From ALG News’ Capitol Hill Correspondent Derek Baker:

In the Senate, McConnell has stepped up his criticism of the expanded $100 billion jobless benefits package recently passed by the Senate, attempting to sow seeds of discontent with the more fiscally minded Blue Dog democrats in the House.  Saying the bill “undercuts the entire point of reform,” McConnell is sending a clear message to wavering Democrats in the House, reminiscent of the simultaneously messaging he’s sending out on healthcare that pro-life Dems cannot trust the Senate to protect abortion “fix” language in reconciliation.

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March 8th, 2010, Washington, DC–From ALG News’ Capitol Hill Correspondent Derek Baker:

In the Senate, late last week, Sen. Gregg said out loud what appears to have been on many Democrat’s minds. Gregg, discussing the current Dem strategy of having the House vote on the Senate-passed bill first, then voting on a reconciliation bill to “fix” the remaining problems with it, flatly stated, “If you’re in the House and you’re saying, ‘Well, I’m going to vote for this because I’m going to get a reconciliation bill,’ I would think twice about that. First because, procedurally, it’s going to be hard to put a reconciliation bill through the Senate. Second because I’m not sure there’s going to be a lot of energy to do it, from the president or his people.” Read the rest of this entry »