Sen. Tom Harkin’s retirement makes the Iowa Senate seat more competitive by virtue of the six-term Democrat’s departure. Couple that with the Hawkeye State’s competitive nature, and this race could be one of the most targeted of the 2014 cycle.
Accordingly, CQ Roll Call now characterizes the Iowa Senate race as Leans Democratic, after previously rating the contest as Likely Democratic.
On the Republican side we have the possibility of Reps. Steve King and Tom Latham running.
On the Dem side, four-term Congressman Rep. Bruce Braley is a good bet.
CUMMING, Iowa — Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin says he will not seek re-election in 2014.
The 73-year-old Harkin tells The Associated Press in an interview, “It’s just time to step aside,” because by the time he would finish a sixth term, he would be 81.
Harkin said it would also allow a new generation of Democrats to seek higher office.
The announcement comes as a surprise, considering he had $2.7 million in his campaign war chest and was planning a fundraiser next month.
Harkin played a lead role in urging the Senate’s more liberal members to back the 2010 health care bill.
No Iowa Republicans have taken formal steps toward seeking the seat. Harkin’s decision eases the burden on the GOP, who have to gain six seats to win the majority.
I needed a dose of optimism today. Thank you Tom Harkin, who in the video I link to below, also talks about buyers’ remorse (relevant segment at about 23:00).
Harkin said, “[W]e’re doing nothing because the Republicans in the Senate block us at every turn.”
Senate Democrats face a challenging election next year, having to defend 23 seats to the GOP’s 10.
Harkin expressed confidence, however: “I don’t think we’re going to lose the Senate. I really don’t. I think the Democrats will continue to keep the Senate. And quite frankly, with some of the dynamics I see out there, I thinks Democrats could actually retake the House of Representatives.”
Wishful thinking? Not if the Dems get out there and vote in droves, if we organize efforts to register voters and provide transportation right now to Voter I.D. locations, and of course, to the polls.
Video here. (C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers” program will air at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Sunday. )
Fireworks? In January? When it comes to changing the filibuster rules– and hopefully some of that increasingly frustrating GOP obstruction (see chart)– the answer is a resounding yes:
“There could be some fireworks. There could be some fireworks on January fifth,”Harkin said at a pro-reform event sponsored by several like-minded organizations. “I’m going to be there. I’m armed. I’m armed with a lot of history, and I know the rules, and I know the procedures too, so we will see what happens on the fifth.”
“[Former Sen.] Robert Byrd in 1975, the last time that last time that we changed the rules and [brought the filibuster threshold] from 67 [votes] down to 60, actually stated on the floor that a majority, 51 senators, could change the rules. And that’s what we intend to do and that is what we are working on right now. We are coming on the fifth to basically send a motion to the vice president … that will change the rules and there is a procedure to provide 51 votes to do that. Robert Byrd said that in 1975 and that’s what we are going to try to do.” [...]
Harkin hinted that the GOP is looking to cut a deal with Democrats in an effort to ensure that anything they pushed was not too far-reaching.
Screeeeeching halt. Did I just read that correctly? The GOP wants to c– com— cooommmpro– compromise?
Tell you what, Republicans… when you start, we’ll consider it. For a split second. Maybe.
Harkin wants to put an end to minority rule in the worst way:
… Harkin seemed uninterested in incremental changes. And while there may not even be 51 votes to change the rules, let alone any Republicans willing to compromise, Harkin insisted he wouldn’t settle for reforms that still allowed the minority party to bring the legislative process to a halt.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) laid out a path to fundamentally change the way the filibuster works. Merkeley told [Thom] Hartmann to “mark this date on your calendar: January 5th. That’s the date we’re going to come in for the next Congress, and it’s on that date that a group of us is trying to pass a motion for the Senate to adopt new rules.” [...]
Merkeley writes that he would “require a specific number of Senators — I suggest five for the first 24 hours, 10 for the second 24 hours, and 20 thereafter — to be on the floor to sustain the filibuster. This would be required even during quorum calls. At any point, a member could call for a count of the senators on the floor who stand in opposition to the regular order, and if the count falls below the required level, the regular order prevails and a majority vote is held.”
Harkin proposes a new procedural model: the first go-around, the minority could demand a 60-vote majority, as is the case now. But if 60 votes aren’t there to end debate, a week or so later, 57 votes could bring the bill to the floor for a vote. If 57 votes aren’t there, it drops again and again, and after a month or so, a bare majority could approve cloture.
Here is a more recent statement:
“…Get rid of the filibuster once and for all…” (starts at about 3:18)
Sens. Tom Harkin (Iowa), Mark Udall (Colo.) and Tom Udall (N.M.) are still pushing to making changes in the filibuster rules, no matter which party is in power. After having to deal with a requisite 60 votes to get anything passed in the Senate, they’ve had it.
Sen. Tom Udall said he will force a motion on the first day of the next Congress to have Vice President Joe Biden adopt new rules for the two-year session. Then, Udall said, he will seek consensus among senators from both parties to lower the 60-vote threshold for procedural motions. Only a simple majority of 51 votes would be necessary for such a move, and Udall said he expects support from some Republicans.
“The areas that look most fruitful for rules reform is the motion to proceed and shifting the burden to require those in opposition to a bill to come forward and present their case on the floor,” Tom Udall told The Hill.
Many of us have been tearing our hair out, wondering why the Dems haven’t forced a Jimmy Stewart style filibuster each and every time the GOP threatens their usual obstruction.The 51 votes needed to pass his proposal aren’t there yet.
Several Democrats have spoken in favor of Tom Udall’s second proposal to force filibustering senators to show up in person on the Senate floor to explain their opposition to a motion. Currently, senators are able to block legislation without appearing. [...]
Harkin also won’t back down. He told The Hill in a statement that he, too, will push for a gradual decrease in the voting threshold for procedural motions…
Of course, there is the perpetual argument over whether to do this or not, especially knowing it could backfire on Democrats who, of course, would find it awfully useful to have the same power that the Republicans have been abusing for the past two years.
According to the Hill piece, there is plenty of doubt about filibuster reform gaining any traction.
…TPM has learned that Sen. Tom Harkin’s Labor-HHS Appropriations subcommittee will hold hearings next month when the Senate comes back into session.
Harkin spokeswoman Bergen Kenny said the hearings will be held Sept. 16. Congress returns from recess earlier that week. They are still in the very early planning stages, so no title or witness list is yet available. The hearings will be raised in this subcommittee because it handles funding for the Department of Health and Human Services.
Thank you, Senator Harkin. Let’s hope we can start helping people again, instead of allowing them to remain ill or even die.
Lt. Col Barry Wingard is the lawyer for Gitmo detainee Fayiz Al-Kandari. For their ongoing story + related topics, please click on the link below: Kuwaiti Citizen Detained at Guantanamo since 2002
You can read the complete story here or on Wikipedia.
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