Republicans Blocking Obama Interior Pick

Update: Republicans blocked the confirmation of David Hayes by three votes, but Hayes expected to be confirmed next week when three democrats who didn't vote today will vote then.

Original post:
This seems really wrong to me -- just pure politics getting in the way of government business. It's like ransom --we won't give you this until you give us what we want.

The Senate Democratic leadership is preparing to lose a vote Wednesday on the confirmation of David Hayes as deputy secretary of the Interior.

Republican objections to Hayes appear to have little to do with him or his qualifications and more to do with an Obama administration policy.

Specifically, Utah Republican Robert Bennett has been leading his party's opposition to Hayes because of an Obama decision to cancel oil and gas leases in Utah.

"This is not about Hayes," Bennett spokeswoman Tara Hendershott told CNN.

She said Bennett is blocking Hayes because the Department of Interior "has not provided any information he requested regarding the (Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's) unilateral decision to cancel the oil and gas leases."CNN

Boehner: The Era of Big Government is Back

John Boehner!
The budget is a job killer! Big government is back! So predictable:

Andrea Mitchell asks Sen. Robert Bennett, republican, what would you cut? Bennett agrees with Obama on entitlement cuts.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

McCain Goes to Lunch in Washington

Superman didn't do much more than that:

WaPo: But for most of the afternoon, McCain has not visibly been part of the action on the issue. He was not present when House and Senate negotiators emerged from a two-hour meeting to declare success. That announcement was made by Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Sen. Robert F. Bennett (Utah) and Frank.

McCain, by contrast, spent some time in his office with several Republican colleagues, briefly stopped at Boehner's office, then left for lunch at the Capitol's Mansfield Room before returning to his office in the Russell Senate Office Building.

Republican Rep. Spencer Bachus (Ala.) said he had spoken to McCain yesterday, had breakfast with two McCain advisers this morning and spoke to McCain again immediately after today's meeting. But, Bachus said, "John's not trying to call the shots for the House caucus, I can tell you that. He's just opposed to the plan in its present form."

McCain still hasn't decided about the debate. He's resting after smiling broadly all day.

NPR: According to the campaign, McCain is remaining in DC tonight. No decision has been made about future travel, and no decision has been made about the debate. The campaign says McCain remains "actively engaged" in brokering a deal that addresses the crisis and protects the American taxpayer. The campaign says it is optimistic McCain "will bring House Republicans on board without driving other parties away, resulting in a successful deal for the American taxpayer."

Update from Obama camp:

TO: Interested Parties
FR: Bill Burton, National Press Secretary
RE: Suspending disbelief, not the McCain campaign
DA: Thursday, September 25, 2008

John McCain sought to change the subject from his out-of-touch response to the economic crisis with a big announcement that he was "suspending" his campaign. But the only thing McCain really wants suspended is the American people's disbelief. In fact, he's been in full campaign mode the entire time.

Instead of heading to Washington right away, Senator McCain stuck around in New York to do TV interviews, spend the night, and give a scheduled speech. Though the McCain campaign announced yesterday that they were also "suspending" their attack ads, they continued to run Thursday.

When McCain finally arrived in Washington, almost twenty-four hours after his announcement – and after Congressional leadership announced a deal in principle – he huddled with his lobbyist campaign advisors while his running mate held a political rally and his political spokesmen and surrogates were out in full force, continuing to attack Barack Obama.

So make no mistake: John McCain did not "suspend" his campaign. He just turned a national crisis into an occasion to promote his campaign. It's become just another political stunt, aimed more at shoring up the Senator's political fortunes than the nation's economy. And it does nothing to help advance this critical legislation to protect the American people during this time of economic crisis.