Richard Shelby places blanket holds on nominees

[TC]

In one of the most fantastic overreaches ever, Richard Shelby waits until Scott Brown is sworn in and then places blanket holds on all Obama nominees unless he gets his earmarks back.

Say what you will, but this dwarfs Ben Nelson's deal.

[The Stig]

That's really going to help the GOP shed the "Party of No" label.....

[EasyEd]

If this is true, it's terrible and should be condemned by all, particularly by GOP members.

[jerseyhoya34]

It must be tough to live in a state that is 12th (as of 2007) in per capita earmarks.

[HoyaNyr320]

Feb 5, 2010 17:57:50 GMT -5 @jerseyhoya34 said:

It must be tough to live in a state that is 12th (as of 2007) in per capita earmarks.

...and near last in public education

[Elvado]

Feb 5, 2010 18:58:39 GMT -5 HoyaNyr320 said:

Feb 5, 2010 17:57:50 GMT -5 @jerseyhoya34 said:

It must be tough to live in a state that is 12th (as of 2007) in per capita earmarks.

...and near last in public education

But National Champs in CFB

[EasyEd]

Feb 5, 2010 18:58:39 GMT -5 HoyaNyr320 said:

Feb 5, 2010 17:57:50 GMT -5 @jerseyhoya34 said:

It must be tough to live in a state that is 12th (as of 2007) in per capita earmarks.

...and near last in public education

All GU students are temporarily living in a community with worse education.

[EasyEd]

Feb 5, 2010 17:57:50 GMT -5 @jerseyhoya34 said:

It must be tough to live in a state that is 12th (as of 2007) in per capita earmarks.

To be fair you should list the 11 with more per capita earmarks.

[jerseyhoya34]

1. Alaska - $1,053.71/person
2. Hawaii - $341.24/person
3. West Virginia - $262.76/person
4. Vermont - $223.65/person
5. Montana - $201.68/person
6. New Mexico - $152.35/person
7. North Dakota - $149.10/person
8. Mississippi - $135.82/person
9. New Hampshire - $130.85/person
10. Virginia - $126.05/person
11. Nevada - $117.18/person

The bottom five are: NJ, NY, GA, MI, and NC. NC is lowest at $25.46/person.

[EasyEd]

Thanks, Ambassador.

[strummer8526]

Feb 5, 2010 19:57:20 GMT -5 @jerseyhoya34 said:

1. Alaska - $1,053.71/person
2. Hawaii - $341.24/person
3. West Virginia - $262.76/person
4. Vermont - $223.65/person
5. Montana - $201.68/person
6. New Mexico - $152.35/person
7. North Dakota - $149.10/person
8. Mississippi - $135.82/person
9. New Hampshire - $130.85/person
10. Virginia - $126.05/person
11. Nevada - $117.18/person

The bottom five are: NJ, NY, GA, MI, and NC. NC is lowest at $25.46/person.

I'm surprised by happy to see NY/NJ at the bottom. I know that NJ has a less than respectable political machine and that the state is by no means clean. But just in terms of political ideology, I do appreciate my state. I've always found New Jersians to be remarkably moderate in a lot of ways.

[rosslynhoya]

1. Alaska - 1 D, 1 R
2. Hawaii - 2 D
3. West Virginia - 2 D
4. Vermont - 2 D
5. Montana - 2 D
6. New Mexico - 2 D
7. North Dakota - 2 D
8. Mississippi - 2 R
9. New Hampshire - 1 D, 1 R
10. Virginia - 2 D
11. Nevada - 1 D, 1 R

That's 90% Democrat for those of you playing the earmark game at home. GOP is totally going to be burned by people paying attention to this issue.

[EasyEd]

I think Dems may get burned by this.

[jerseyhoya34]

Feb 7, 2010 13:23:31 GMT -5 rosslynhoya said:

1. Alaska - 1 D, 1 R
2. Hawaii - 2 D
3. West Virginia - 2 D
4. Vermont - 2 D
5. Montana - 2 D
6. New Mexico - 2 D
7. North Dakota - 2 D
8. Mississippi - 2 R
9. New Hampshire - 1 D, 1 R
10. Virginia - 2 D
11. Nevada - 1 D, 1 R

That's 90% Democrat for those of you playing the earmark game at home. GOP is totally going to be burned by people paying attention to this issue.

The stats were based on 2007, so those numbers aren't necessarily accurate for today or a reflection on current Senators, assuming they are the best proxy for this kind of thing. I don't really agree with that.

1. Alaska - 2R (Murkowski and Stevens)
2. Hawaii - 2 D
3. West Virginia - 2 D
4. Vermont - 1D, 1I (Sanders is officially an independent)
5. Montana - 2 D
6. New Mexico - 1D, 1R (Domenici was still around, for better or for worse)
7. North Dakota - 2 D
8. Mississippi - 2 R
9. New Hampshire - 2R (Judd Gregg and Sununu)
10. Virginia - 1 D, 1 R (Warner)
11. Nevada - 1 D, 1 R

That's a count of 9 Republicans, 1 independent, and 12 Democrats (55%). In any event, I think the issue is probably more one of who has plum position on Appropriations in the House or Senate. Byrd probably had more to do with WV's position than Rockefeller, for example. Of course, we'd also expect the count today to be skewed to the left as there are only 41 Republican Senators, few of whom offer or support substantive legislation.

Byrd, Inouye, Leahy, Cochran (MS), Stevens, and Domenici all figured prominently in Senate Appropriations leadership at the time.

There's also a decent chance that Frank Wolf had something to do with VA being on this list, given that neither Webb nor Warner (John) were on Approps.

[Elvado]

Feb 7, 2010 1:34:38 GMT -5 strummer8526 said:

Feb 5, 2010 19:57:20 GMT -5 @jerseyhoya34 said:

1. Alaska - $1,053.71/person
2. Hawaii - $341.24/person
3. West Virginia - $262.76/person
4. Vermont - $223.65/person
5. Montana - $201.68/person
6. New Mexico - $152.35/person
7. North Dakota - $149.10/person
8. Mississippi - $135.82/person
9. New Hampshire - $130.85/person
10. Virginia - $126.05/person
11. Nevada - $117.18/person

The bottom five are: NJ, NY, GA, MI, and NC. NC is lowest at $25.46/person.

I'm surprised by happy to see NY/NJ at the bottom. I know that NJ has a less than respectable political machine and that the state is by no means clean. But just in terms of political ideology, I do appreciate my state. I've always found New Jersians to be remarkably moderate in a lot of ways.

It may simply mean that NJ's contingent, while remarkably partisan, is also largely ineffectual. Of course, when one of your Senators resembles a cadaver and the other is a borderline gangster, what can you expect?

[hoyainspirit]

Releases hold.

voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/02/shelby-releases-holds-on-obama.html?hpid=news-col-blog

[kchoya]

Feb 7, 2010 15:27:38 GMT -5 Elvado said:

Feb 7, 2010 1:34:38 GMT -5 strummer8526 said:

I'm surprised by happy to see NY/NJ at the bottom. I know that NJ has a less than respectable political machine and that the state is by no means clean. But just in terms of political ideology, I do appreciate my state. I've always found New Jersians to be remarkably moderate in a lot of ways.

It may simply mean that NJ's contingent, while remarkably partisan, is also largely ineffectual. Of course, when one of your Senators resembles a cadaver and the other is a borderline gangster, what can you expect?

It may also mean that New Jersey is the most densely populated state, and Alaska the least, so per capita statistics will be skewed.

[jerseyhoya34]

The top 10 in total earmarks by state for 2007 is as follows:
1. CA
2. PA
3. VA
4. TX
5. FL
6. AK
8. NY
9. MD
10. AL

I think, in fairness, at least one of the above should not belong, with the likely candidate being AK. AK had $691M in earmarks to NJ's $284M.

[TBird41]

Feb 9, 2010 16:22:40 GMT -5 @jerseyhoya34 said:

The top 10 in total earmarks by state for 2007 is as follows:
1. CA
2. PA
3. VA
4. TX
5. FL
6. AK
8. NY
9. MD
10. AL

I think, in fairness, at least one of the above should not belong, with the likely candidate being AK. AK had $691M in earmarks to NJ's $284M.

As a wise Congressman once said, "If the state of New Jersey has a problem with the amount of money going to Alaska, they should elect better representation".

[The Stig]

To be fair to Alaska, their underdeveloped infrastructure and extremely large territory means they need more federal money than your typical Lower 48 state.

Alaska's heavy dependence on the Essential Air Service program is a good example (although I'm not sure it counts as an earmark).

Getting back to Shelby though, his attempt to weasel out of his holds by claiming victory is pretty amusing. It's like a pirate releasing a prisoner and boasting about their great ransom when nobody paid them a penny.