amendment

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Abortion Rights Victory in Florida Could Have 'Massive Implications'

Amendment to enshrine abortion access has enough signatures for 2024 ballot, pending other ruling

(Newser) - Voters in Ohio , Kansas , and other states have opted to enshrine abortion rights in their respective constitutions, and Florida may be next. The Tampa Bay Times reports that proponents have secured more than enough signatures to place on the 2024 ballot a constitutional amendment that would unravel the state's...

Ohio Pot Vote Could Make Nick Lachey Very Rich

But critics of legalization amendment say it would create a growers' monopoly

(Newser) - Ohio pot advocate Don Wirtshafter has been an enthusiastic smoker for nearly 50 years. But as his state heads to the polls Tuesday to vote on Issue 3, a constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana for both medical and recreational use, he says he won't vote for it, the New ...

Romney Wrangles With Town-Hall Questioner

Two argue over federal budget-balancing

(Newser) - In a town-hall kerfuffle caught on tape, Mitt Romney trades heated words with a questioner in discussing a balanced-budget amendment he supports, notes Mediaite . When the questioner suggests that Romney is telling his audience “what (it) wants to hear,” adding that it’s “shameful” to pretend we...

GOP's New Crusade: Balanced Budget Amendment

Some Democrats amenable to the plan, say insiders

(Newser) - Emboldened after the debt limit fight, Republicans are shifting energies to their quest for a balanced budget amendment—but such a measure faces major hurdles, the New York Times reports. John Boehner has called on congressional Republicans to spend their August recess convincing the public of the importance of such...

GOP Support Grows Ahead of START Vote

Scott Brown is on board; Corker, Gregg likely

(Newser) - Things were looking bleak yesterday for the New START arms treaty—but that was yesterday. Following a closed-door meeting, GOP Sen. Scott Brown said he’d vote for the treaty and two other Republicans said they would likely support it, giving supporters enough votes to push it through as voting...

Coburn Forces Hours-Long Reading to Stall Debate
Coburn Forces Hours-Long Reading to Stall Debate
SENATE games

Coburn Forces Hours-Long Reading to Stall Debate

Parliamentary maneuver could take 8 hours or more

(Newser) - The Senate GOP has stalled floor debate on the health care reform bill with a demand that the entirety of a 767-page amendment be read aloud, a process that could take between 8 and 12 hours. The amendment’s sponsor, Independent Bernie Sanders, called the move by Tom Coburn a...

GOP: Congress, Prez Must Go On Public Option
GOP: Congress, Prez Must Go On Public Option
bluff and counterbluff

GOP: Congress, Prez Must Go On Public Option

If there is one, which we hope there isn't. Good idea, say Dems.

(Newser) - In the circus that is the Senate these days, a couple of anti-public-option Republicans—Tom Coburn and David Vitter—rolled out an amendment to the health care bill Friday requiring members of Congress to enroll in any such plan that might come to pass. When Dems didn’t object—Sherrod...

Pelosi Won't Put Final Health Care Bill Online

Speaker leaves door open for last-minute amendments

(Newser) - The Weekly Standard is beating up on Nancy Pelosi for backing out of her promise, made to a Standard reporter in September, to put the final House health care bill online 72 hours before it’s voted on. With the vote expected tomorrow, It seems Pelosi and the Standard have...

GOP Indulges in Health Amendment Free-for-All

(Newser) - Reasoned debate is all well and good, but the more than 300 amendments offered to the health care reform bill by finance committee Republicans are “dangerously close to a parody,” Dana Milbank writes. Or maybe they’re already there. Take Orrin Hatch’s request for “transition relief...

564 Amendments Await Baucus Bill Next Week

(Newser) - Well, this should zip right along: Members of both parties on the Senate Finance Committee have drafted no fewer than 564 amendments to be considered when the panel takes up chairman Max Baucus' health care bill next week, reports Bloomberg. Expect to hear the phrases "public option"—Democrat...

2 Words Could Clean Up 'Death Panel' Mess: Parker

'A simple amendment' would put debate to rest

(Newser) - Sarah Palin went way too far in suggesting “death panels” would kill her loved ones—but  the wording of the House health bill authorizing payment for end-of-life consultations is worrisome, writes Kathleen Parker in the Washington Post. “A simple amendment would do much to cool tempers.” The...

Senate Dems Bring Down Concealed-Weapons Measure

Schumer leads effort to quash Thune amendment

(Newser) - Senate Democrats today narrowly defeated a measure that would have let concealed weapons be transported across state lines, the Hill reports. The amendment, which required 60 votes to pass according to a prior, bipartisan agreement, went down 58-39. Sen. Charles Schumer and majority whip Dick Durbin fought hard to drum...

12 Stories