C-Span2 - The Most Effective Diet Available

Geek With A .45 has been on top of things today. Look here & here for his take on things as of about 2 p.m. E.D.T.

From what he's been saying Sen. Frist has used some procedural tchniques to stall the addition of any amendments not relevant to the class action lawsuit reform bill they're discussing.

Does this mean that Difi won't be able to bring up or add her "assault weapons" ban renewal to the class action lawsuit reform bill? I think so, but I'm not certain that it's a definitive block. There may very well be some means of Difi bringing her AWB renewal up.

So while it looks like good news so far I still have reservations, based solely on my ignorance of Senate procedures & what can & cannot be done in regards to bringing up "non-releavant" amendments.

I caught the tail end of Difi speaking on the lawsuit bill. While she didn't mention the AWB renewal she did make reference to amendments that would come up later. She could have been referring to other amendments, but my paranoia cynicism spidey sense intuition tells me not to think she's giving up yet.

Currently Sen. Hollings (D-SC) is speaking. No, not speaking - rambling & babbling some sort of dribble that's hard to follow because of his "unique" oratory style. I spent a lot of time in SC & have a lot of friends there. There are some good people in SC, but every time I hear Hollings speak I make it a point to distinguish that I'm from North Carolina. He mentioned that they took an oath to "serve, protect & defend..." but seems to have forgotten the subject of that oath, considering he used that phrase as a precursor to mentioning the various welfare programs that he sees as his fufillment of that oath.

Now Sen. Dorgan (D-ND) is speaking. He seems to be whining about Sen. Frist using a procedural technique which makes any amendment that a senator wishes to bring up for consideration subject to Sen. Frist's approval. To me that seems like Sen. Frist did effectively block any amendments that aren't relative to the bill they're considering, but I don't know if he can or will hold that block in place to keep the AWB renewal off the table. It seems there's some discontentment amongst the Democrats because of Sen. Frist's action, but I've heard nothing in their whining complaints that suggest they've given up all hope.

I'll keep watchng for the next few hours & if anything occurs worth noting I'll let you know. But keep your eye on Geek With A .45 as well as he's probably a little more knowledgable about what has been & is going on.

Posted by Publicola at July 7, 2004 01:41 PM