Jay Rockefeller

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2 More Dem Senators Back Gay Marriage

Warner, Rockefeller switch leaves only 11 in opposition

(Newser) - Democrats' support for gay marriage appears to be gaining momentum ahead of two key Supreme Court cases this week . Sens. Mark Warner of Virginia and Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia have joined Missouri's Claire McCaskill in endorsing gay marriage, leaving just 11 Democrat senators still opposed, Time reports. "...

Obama to Irked Dems: Hey, I'm No Dick Cheney

Obama says he would have objected to the policy as a senator, too

(Newser) - If Barack Obama were still a senator, he too would have "probably objected" to the White House's reticence at sharing its legal justifications behind its drone policy, he admitted during a closed-door meeting with the Senate Democratic conference on Tuesday. But Obama sought to defend himself and the...

Jay Rockefeller: This Is My Last Senate Term

Dems could have tough time hanging on to West Virginia seat

(Newser) - Sen. Jay Rockefeller will not run for re-election in 2014, putting the longtime Democratic seat in deeply Republican West Virginia up for grabs, reports Politico . The chairman of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee is expected to formally announce his decision, which he confirmed to Politico, this morning. “It...

At Fiscal Cliff, a Debt Ceiling Showdown Now Looms

Fiscal cliff debate roaring through Washington

(Newser) - Wrangling at the edge of the fiscal cliff is the main event in Washington right now, and the stakes might be even higher than most people realize. At President Obama's first meeting with John Boehner, he asked him to raise the debt ceiling before the end of the year,...

W.Va. Democrats Skipping Obama's Nomination

Governor, senator, representative won't attend convention

(Newser) - You may not be surprised to hear that President Obama is not too popular in West Virginia, considering that a felon serving time in prison actually won more than 40% of the vote against him in last month's presidential primary. That unpopularity apparently extends to the uppermost echelons of...

Sen. Rockefeller Seeks Murdoch Evidence

He asks British inquiry for proof of any wrongdoing in US

(Newser) - Sen. Jay Rockefeller has stepped up his efforts to find out if Rupert Murdoch's News Corp broke American laws in the British phone-hacking scandal. The West Virginia Democrat, chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, has asked Lord Leveson, head of the British inquiry into the scandal, to turn over...

Senate Feud Surfaces Over College Football

Mitch McConnell pulling strings for Louisville, angering W. Va senators

(Newser) - A war is brewing in the Senate over… college football? Yep. Mitch McConnell is making a zero-hour backroom push to get Louisville into the Big 12, calling officials at the conference’s other schools to sing his beloved alma mater’s praises, sources tell Politico . That’s put him in...

Senator Calls for News Corp Probe

Jay Rockefeller wants to know if 9/11 victims were hacking targets

(Newser) - If journalists working for Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. hacked the phones of any Americans, "the consequences will be severe," warns the chair of the Senate Commerce Committee. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, who says he's concerned that the hacking "may have extended to 9/11 victims or other...

Olbermann's 'Worst Person:' Back So Soon?

Segment, suspended in the name of sanity, returns

(Newser) - Well, that didn't take long: Not even three weeks after suspending his Worst Person in the World segment in the wake of Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity, Keith Olbermann brought it back. Olbermann announced the segment's return Tuesday, noting that 73% of polled viewers wanted it restored, according to...

Sen. Rockefeller: Fox, MSNBC Should 'Go Away'

Senator wishes FCC could kill cable news

(Newser) - Sen. Jay Rockefeller apparently isn’t a fan of cable news. In a hearing on television retransmission consent yesterday, Rockefeller went off-topic to rail against the “endless barking” of a news media that “has all but surrendered to the forces of entertainment.” Then he went off-script to...

From the Appalachian Coalfields to 9 Senate Terms
From the Appalachian Coalfields to
9 Senate Terms
appreciation
Jun 28, 2010 8:50 AM CDT

From the Appalachian Coalfields to 9 Senate Terms

The 'astonishing arc' of Robert Byrd's life

(Newser) - Robert Byrd, who died today at age 92, rose from a hardscrabble childhood in the coalfields of West Virginia to become the longest-serving member of Congress in history. Those who knew the conservative Democrat remember him as a self-taught man of iron will (he remains the only congressman to have...

Insurers Find Ways to Deny Kids Coverage
Insurers Find Ways to Deny Kids Coverage
Not So Reformed
Mar 29, 2010 9:16 AM CDT

Insurers Find Ways to Deny Kids Coverage

Firms say loophole lets them exclude youths, hike prices

(Newser) - Insurance companies say there’s a loophole in the health care reform legislation that will allow them to keep denying coverage to children with preexisting conditions for years. President Obama had promised that such denials would be “banned forever” this year. But “the fine print differs from the...

US May Require Brake Override Systems

Obama administration 'looking at it,' LaHood says

(Newser) - The Obama administration is considering ordering automakers to install brake override systems in their new cars, Ray LaHood told the Senate Commerce Committee today. “We’re looking at it,” the transportation secretary said, in a hearing on the runaway Toyota problem. “We think it is a good...

In Congress, 535 New GM Boardmembers

Legislators strong-arm automaker to keep dealerships, factories open

(Newser) - GM might not have realized when it took $58 billion in bailout money that it would now be beholden to members of Congress, who have been acting like 535 new board members as they angle for their constituents' (and their own) interests. Dems and Republicans alike have pressured companies to...

Dour Industry Report Backfires
 Dour Industry Report Backfires 
HEALTH CARE REFORM
Oct 13, 2009 10:14 AM CDT

Dour Industry Report Backfires

Dems, GOP alike have hard time believing Hail Mary predicting higher costs

(Newser) - The health insurance industry report presented yesterday that predicts the reform bill will do little to stop rising costs appears to have backfired. Dems are up in arms at the timing and content of the “misleading and harmful” attack from their erstwhile ally in the effort. Sen. Jay Rockefeller...

Lobbyists Deal Death Blows to Health Care Cost Cuts

Having KO'd most cuts, they're aiming at Cadillac tax and Medicare commission

(Newser) - Who's winning the health care battle? Lobbyists, says the New York Times, who've succeeded in blocking virtually every avenue for cutting health care costs that has been put on the table. They've killed proposals that would pinch doctors, hospitals, insurers and employees who are the beneficiaries of so-called Cadillac health...

Jay Rockefeller Is the New Teddy
 Jay Rockefeller 
 Is the New Teddy 
analysis
Oct 7, 2009 1:10 PM CDT

Jay Rockefeller Is the New Teddy

Senator inherits Kennedy's cause of health care reform

(Newser) - Jay Rockefeller shares little of the temperament of the late Ted Kennedy, but what they do share is essential. “Massive wealth and a virtual lock on his Senate seat frees a man to do what he believes in,” writes Margaret Carlson. And for both men—the West Virginia...

Senate Bill Likely to Come Down to Reid, Dodd, Baucus
Senate Bill Likely to Come Down to Reid, Dodd, Baucus
HEALTH NEGOTIATIONS
Oct 7, 2009 11:27 AM CDT

Senate Bill Likely to Come Down to Reid, Dodd, Baucus

Baucus, Dodd the only senators with secure seats at negotiating table

(Newser) - Every senator worth their salt is salivating for a seat at the table when Harry Reid merges the Senate’s two competing health care bills—but the vast majority will instead have their noses pressed to the glass. Reid hopes to speed things up by keeping the group small, Politico...

GOP Indulges in Health Amendment Free-for-All

(Newser) - Reasoned debate is all well and good, but the more than 300 amendments offered to the health care reform bill by finance committee Republicans are “dangerously close to a parody,” Dana Milbank writes. Or maybe they’re already there. Take Orrin Hatch’s request for “transition relief...

Public Option Fails in Finance Committee

Ball's in Reid's court

(Newser) - The Senate Finance Committee voted down both proposed versions of the public option this afternoon, setting up a showdown between conservative Democrats—who sided with Republicans in opposing the creation of a government plan to compete with private insurers—and their liberal colleagues. Jay Rockefeller's amendment failed, 15-8, shortly before...

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