The Senate Convenes: 2:00pmET
Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each. There will be no roll call votes during Monday’s session of the Senate. However, the Majority Leader hopes to reach an agreement to begin consideration of S.223, the Federal Aviation Administration Act.
Tell Sens. Merkley, Udall and Harkin: Thank you for showing what real leadership looks like on filibuster reform.
http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=6896&id=15715-2591629-a2G1Mzx&t=1
These three champions of filibuster reform deserve recognition for their leadership.
Clicking here will automatically add your name to this petition to Sens. Tom Udall, Tom Harkin and Jeff Merkley:
“Thank you for showing what real leadership looks like on filibuster reform. We support you in the continuing fight to fix the Senate.”
The end game for Senate rules reform has become clear, and it’s not pretty.
Despite the best efforts of Senators Merkley, Tom Udall and Harkin, in the near future we’re likely to see only a weak, bipartisan gesture towards Senate reform. At most there will be a few minor tweaks to how the Senate is run without any attempt to address its underlying dysfunction.
While disappointed, we cannot and will not stop fighting for reform as long as the Senate remains a place where good legislation goes to die. The stakes are simply too high.
And as we recommit to this fight, we should recognize the tremendous effort by Democratic champions for filibuster reform, particularly Sens. Tom Udall, Jeff Merkley and Tom Harkin to put this issue on the table.
Tell Sens. Merkley, Udall and Harkin: Thank you for showing what real leadership looks like on filibuster reform. Click here to automatically add your name to the petition.
http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=6897&id=15715-2591629-a2G1Mzx&t=9
By all accounts, the overwhelming majority of Senate Democrats supported the move known as the “Constitutional Option” to fix the filibuster and other Senate rules by majority vote. This would allow Democrats to change the rules with 51 votes.
However, the Constitutional Option was only available on the first “legislative day” of a new session of Congress (a technical term that does not correspond to a calendar day).
When the Senate adjourned on Tuesday night, the first legislative day ended, and the Democrats lost their only opportunity in this session of Congress to pass Senate rules reform with a simple majority vote. Any rules changes in this Congress now face a 2/3rds supermajority requirement to pass, and nothing significant will have the votes to overcome that threshold.
The inability of the Democrats to capitalize on this opportunity is a substantive failure for all of us who wanted to see Senate reform enacted any time soon. But even more than that, it demonstrates a monumental failure of leadership by the top Democrats in the Senate.
Democratic leaders like Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer have time and again blamed Republican filibusters for their inability to move the Democratic legislative agenda through the Senate.
This was a sentiment shared by their colleagues. Just a month ago, Democrats in the Senate were so fed up with the endless abuse of the filibuster by Republicans that every single returning senator in the Democratic caucus signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid about the need for rules reform.
However, a handful of reluctant Democrats (we’ve been told as few as six or seven) were unwilling to support the Constitutional Option. And Democratic leadership decided it would rather negotiate with Republicans than bring the caucus into line.
Nominally, these holdout Democrats were worried about setting a precedent for the Republicans — under the false notion that not taking action when they had the chance would make Republicans hesitant to change the rules to their own advantage when they eventually regain the majority.
In essence, these weak-kneed Democrats were willing to forfeit any chance at governance in the next two years, including giving up a reasonable chance to address the crisis in the judiciary and end the Republicans hostage-taking approach to judicial appointments. And all in the hopes that when the Republicans take power they will play nice.
The Democratic leadership faced a choice — they could whip the votes for the Constitutional Option and undercut the ability of the Republican minority to abuse the rules, or they could accept the decision by a fraction of their members to give the Republicans what is in effect a veto over the Democratic agenda. I think you know what they chose.
When push came to shove, rather than address the issue of filibuster reform head on, the Democratic leadership forfeited their ability to stop the abuses.
We now face a long-term effort to fix the Senate. Without buy-in from the leadership of the Democratic caucus, we’ll continue to need rank and file Democrats like Sens. Udall, Merkley and Harkin to join us in this fight.
And as they continue fighting, they need to know we support them.
Tell Sens. Merkley, Udall and Harkin: Thank you for showing what real leadership looks like on filibuster reform. Click here to automatically add your name to the petition.
http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=6897&id=15715-2591629-a2G1Mzx&t=10
Thank you for standing up for real filibuster reform.
Matt Lockshin, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working
Shannon Croteau was 11 classes away from a degree from Kaplan University Online (a for-profit college owned by The Washington Post Company) when she learned she was out of financial aid, $30,000 in debt, and here’s the kicker – the degree she was working toward would be worthless in her state of New Hampshire.
She was billed for loans she never signed up for, enrolled in classes she didn’t choose and, when she complained, was given the runaround by a succession of fake “loan officers” who wouldn’t tell her the truth, let alone their last names. “They lied and cheated,” Shannon told us at “It has ruined me.”
She’s just one of millions of students to have her financial life devastated by the fraudulent and predatory practices of for-profit colleges. Countless other Kaplan students have come forward, saying they’ve been charged for classes even after they’ve withdrawn, stalked by aggressive admissions officers or had their degrees held hostage if they don’t ante up “surprise” fees.
Shannon has started a petition on the Change website , demanding that the Washington Post Company stop preying on low-income students.
add your name.
It’s important to understand that for-profit colleges stay in business by taking billions from the federal government: During the 2008-09 academic year alone, for-profit colleges siphoned off $4.3 billion of federal student aid.
And if the students can’t pay those loans back, who cares? Students who attend for-profit colleges account for only 12% of America‘s college students, but they represent nearly half of student loan defaults. Those students will be hounded by creditors for the rest of their lives. Our tax dollars cover their debts. And the for-profit colleges never have to give back a dime.
They don’t care whether the students they recruit can afford college, or even whether those students will be able to use their degrees if and when they graduate. For these businesses, each new recruit represents a profit. Nothing more, nothing less.
But Shannon Croteau and a group of former Kaplan students are fighting back – and Change.org members can help. By raising the profile of these appalling institutions, we can pressure the Washington Post Company to get out of the business of preying on people’s dreams of better educations and better careers.
Please take action today to tell Washington Post Company Chairman Donald Graham to either stop the fraudulent practices or shut down Kaplan University:
Thanks for taking action,
Judith and the Change.org team
the Senate Convenes: 10:30amET January 27, 2011
Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will proceed to the consideration of several resolutions relating to changing the Senate rules, en bloc. There will be up to 8 hours for debate equally divided and controlled between the two Leaders or their designees. If all time is used, at approximately 7:15pm there will be a series of up to 5 roll call votes in relation to the following resolutions:
-The Senate will recess from 1pm until 2:15pmET to allow for the Democratic caucus meeting.
Votes:
Series of up to 5 roll call votes expected to begin around 4:30pm:
2: S.Res.28 (Wyden), to establish as a standing order of the Senate that a Senator publicly disclose a notice of intent to objecting to any measure or matter (60-vote threshold); Adopted: 92-4
3: S.Res.29 (Udall (CO)), to permit the waiving of the reading of an amendment if the text and adequate notice are provided (60-vote threshold); Adopted: 81-15
4: S.Res.8 (Harkin), amending the Standing Rules of the Senate to provide for cloture to be invoked with less than a three-fifths majority after additional debate (67-vote threshold); Not Adopted: 12-82
5: Now voting on S.Res.10 (Udall (NM)), as amended by Udall (NM) amendment #1, to improve the debate and consideration of legislative matters and nominations in the Senate (67-vote threshold);Not Adopted 44-51 and
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6: S.Res.21 (Merkley), as amended by Merkley amendment #2: (substitute) (67-vote threshold); Not Agreed to: 46-49
Unanimous Consent:
Adopted S.Res31: a resolution commemorating the 110th anniversary of the United States Army Nurse Corps.
Adopted S.Res.32: a resolution designating the month of February 2011 as “National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month”.
Adopted S.Res.33, a resolution recognizing the 150th anniversary of the admittance of the state of Kansas to the United States as the 34th state.
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The next meeting in the House is scheduled for Febuary 8, 2011
America is a community. We look out for each other as a nation. We build schools for our children, fund police for our safety and provide a secure retirement for our grandparents. We don’t toss aside our seniors when they need our help the most. Instead, each generation of American workers invests in the Social Security Trust Fund under the guarantee that someday when they retire or get too sick to work, the Trust Fund will be there for them.
Now, our community is coming under right-wing attack.
Republicans in the House are chomping at the bit to gut Social Security, threatening to raise the retirement age and cut benefits that millions of seniors depend on to survive. Claiming Social Security is in crisis is simply not true, but that doesn’t stop Republicans from saying it. Even with no changes to the system, reports show Social Security can pay out full benefits until at least 2037.
That’s why cutting benefits now, including raising the retirement age, must remain completely off the table. Social Security is the economic backbone of a retirement free from poverty and homelessness for aging and sick Americans no longer able to work. Raising the retirement age is a job-killer for young Americans while cuts to benefits will force the elderly to choose between food and rent. That is not the America we believe in and we will do everything in our power to stop cuts from happening.
But stopping cuts should not be good enough. We can do better.
Right now, Bill Gates doesn’t pay the same percentage of his income into Social Security that most Americans pay. Neither does Tom Cruise , Donald Trump or for that matter even President Obama. The reason why: the Social Security payroll tax is capped at $106,800 per individual costing tax payers billions of dollars in lost revenue from the people most able to invest. The cap risks the long-term health of the program while effectively giving wealthier Americans a tax cut.
Join me in calling on Congress to keep Social Security safe, stable, and secure for generations to come.
Please add your name now
http://act.democracyforamerica.com/go/435?akid=415.1612139.MVNkpw&t=2
This isn’t just any new campaign. We’re building off the success of our “Hands Off Social Security” campaign last year that helped defeat the reckless proposals created by the Deficit Commission. Now, we’re pulling out all the stops and going on offense.
It’s never been more important to stand up and fight than now. Right-wing Republicans are willing to do anything to tear down Social Security. They’re talking about shutting down the government, holding the debt ceiling hostage. Whatever it takes to destroy Social Security and prop up big banks, insurance companies and Wall Street, they’re going to do it.
We’re building on our biggest campaign ever to stop them and it starts today. The first step is to deliver a message that Americans are unified and standing strong against cuts while fighting for improvements. Can you help us get to 100,000 signatures by the end of the month to launch the campaign and send Congress and the President a message?
Yes! I want to join the campaign
http://act.democracyforamerica.com/go/435?akid=415.1612139.MVNkpw&t=2
We believe in a strong community that will keep Social Security safe, stable and secure for generations to come and we will stand up to make it happen.
Thank you for taking action today.
-Jim
Jim Dean, Chair
Be a Seed for Change 
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