Publicola

GeekWithA.45 & SayUncle have been on top of things all day. Go read them.

Of note is that the Geek has links to to streaming C-Span so you can listen in on what's happening (or not happening as the case is now).

Now to sum up from what I understand, there is a time limit. They have until 6 p.m. E.S.T. to do whatever debating they're going to do. Also there's a limit to the amendments that can be proposed & Sen. Frist has final say on whether any amendments get voted on or not. Sen. Frist has a "D" rating from GOA.

I have heard that 4 amendments have been offered. One of them is supposedly a bill to lift D.C's gun ban. The other three are unkowns, but Mccain's gun show bill & Boxer &/or Feinstien's Assault weapons bill are the most likely candidates.

Now let me be clear - the exact nature of the amendments is not known. It's only rumor (albeit from reliable sources) that there are 4 amendments that could be considered. & the content of any of the amendments is not known.

But taking an educated guess, an asault wapons bill is going to be one of them. The big question is whether it's a simple extension or if it's an extension/expansion of the current ban.

to mkae things even scarier, here's GOA's page that lists current gun related bills in congress. Scroll down to the Senate section. There's a lot of possibilities for the 4th bill (assuming the first three are what I've guessed).

There's been some talk about things looking up because of the 75-22 vote for cloture. But all cloture does is limit debate, prevent fillibusters & close the floor to any amendments not previously filed. There's a bit of confusion but my understanding is that as long as a bill is filed with the Senate it can be brought up for attachment to the bill under coture. The only thing is that the Senate Chair can declare a proposed amendment "out of order" & his word is final.

So more or less the majority wanted to get a vote on this soon with limited amendments. That's not quite the same as having no amendments & an anti-gun Senator could have easily voted for cloture w/o it damaging their efforts. It's not like DiFi was gonna sleep through this one & miss a deadline. They made sure all the anti-gun bills they wanted to try & attach were filed in time.

Now one thing that is kind of curious - it was a 75-22 vote from what I heard. That's 99. there are 100 Senators. I was under the impression Kerry & Edwards would both be out campaigning & miss this vote - but if the count is correct then at least one of them stopped by.
there's also been talk of the NRA saying it can clean up the bill in the House if any anti-gun amendments get attached. However my sources tell me that's damn difficult nigh on impossible. & what makes matters worse is that Rep. Haster (R-Ill.) as Speaker of the House decides what gets voted on & what doesn't. Hastert has a "C-" from GOA's rating system & I seem to recall him being in favor of the assault weapons ban. Rep. Delay (R-Tx.) may have an "A" rating from GOA, but unfrotunately he isn't calling the shots. He's the Majority Leader in the House but it is up to Rep. Hastert whether something gets voted on or not.

But back to the Senate...

Here's how it breaks down using GOA's rating system:

SHELBY (R-Al) B
ALLARD (R-Co) B
CAMPBELL (R-Co) B-
CHAMBLISS (R-Ga) A
CRAIG (R-Idaho) B
CRAPO (R-Idaho) B
BROWNBACK (R-Kansas) B
BUNNING (R-Ky.) B
TALENT (R-Missouri) B
BURNS (R-Montana) B
ENSIGN (R-Nev.) B
SUNUNU (R-N.H.) B
INHOFE (R-Okl.) A
NICKLES (R-Okl.) B-
GRAHAM (R-SC) B
HUTCHISON (R-Tx.) B-
ENZI (R-Wy.) A
THOMAS (R-Wy.) B


That's 18 "A" & "B" rated Senators.

CORNYN (R-Tx.) NR
EDWARDS (D-NC) NR
CORZINE (D-NJ) NR
NELSON (D-Fl.) NR
MILLER (D-Ga.) NR
PRYOR (D-Ark.) NR
MURKOWSKI (R-Alaska) NR

That's 7 Not Rated by GOA. (NR is given when a Senator has not voting record to go on & hasn't answered GOA's questionaire)

SESSIONS (R-Alabama) C
KYL (R-Az) C
McCAIN (R-Az) C-
GRASSLEY (R-Iowa) C
ROBERTS (R-Kansas) C
McCONNELL (R-Ky) C
SNOWE (R-Maine) C-
LOTT (R-Mississippi) C-
BOND (R-Missouri) C
HAGEL (R-Nebraska) C
GREGG (R-NH) C-
SANTORUM (R-Pa) C
SPECTER (R-Pa) C-
ALEXANDER (R-Tn) C
HATCH (R-Utah) C-
ALLEN (R-Va) C

That's 16 "C" rated Senators.

The rest are rated "F' & "D". That'd be 59 "F" & "D" rated Senators going by GOA's ratings.

18 "A" & "B" rated
7 "NR"
16 "C" rated
59 "F' & "D" rated

Now if we count the "C's" & "NR's" as being on our side, we'd still lose. & I wouldn't count on having the "C's" on our side.

It is entirely possible that for some reason or another we get enough votes for a clean bill passed, but I trust GOA's rating as they're based on actual voting records when possible, or very pointed questionaires when no record is available.

Anyway, go to the Geek & SayUncle to catch up on things if you haven't already.