AP, fwiw, on the spending bill that just cleared a filibuster:
Three Republicans helped Democrats advance the measure: Sens. Thad Cochran of Mississippi, Richard Shelby of Alabama and Susan Collins of Maine.
The Democrats opposed were Sens. Evan Bayh of Indiana, Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, and Claire McCaskill of Missouri — who voted "no" only after Lieberman arrived to ensure the bill would advance.
Some guy on Twitter, to Senator Claire McCaskill:
Does "fiscal conservative" @clairecmc support this? Budget boosts???!!! How about holding the line! http://bit.ly/...
Senator Claire McCaskill, to some guy on Twitter:
@MarkReardonKMOX Nope, I didn't. We should have held our spending to closer to last years instead of a 10% increase,Too many earmarks.
If you want to know why the Democratic leadership in the Senate puts up with homunculi like Holy Joe Lieberman, and lets him keep his committee position rankings despite his obstructionism on basic pillars of the Democratic platform, perhaps it has something to do with his usefulness as a stand-in during their Kabuki performances.
Is it any wonder meaningful health care reform is so difficult to achieve so long as it has to pass through the rotten mores of the United States Senate?
(NB: Because it has really nothing to do with the Granite State, I figured I'd crosspost this here from my normal perch over at Blue Hampshire.)