How Reid Assured Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on December 21st, 2010 5:41 am by HL
How Reid Assured Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
Greg Sargent takes a step back to look at how Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) shepherded the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” through the Senate.
“Recall what happened before the vote on the defense authorization bill containing DADT repeal was blocked by the GOP. Reid made a whole range of concessions to GOP moderates, bringing them to the brink of casting a Yes vote… Scheduling that first vote allowed moderates the room to register their procedural objections with a No vote. As Reid knew, he could then schedule a second, stand-alone vote, giving the moderates a bit more time and maneuvering room (and another round of meetings with military leaders) to come around to the Yes camp.”
Support for Tax Cuts, Except for the Wealthy
An overwhelming majority of Americans support the Bush tax-cut compromise that President Obama brokered with Republican congressional leaders, a new CNN/Opinion Research survey finds — though Americans have wide-ranging views on the compromise’s individual provisions.
Some 75% of respondents said they like the deal, and 23% said they oppose it. When it comes to individual provisions, respondents said they overwhelmingly favor extending the Bush tax cuts for family income up to $250,000, 89% to 11%, as well as extending unemployment benefits for a year, 76% to 22%. But only 37% said they favor extending the tax cuts for family income above $250,000, with 62% opposed, and 39% favor the estate-tax reduction, with 59% opposed.
