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The Senate TPA Bill that was approved on May 22, 2015 has been available for public viewing for a few weeks now

The lead Senate sponsor of the pro-life bill that bans abortions from after 20-weeks of pregnancy up to the day of birth will introduce the legislation next week. Last month, the House of Representatives voted 242-184 for the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who is the lead sponsor of the pro-life measure in the Senate, has announced that he will introduce the measure next week. In a new letter to members of the Senate, released to LifeNews.com, the National Right to Life Committee is urging members of the Senate to sign on to...

With no debate and bipartisan support, the state Senate voted 26-8 on Tuesday to raise the legal age to buy tobacco in California from 18 to 21. --SNIP-- Even as tobacco companies are increasing their influence again at the Capitol, shedding a once-toxic reputation, SB 151 received unanimous support from Democrats, as well as yes votes from four Republican senators: Tom Berryhill of Twain Harte, Ted Gaines of Roseville, Janet Nguyen of Garden Grove and Jeff Stone of Temecula. If SB 151 is approved by the Assembly and Gov. Jerry Brown, California would be one of the first states in...

I was pondering and found that Vermont has a population of only 626,000 with 17% more Ds than Rs. If conservatives were to move there from another state, how many would be needed to flip the state red?

A bill that would allow key government surveillance programs to resume for now – after they were temporarily suspended Sunday – cleared another hurdle in the Senate on Tuesday.

The state Senate on Tuesday approved a hotly debated measure that would allow many immigrants in the country illegally to sign up for special healthcare programs that would offer the same benefits as Medi-Cal. “We are talking about our friends. We are talking about our neighbors and our families who are denied basic healthcare in the richest state of this union,” Lara told his colleagues.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The National Security Agency will lose its authority at midnight to collect Americans' phone records in bulk, after an extraordinary Sunday Senate session failed to produce an 11th-hour deal to extend the fiercely contested program.

The Senate convenes for a rare Sunday session to review key anti-terrorism programs under the Patriot Act, which are set to expire at midnight if the Senate fails to conduct a successful vote. Republican Senator Rand Paul has said he plans to derail the vote.

One of my ongoing political passions is the California US Senate race. For the greater part of my life, I have lived in a state languishing under two of the more liberal and/or worst US Senators in modern history. Dianne Feinstein, the senior senator by a few months, won her latest reelection by 30 points. She had deftly refused to debate her last opponent, arrogantly confiding to one reporter: “I’m running my own campaign.” Feinstein is barely tolerable compared to her ultra-liberal, retiring counterpart. Junior US Senator Barbara Boxer, a progressive figurehead, claimed that a “baby is a baby when...

In the past three weeks, U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson of Orlando has been on a verbal tear.. He has cussed out journalists for asking about his girlfriend's political ambitions and offshore investment funds, blasted the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee as "out-of-touch party bosses sipping cognac in a smoke-filled room" and called his ex-wife a gold digger. Such firebrand comments have been typical of his career. Now they have opened the potential for a bloody U.S. Senate primary fight next year with moderate U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy of Jupiter, who has quickly wrapped up endorsements from almost all of the party's...

Frankly, I'm tired of listening to Senator Clinton portray herself as being in the solutions business -- as boasting a nice, fat resume of accomplishments -- while mocking Barack Obama for being a rhetorical empty suit. Is she truly a beacon of experience? Because I couldn't think of a single piece of legislation that has her name stuck proudly on the front of it, no equivalent of McCain-Feingold, for example, I headed straight for her campaign website to see what glorious aspects of her vaunted experience I was missing. Actually, I was missing nothing. There is not one single example...

President Obama won a big victory for his trade agenda Friday with the Senate’s approval of fast-track legislation that could make it easier for him to complete a wide-ranging trade deal that would include 11 Pacific Rim nations. A coalition of nearly 50 Senate Republicans and more than 10 Democrats voted for Trade Promotion Authority late Friday, sending the legislation to the House for a difficult fight as Obama faces more entrenched opposition from Democrats. The Senate coalition fought off several attempts by opponents to undermine the legislation, defeating amendments that were politically popular but potentially poisonous to Obama’s bid...

GOP hacks like the loathsome Mitch McConnell and Weepy John Boehner seem to think the GOP needs to show it can “govern” — by which they mean push various pieces of crappy legislation through their respective chambers — before voters will trust them with the keys to the White House. Meanwhile, the public keep screaming: STOP OBAMA! The new Republican-led Congress is drawing harsh reviews from the public – including most Republicans. Just 23% of Americans say congressional Republicans are keeping the promises they made during last fall’s campaign, while 65% say they are not. Nearly four-in-ten (37%) say the...

President Barack Obama's signature Asian trade push cleared another hurdle in the U.S. Senate on Thursday after a knife-edge vote moved the White House closer to gaining the power to speed trade deals through Congress. Senators voted 62-38 to give Obama a major victory and set up a speedy decision on the "fast-track" trade negotiating authority the president needs to complete the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. TPP is seen as central to U.S. efforts to counter China's increasing economic muscle. Thirteen of 44 Democrats supported the legislation through the second Senate vote. Some supported moving ahead with fast track...

Early reports from observers at the Senate State Affairs committee in Texas have written that HB 910, the licensed open carry bill, has been passed and sent to the whole Senate.  From Texasguntalk.com: Texas Gun Legislation - 2015 84th Session Game on, they're back. Substitute approved.  It appears that the Dutton Amendment, which would prohibit police from stopping open carriers without probable cause, has been stripped out They removed the cop stop amendment. That's why they called it HB 910 Substitute.  The Senate might be able to pass an amendment returning HB 910 to the form passed by the...

Russ Feingold, the only US senator who voted against the 2001 Patriot Act, has announced he will launch a campaign to regain his seat in 2016. Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat, lost a re-election bid in 2010 to Ron Johnson, a Tea Party Republican. Feingold had served three terms. In a video released on Thursday and first obtained by the Huffington Post, Feingold says that “billionaires and big corporations are calling the shots” and “we need to get started fixing all this”. “Let’s fight together for change,” Feingold says. “That means helping to bring back to the US Senate strong independence,...

Senate Democrats reached a deal with Republicans Wednesday to move forward on U.S. President Barack Obama’s fast-track trade agenda, one day after pro-trade Senators stalled the bill by blocking debate, according to Politico and Roll Call. In exchange for their support on a vote for the fast-track trade authority, Democrats will get separate votes on two related bills on currency manipulation and duty-free status to U.S. imports of goods from certain sub-Saharan African countries. “We have to take some of these votes separately or we kill the underlying legislation,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., according to Politico. “It’s...

The trade deal was back on track Wednesday afternoon, just a day after hitting the skids in a Democratic filibuster, after leaders struck a bipartisan agreement to move forward. Democratic senators lost their bid to have four trade-related bills combined into a single measure, but did secure the chance to have votes related to all four bills, giving them the platform they wanted.

It took Republicans three tries to win control of the US Senate and consolidate Congress under their leadership. In the end, the landscape left by the 2008 Democratic triumph left them uniquely vulnerable in the sixth-year midterm of an unpopular presidency. The tables will turn in 2016, warns National Journal’s Charlie Cook, as the gains of 2010 will make Republicans highly vulnerable to losing control of the Senate once again: Today, The Cook Political Report puts two Republican-held seats in the “Toss Up” category—the open seat in Florida and Kirk in Illinois. That toss-up column will certainly grow as...

The Senate lent strong support today to a simply worded resolution calling on Iran to let four Americans come home. The bipartisan resolution from Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) passed 90-0. It states that it’s the policy of the United States that “the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran should immediately release Saeed Abedini, Amir Hekmati, and Jason Rezaian, and cooperate with the United States Government to locate and return Robert Levinson; and the United States Government should undertake every effort using every diplomatic tool at its disposal to secure their immediate release.” Washington Post bureau chief Rezaian, a California...