Sen. Mark Udall Endorses Marriage

GOP Sen. Tom Coburn: The Cowards In The Senate Are Just Lucky I Can't Carry A Gun

GOP Sen. Tom Coburn says he's so disgusted with his colleagues, that "It's a good thing I can't pack a gun on the Senate floor." Coburn continued his diatribe by declaring that the health care system was better back when patients paid their doctors in chickens.

“You can’t tell me the system is better now than it was before Medicare,” he said. He told a group at the Integris Mayes County Medical Center in Pryor, Okla.: “Show me where in the Constitution the federal government is responsible for your health care?” Without specifying what he meant, Coburn said President Barack Obama has an “intent is to create dependency because it worked so well for him.” The World’s caption below a photo of Coburn reads the understated: “Disagrees with Obama’s politics.” “As an African-American male,” Coburn said, Obama received “tremendous advantage from a lot of these programs.” The programs were not identified in the World report.

Double bonus GOP points for the racism in the last sentence!

Chess Is Praised As US Senate Wraps Up

Chess Is Praised As US Senate Wraps Up Work Before Recess
By Kristina Peterson, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Aug 3, 2011 | 3:12PM

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Passing a hard-fought deal to increase the country's borrowing limit and reduce the budget deficit wasn't all that the Senate did before recessing on Tuesday--at least for chess players.

Slightly overshadowed by the resolution of the fierce congressional debt- ceiling showdown was the Senate's adoption of a resolution Tuesday designating Oct. 8, 2011, as "National Chess Day."

Introduced by Sen. John Rockefeller IV (D., W.Va.), the resolution recognizes the game as a "powerful cognitive learning tool" and "encourages the people of the United States to observe 'National Chess Day' with appropriate programs and activities."

The measure noted that "many studies have linked chess programs to the improvement of student scores in reading and math, as well as improved self- esteem."

More here.

Chess Is Praised As US Senate Wraps Up

Chess Is Praised As US Senate Wraps Up Work Before Recess
By Kristina Peterson, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Aug 3, 2011 | 3:12PM

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Passing a hard-fought deal to increase the country's borrowing limit and reduce the budget deficit wasn't all that the Senate did before recessing on Tuesday--at least for chess players.

Slightly overshadowed by the resolution of the fierce congressional debt- ceiling showdown was the Senate's adoption of a resolution Tuesday designating Oct. 8, 2011, as "National Chess Day."

Introduced by Sen. John Rockefeller IV (D., W.Va.), the resolution recognizes the game as a "powerful cognitive learning tool" and "encourages the people of the United States to observe 'National Chess Day' with appropriate programs and activities."

The measure noted that "many studies have linked chess programs to the improvement of student scores in reading and math, as well as improved self- esteem."

More here.

McCain: Debt Bill Will Pass Senate

The bill is being debated on the Senate floor at this writing. The vote should take place within the hour. UPDATE: The Senate has passed the bill 74-26.