Ex-Arlington National Cemetery Head Leaves Senate Panel Scratching Heads

Philip Bunnell - Talk Radio News Service

Senate Homeland Security member Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) had harsh words for former Arlington National Cemetery Superintendent John Metzler on Thursday, asking him if family members will be sure that they are “standing at the real grave site of [their] loved one.”

Metzler ran the historic military burial ground for almost two decades. A recent investigation by the Army revealed that as many as 6,600 graves had been mismarked.

McCaskill, chair of a committee oversight panel, asked Metzler about the first date he felt something was wrong, and pressed former deputy superintendent Thurman Higginbothom about his reportedly strained relationship with Metzler. Higginbothom subsequently invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to make self-incriminating testimony.

Metzler said the situation “pained him personally,” and expressed his “deep regret” towards families that the mistakes may have affected. Metzler cautioned the committee not to rush to judgment on an issue of great “complexity and breadth.”

That didn’t go over too well with more than a few members. Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) expressed his frustration and contempt for the mismanagement, telling Metzler that he was “interested to hear what the excuses are, because I can’t think of any in my head.”

Tester also mocked Metzler. “This isn’t putting a man on the moon,” said the Senator. “There’s nothing really mystifying about burying our loved ones.”

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) equated the scandal to crushing the soul of a child.

This is “like learning that there’s no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny,” he said. “There are so many questions, what have you, in fact, done?”

Obama Senses Victory After Senate Passes Key Vote On Financial Reform

President Barack Obama thanked the Senate on Thursday for voting to end debate on a key financial regulatory reform bill. The 60-40 vote means that the bill can now proceed to the floor for a final vote.

Though two Democrats, Sens. Russ Feingold (Wisc.) and Maria Cantwell (Wash.), broke with their party and voted no to ending debate for a second straight day, three Republicans, Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, and Sen. Scott Brown (Mass.) voted yes, giving 57 Democrats the minimum number of votes they needed to block a filibuster.

Addressing reporters in the White House Rose Garden following the vote, the President praised the Senate for moving the bill forward, but cautioned against celebrating prematurely.

“We’ve still got some work to do,” he said, reminding supporters that the Senate still must pass its bill before it moves to conference. “There’s no doubt that during that time, the financial industry and their lobbyists will keep on fighting.”

But so will the administration. Four weeks ago, Mr. Obama memorably went to Wall Street to make the case for reform. Since then, the President and his financial reform team have hit the road in an attempt to sell the public on the plan. And earlier this week, the President was successfully able to convince Senator Brown to break with Republicans and change his vote, from no to yes.

As a result, the White House feels confident that they’ve won Round One of the battle.

“Over the last year, the financial industry has repeatedly tried to end this reform with hordes of lobbyists and millions of dollars of ads,” said the President. “Today, I think it’s fair to say that these efforts have failed.”

41st GOP Senator Sworn In

By Benny Martinez - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) was sworn in Thursday evening at the Senate Chambers, making him the 41st Republican Senator and thus breaking the Democrats' supermajority.

After the swearing-in ceremony, the new Senator met with reporters to touch on some of the issues that are circling Capitol Hill.

Brown said that he was eager to begin working, and he added that the jobs bill needs the most work, saying that “not one single job has been created in the past year.”

Brown also emphasized the importance of bipartisanship in the House and Senate. He said that in order to accomplish anything and assist the American people, collaboration and compromise are key.

Although, when asked if, procedurally, he could be the 60th vote on initiatives like the health reform bill, Brown answered, “I’m not the 60th vote, I’m the 41st.”

The GOP Senator, who won the seat held for decades by the late Senator Ted Kennedy, spoke highly of tax cuts for small businesses.

“Tax cuts are not the problem for the economy, it’s the answer,” Brown said.

Surprised, Mr President? Now I'm Worried.

“Robert Gibbs: I think he would count himself among those like me that was surprised, absolutely.”

That was Gibbs' response to my question at Wednesday's White House briefing about the results of the Massachusetts Senate election. It's a surprising and disturbing admission.

I suggested in my question that it's surprising that the President is surprised. He's the head of the Democratic Party. He's presumably aware of the state of politics in the country. I pointed out that the losses in New Jersey and Virginia had already been bad for the Democrats. I asked why he is surprised. Is he a little out of touch with what is going on in the country? Is he not being adequately briefed?

Gibbs said more. He said the surprise and frustration happened over many days, and that when people are asked does the President care about people like you, 70 percent of the people say yes.

I don't want my president to be surprised by political developments in his own party. I want him to be informed. I want him to be briefed. I want him to be in touch with where the voters are.

Also surprising was a reply Robert Gibbs gave to a question asked in a gaggle last week. He was asked why liberals are less enthusiastic or less inspired than they were in 08. He said:

“I don't know (long pause) why some segment of political observers don't seem to be as motivated.” He went on to give a long answer about “going forward with new ideas for economic recovery and creating a new foundation, or going back to some of the policies that caused this type of economic devastation to take place”.

But it was “I don't know (long pause)” and what followed that struck me as his first, most natural response. He really didn't know.

If President Obama is going to be surprised, then a 7.0 earthquake in Haiti should be about the only thing that should do it.

The President seems to have thought about his administration's disconnect with the American people because in his interview with George Stephanopoulos, he said “I think, you know, what they ended up seeing is this feeling of remoteness and detachment where there's these technocrats up here making decisions. Maybe some of them are good, maybe some of them aren't, but do they really get us and what we're going through?”

The answer is that he's partly right; people didn't think he got them last year, but communicating better to the American people, which is what it seems the White House thinks it needs to do now, is not the whole answer. They've got to be able to hear from the American people, and right now they're not even understanding what motivates their base.

If the White House hadn't wasted half the year trying to be bipartisan (i.e. one vote) on health care, they could have had it long before the Massachusetts election.

Lesson: Washington in 2010 is not a bipartisan town. Three senators working on energy is not tripartisanship. Give it up. The country's not interested, and it will drain time and resources. Focus on jobs, deficit reduction, the economy and bank regulation. Be passionate.

The White House lost liberals because they gave up the public option, escalated in Afghanistan, seemed cozy with Wall Street, followed Bush on national security decisions, etc.

The President was surprised. Robert Gibbs was surprised and didn't know. Was Rahm Emanuel surprised? What did David Axelrod know? If the Democrats don't turn this around and salvage something in November, then what did the President know and when did he know it will take on a whole new meaning.

Reid Confirms That There Will Be No Work On Health Care Until Brown Arrives

By Sofia Sanchez University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) confirmed Wednesday that the Senate will abstain from health care reform negotiations until newly elected Republican Senator Scott Brown (Mass.) comes to Washington.

"We are going to wait until the new Senator arrives to do anything more on health care,” said Reid. “We need to work with [Republicans] as partners and not partisans to improve the individual lives of Americans.”

Referring to the Republican party as the party of ‘no,' Reid offered his hope that 2010 will be more productive and unified.

“As we have worked to relieve the suffering of the American people, Republicans have made a political calculation not to participate, and that was evident to what took place last year,” Reid stated. “Their answer to everything has been no. Hard to comprehend, even with funding the troops.”

Reid’s message to Republicans is that the people of Massachusetts gave them a new opportunity to govern, and he hopes that the minority party will take that opportunity to govern fairly.

“The election in Massachusetts changes the math in the Senate,” said Reid. “But it does not change the fact that people are hurting, it does does not change our commitment to help those who are hurting.”