Word: chambers
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...some even changed their mind, persuaded by new arguments and old loyalties to make a leap of faith. No one knew as the week went on how it would turn out; every day brought another threat to the bill's survival, and the best head counters in the chamber were stumped about who would act as saboteur, who would turn out to be a savior...
...wooden benches with the red velvet cushions in the back of the Senate chamber are where staff members sit for hours, partly to follow the debate, partly because it's the best place to pick up intelligence. Mark Buse, 35, has been doing that job for McCain for 17 years. He became so adept at rooting out legislative pork that McCain calls him "the Ferret." Listening to other staff members gossip on Monday afternoon, Buse picked up his first hint of trouble. Both McConnell and Texan Phil Gramm, another reform foe, were going to vote with Wellstone. Why would Gramm...
McCain knew the worst was happening when he came into the Senate chamber for the vote. "Gramm was standing down in the well, grabbing people and talking to them, going back into the cloakroom," he says. And it wasn't just fellow Republicans plotting against the bill. McCain and Feingold realized that some Democrats privately wanted to see the bill die. It had been easy to support in the past, when it had no chance of passing. But in the 2000 election the Democrats had become as slick as the Republicans at raising soft money; do away with...
They were so, so close. The Democrats slipped into the chamber to huddle with a visibly tense Daschle. Back in the L.B.J. Room, Thompson proffered one last piece to seal the deal: the G.O.P. had moved much further on the hard-money limits; if the Democrats would index the limits for inflation, they had a deal. Feinstein shot out of the room to take the offer to Daschle, and for a few final moments the Republicans waited. When the deal was done, Thompson grabbed his throat with both hands, mock-choking over the compromise he had struck...
...trillion over a 10-year period from 2002 to 2011. The Senate actually passed a $1.188 trillion tax cut for that 10-year period. But the Senate also approved an $85 billion rebate for this year to stimulate the ailing economy. To make it appear that the chamber came closer to Bush's number than what the Democrats wanted, Lott and Cheney add the $85 billion to the $1.188 trillion and then round the $1.273 trillion up to get to their $1.3 trillion number. Breaux's moderates originally proposed $1.25 trillion as a compromise tax cut number, so they...