WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s trade agenda cleared a key Senate hurdle and advanced toward passage on Thursday despite the strong opposition of most Democrats. The 62-38 vote capped a long, tense roll call on a measure that will allow Obama to negotiate trade deals that Congress can only accept or reject, but not change. […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
Democrat’s bill would change how Maine replaces U.S. Senators
AUGUSTA — A Maine Democratic lawmaker wants to strip the governor of his power to appoint a replacement in the event of a U.S. Senate vacancy. Matt Moonen’s bill has raised questions about whether Democrats are concerned about the possibility of Republican Sen. Susan Collins leaving her six-year term early to run for governor in […]
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Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Collins, King could be key to getting legislation passed in U.S. Senate
WASHINGTON — Soft-spoken Republican Sen. Susan Collins is quite popular these days, fielding calls from President Barack Obama, members of the GOP leadership and top Democrats Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer. The outreach was more than just congratulations for winning a fourth term. Both parties have an incentive for courting Collins. Come January, the centrist […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Republicans take control of U.S. Senate
WASHINGTON — Riding a powerful wave of voter discontent, resurgent Republicans captured control of the Senate and tightened their grip on the House Tuesday night in elections certain to complicate President Barack Obama’s final two years in office. The Republican Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, dispatched Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes in Kentucky after a $78 […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Collins easily keeps her U.S. Senate seat
PORTLAND — Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Susan Collins warded off a challenge from feisty Democrat Shenna Bellows on Tuesday. Ten minutes after polls closed, the Bangor Daily News projected Collins as the winner. In a victory speech delivered about 9:30 p.m., Collins said her priorities in a return to Washington, D.C., are creating jobs, maintaining transportation […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Angus King could shift balance of power in U.S. Senate after election
WASHINGTON — After millions of Americans vote next week, it’s possible that one or two men will decide which party controls the Senate. One is Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent who generally “caucuses” — or cooperates — with Democrats but says he might switch to the Republicans. The other is Greg Orman of Kansas, […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Bellows and Collins spar over Ebola, health care and terrorism in debate
BANGOR — U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, and her Democratic challenger, Shenna Bellows, sparred over numerous issues facing the Maine and the nation during an hourlong debate Wednesday night at Husson University. Wednesday’s debate was broadcast live on Maine Public Television, which partnered with the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce to stage the event. […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Partisan math could benefit independent King in U.S. Senate
WASHINGTON — There’s a libertarian pizza delivery man in North Carolina threatening to eat away enough votes to decide that state’s next senator. There’s a former Republican lawmaker, Larry Pressler, in South Dakota now running as an independent giving cowboy poetry readings. In Kansas, another independent — millionaire businessman Greg Orman — came out of […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Vandalism of Collins campaign signs treated as hate crime
WISCASSET — Swastikas spray-painted on Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ campaign signs in Franklin, Kennebec and Lincoln counties over the weekend are being treated as a hate crime, according to Maine law enforcement officials. Reports of the symbol of the Nazi party defacing Collins’ signs along Route 27, from Wiscasset to Farmington and in the […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Charles Krauthammer: The real reason winning the Senate matters
WASHINGTON — You can win midterm elections without a positive agenda. You can’t win presidential elections that way. It is therefore vitally important for Republicans to win the Senate in 2014. Here’s why. In midterms, it’s all right to be the party of no. The 2010 election, for example, was a referendum on the liberal […]