Lame Duck Priority Legislation Thread

First on the agenda is the Same-Sex Marriage bill. It advances.

McConnell a no of course

Respect for Marriage Act moved forward on a vote of 62-37. I'm honestly surprised they got more than 60 votes, and actually really surprised by some of the names.

Collins (ME)

Tillis (NC)

Portman (OH)

Murkowski (AK)

Romney (UT)

Blunt (MO)

Lummis (WY)

Capito (WV)

Sullivan (AK)

Ernst (IA)

Young (IN)

Burr (NC)

Susan Collins descends from the Frowning Tower to pretend to be independently minded.

Also, do enjoy the ensemble that the "Democratic" senior senator from Arizona wore to cast her vote.

Any discussion on the Voting Rights Act?

Also here

Mitt Romney's statement on his vote is....nice, actually?

"While I believe in traditional marriage"

What the hell does that even mean?

No Cruz, Rubio, and Hawley, of course.

Remember that when they run for president. They HATE gays and there's no other excuse they can have

R8, it is a cave in for constituents.

Romney's statements says the legislation has lots of safeguards for religious rights.

What are those safeguards exactly?

And correct me if I'm wrong but don't the Dems still have a reconciliation bill in their back pocket for this session?

The Mormon Church just came out in support of Gay civil marriages as long as they don't infringe on religious rights.

This is a major development considering the Mormon Church finances Prop 8.

That said, you can be sure the Morms will support anything that claims it's anti gay but pro-religion.

The Mormon church statement was better than Romney's. They came out in favor of the bill yesterday. Not surprised by his vote.

I would love to see them kill the idiotic debt ceiling ritual everybody goes through periodically. Dangerously stupid nonsense that should have died long ago.

Super excited about the gay marriage vote AND it is amazing (to me) that they made it the # 1 item in the Senate for the lame duck. We’ve truly come a long way.

My personal wishes for the rest of the lame duck:

2) John Lewis voting rights act. Will Mitch let this get voted on now? Will he keep blocking it?

3) Deal with the debt ceiling once and for all. If they could increase it 10% now and then have it automatically increase at the rate of inflation every year thereafter that would be a way to get rid of it while neutralizing and Republican claims of financial recklessness.

4) finish the omnibus ffy 2022 budget appropriation with all CHIPs act commitments fully funded. The act provided the money for the companies, but the money for agencies like NSF is through the regular budget appropriation.

5) Marijuana reform. Let’s get the SAFE act or something like it passed. I’d be so happy to see decriminalization and funding for research using state legal pot varieties. Can Congress somehow pressure state who have legalized marijuana to expunge arrest records for possession? And at the risk of being hissed at I’d like to say a kind word for Nancy Mace in the House who seems to me like one of the only remaining sane Republicans left in office.

Second on the debt ceiling. Republicans have said they want to shut down the government.

[quote] amazing (to me) that they made it the # 1 item in the Senate for the lame duck.

It's always amazing how quickly things can be done when they want to be done.

[quote]amazing (to me) that they made it the # 1 item in the Senate for the lame duck.

The reversal of Roe REALLY got next to a lot of people--especially Republicans. Attacking same-sex marriage would define them as the party that takes away civil rights (and they still have more that they want to take away but they don't want the public scrutiny) Even the SCOTUS realize that they overstepped on that one and have basically gone quiet since that ruling.

One more:

6) enough military aid to Ukraine to ensure Russia is back within its own borders by next summer.

Anything else to get settled prior the House becoming a chaotic mess?

Smart of them to put 'interracial marriage' in there - while opposing same-sex marriage is still 'acceptable' in public discourse, opposing interracial marriage is a terrible look.

Nancy Mace lost me when she faked an antifa attack on herself.

Is there anything they can do to protect Social Security and Medicare? You just know the Republicans want to dump them both.