O'Keefe's legal troubles in the past....