Is Sen. Kyl Placing A Hold On Ellen Tauscher’s State Department Nomination Because He Wants More Nukes?
Is Sen. Kyl Placing A Hold On Ellen Tauscher’s State Department Nomination Because He Wants More Nukes?
The Senate has yet to confirm a number of President Obama’s nominees to various State Department posts. One of those nominees, Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) — a champion of repealing the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy — has had a hold placed on her nomination to become Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security. But the hold on her nomination is not anonymous, as Foreign Policy’s Laura Rozen reports:
A blanket hold placed late last week by Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) on all State Department nominees appears to have been lifted on Saturday, administration sources tell The Cable. Kyl’s only remaining hold, The Cable was told, is on Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA), President Obama’s nominee to be under secretary of state for arms control and international security.
Kyl’s office confirmed his remaining hold on Tauscher’s nomination. “He honestly has made no guise of his hold on her nomination,” spokesman Ryan Patmintra told The Cable Monday.
When asked why Kyl is placing a hold on Tauscher, a spokesperson said, “He expressed privately to the administration his concerns. He has chosen not to discuss them publicly.” Indeed, Kyl’s office did not respond to an inquiry from ThinkProgress.
But last week, Rozen reported that Capitol Hill sources said Kyl “is not satisified with the information he has been receiving from the administration on the progress of arms control negotiations with Russia”:
“Kyl’s beef and the general Republican argument now emerging against the Obama administration’s nuclear weapons policy is that they are rushing to conclude a new agreement with Russia on strategic arms levels before their Nuclear Posture Review [NPR] is complete,” a Democratic congressional source said.
However, the Obama administration has to move quickly because the arms control agreement with Russia — the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), a verification regime signed in 1991 — expires on Dec. 5. The Obama administration has made no secret of wanting warmer relations with Russia. In recent negotiations, both nations have expressed interest in “much deeper cuts in strategic arsenals than those achieved by START when it came into force.”
Nuclear non-proliferation expert Joseph Cirincione told ThinkProgress, “Senator Kyl wants to delay any arms reductions until the Nuclear Posture Review, then work the process so the NPR makes only minor changes to the existing nuclear arsenal.”
Indeed, if Obama makes a deal with Russian President Medvedev to drastically reduce nuclear stockpiles, Kyl — who is against reducing America’s nuclear weapons — won’t have much of an opportunity to challenge it. Kyl would rather play domestic politics with the NPR and have a chance at limiting nuclear reductions before any U.S.-Russia binding agreement. Thus, it appears Kyl is using the NPR as an excuse to block U.S. negotiations with Russia, and is holding up Tauscher’s nomination as blackmail.
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“Vote GOP in 2010: pro-nukes, pro-rape, pro-torture, pro-wiretapping, pro-imprisonment, anti-empathy.”
Works for me.
June 24th, 2009 at 1:51 pmNow let’s put the blame on this squarely where it belongs.
The dem leadership CERTAINLY DOES NOT HAVE TO let repugs obstruct in this manner nor is there any reason why someone that does not even have the balls to identify themselves as an obstructionist needs to be given anonymity.
This is another example of dem leadership capitulating to the backwash – thoroughly discredited and unpopular politicians and agendas.
If the repugs threaten to filibuster or obstruct – DEM LEADERSHIP NEEDS TO FORCE THEM TO PUBLIC ALLY DO SO.
The party of NO needs to be given the chance to show the public what they stand for/against. Unfortunately, the real story behind this post is dems giving the repugs what they demand even though voters have clearly said otherwise.
June 24th, 2009 at 1:52 pm“…then work the process so the NPR makes only minor changes to the existing nuclear arsenal.”
____________
Damn… NPR has nuclear weapons now?
That should help with the next pledge drive.
June 24th, 2009 at 1:52 pmSenator Kyl, are you cheating on your wife with a man or a woman?
June 24th, 2009 at 1:52 pm.
Well, the Military Industrial Complex has to keep the process moving forward…
… NO?
THERE’S A KILLING TO BE HAD AT MAKING WAR!
What’s next, John MCJunior’s rendition of “Bomb, bomb, bomb, North Korea”?
.
June 24th, 2009 at 1:54 pmBobwurst Says:
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Senator Kyl, are you cheating on your wife with a man or a woman?
June 24th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Yes…………And yes
June 24th, 2009 at 1:54 pmFreeMarketLiberal Says:
——————————————————————————–
The radical left being exposed as misleading at 24ahead…Independents arent falling for your conservative smear anymore.
June 24th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
The left is “misleading” ?
That must make you piece of shit cancervatives outright and habitual liars……….
June 24th, 2009 at 1:56 pmQ: What’s more fun that a barrel of Republicans?
A: Two barrels of Republicans.
June 24th, 2009 at 1:56 pmASSOCIATED PRESS
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Personal trainer and self-labeled ex-prostitute Mike Jones, whose allegations regarding disgraced Baptist megachurch preacher Ted Haggard led to the latter’s resignation, says he spent the weekend in a Colorado hotel room with missing South Carolina Republican Gov. Mark Sanford. And he has a plane ticket receipt with Sanford’s name on it that he says proves it.
A spokeswoman for Sanford’s office called the allegation “beyond ludicrous; shameful,” adding that Sanford is a “married man who is deeply committed to his wife and children, whom he loves very, very much.”
“Governor Sanford would never engage in the incredibly immoral acts Mr. Jacobs has alleged took place,” the spokeswoman said. “Governor Sanford believes homosexual acts are a sin and violate the Bible and the sacred institution of traditional marriage, which is why he fully supports South Carolina’s Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as being between only a man and a woman.”
The spokeswoman wouldn’t say if the governor plans to sue for defamation of character, only that “Mr. Jones should be very, very careful about what he says about Governor Sanford in the future. And we’ll be praying for his soul at this clearly troubling time in his life.”
June 24th, 2009 at 1:57 pmFreeMarketLiberal Says:
The radical left being exposed as misleading at 24ahead…Independents arent falling for your conservative smear anymore.
June 24th, 2009 at 1:57 pm========
STFU!!! What kind of attention are you trying to seek today? Gosh, I got a number to a very good therapist who would be more than happy to treat you. Your worse than my 5 year old nephew.
Can someone explain how a lone senator in the minority party can put a blanket hold on every remaining state department nominee? Conversely, can someone explain why, if this is possible, the Dems failed to stop the vast majority of Chimpy’s screamingly ineffective nominees? I realize that Harry Reid’s picture is in the dictionary next to the word “ineffectual” but this is absurd.
June 24th, 2009 at 1:59 pm24AHEAD?
IS THAT your price?
June 24th, 2009 at 2:00 pmJoe is right. Any legislative body at the local or state level would NEVER tolerate giving one person the power to stop any process. It is time for congress to conduct our business in an open public forum. We pay them to represent us, not act like we work for them!
June 24th, 2009 at 2:02 pmpaleo – The good ol club known as the Senate runs with its own set of rules and traditions, which preclude sanity from coming anywhere near it’s judgements and operational M/O/
June 24th, 2009 at 2:02 pmpaleolib – the answer to your question is simple and very disappointing.
THE DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP LETS THEM!
June 24th, 2009 at 2:03 pmThe Second Amendment, Adam and Eve, Leviticus and Revelations are all that the Republican politician needs these days. Those four elements, each thoroughly divorced from their original contexts, are used to justify all sorts of stupidity and nastiness, both in this nation and overseas.
Any of the repiggie talking points are strenuously defended by invoking any of those four elements. In the meantime, the defense contractors and their lobbyists are giggling all the way to the bank.
There are always trillions available for this stuff, but try getting senators like Kyl
June 24th, 2009 at 2:04 pmto spend a couple of trillion to set up the public option in health care. It really is a disgrace.
This is a most anti-democratic obstructionist procedure – SWBOB has a great point.
These same morons are probably screaming about the need for democracy in Iran, but they don’t support it at home.
But let’s be clear – this is only possible because the dems allow it! So we need to hold them accountable.
June 24th, 2009 at 2:05 pmWhen asked why Kyl is placing a hold on Tauscher, a spokesperson said, “He expressed privately to the administration his concerns. He has chosen not to discuss them publicly.”
Excuse me? Who the f uck do you work for…?
June 24th, 2009 at 2:06 pmAh-hah! A new twist on the Republican ‘nuclear option…’
June 24th, 2009 at 2:07 pmevangenital – good point, but at least we know where Kyl stands on that issue. What is worse is the lip-service from dems about the importance of healthcare reform, but then (at least in senate) they capitulate to this crowd even though the public has already made its preferences clearly known.
Billions for banks, war crimes & crimes against humanity, the military industrial complex, the auto industry, foreign aid to countries that are relatively well off, BUT NO HEALTH CARE FOR YOU!
June 24th, 2009 at 2:08 pmAnother Joe Says:
Blah blah blah…So we need to hold them accountable.
June 24th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Yeah, no kidding. Exactly how many letters and phone calls have you made to your congressional representatives and the White House?
And yet, you hang around here ALL THE TIME.
You are a fraud.
June 24th, 2009 at 2:08 pmKyl’s just holding out to have his name engraved on the tips of the warheads. ED is a bummer, eh Kylie?
June 24th, 2009 at 2:10 pmperhaps if the post indicated that the responsibility of shenanigans like this actually lie with the dem majority and its leaders for letting the minority act this way and disregard the will of the people.
But go ahead – I know that for some, accountability is a one-way-street and if you have a “d” after your names, you will never be held responsible for your actions.
June 24th, 2009 at 2:11 pmBe in a TV ad — and call Senate Democrats out!
Though I will acknowledge that for some, holding dems accountable is not acceptable.
To each his/her own.
June 24th, 2009 at 2:12 pm@McMetal #
The left is “misleading” ?
That must make you piece of shit cancervatives outright and habitual liars……….
June 24th, 2009 at 2:12 pmYeah, and this is new how? :)
Many will be interested in this from TPM:
June 24th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
FreeMarketLiberal Says:
The radical left being exposed as misleading at 24ahead…Independents arent falling for your conservative smear anymore.
Har har. I took a look at your wackadoo “blog”. Do you have to wear a towel under your chin while you post, to catch the froth? Pretty funny that you whine about “conservative smear” when your entire blog is dedicated to nothing but “liberal smear.”
June 24th, 2009 at 2:17 pm24Ahead?
Blechh.
Sounds like a website for the Craigs and Vitters of this world.
No thanks.
I will politely and respectfully pass.
June 24th, 2009 at 2:19 pmtime to head to the studio
FML – keep copy and pasting BS
AJ – keep whining
regs – keep up the OFnF work, you guys spanked the hell out of AJ last night
peace
June 24th, 2009 at 2:20 pmNow HERE’S a dem that is doing the right thing:
Sensenbrenner delivers impeachment papers to Senate
But for those of you with long memories, Sensenbrenner was also a House impeachment manager for a trial for President Bill Clinton (boooo!) and U.S. District Judge Walter Nixon
June 24th, 2009 at 2:20 pmKOS has embedded a live feed to watch stanford train wreck – check it out:
Popcorn Time: Mark Sanford Press Conference
It’s starting now!
June 24th, 2009 at 2:22 pmsanford started by claiming that he organized trips like this for kids (ahhhhhh – how nice) and is trying to say this is just like goin’ back home to the farm for a “break”
Now he is gonna be a “bottom line” kind of guy (oh oh – a larry craig-type scandal) and says he is going to let the chips fall where they may!
And now he’s groveling, apologizing to wife, kids, blah blah blah… Wife stands by his side… blah blah… apologize to staff, sure his constituents are next…
June 24th, 2009 at 2:27 pmNow he is almost breaking up in tears apologizing to other repugs and confessing his “profound love” to Tom Gates.
And mom and dad too!
June 24th, 2009 at 2:27 pmNow he is invoking God’s laws – protecting us from ourselves!
June 24th, 2009 at 2:29 pmNot sure – he may have just apologized to the God of his understanding…
HE HAS BEEN UNFAITHFUL TO HIS WIFE
June 24th, 2009 at 2:30 pmDamn – this is gonna help palin!
June 24th, 2009 at 2:31 pmZooey Says:
Excuse me? Who the f uck do you work for…
Lobbyists
June 24th, 2009 at 2:32 pmWhat kind of weirdo has an affair and then, while governor of a state and having just thrust himself in spotlight pretending to have the high moral ground on the stimulus bill, then takes off over FATHERS DAY with his bimbo?
Though I am not sure I specifically heard him say it was a woman!
June 24th, 2009 at 2:33 pmWith whom was Sanford doing the cha-cha “down Argentine way?”
June 24th, 2009 at 2:33 pmHe’s got him some little honey stash far away from peeking eyes.
OT, but Mark Sanford has just admitted that he went to Argentina with the women he has been having an affair with. He is asking god and the people of SC to forgive him. Another phony religious repug.
June 24th, 2009 at 2:33 pmDid he just say he would go across the state and talk one-to-one on his constituency about his irresponsible sex-vacation?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Been going on for 5 months!
He’s been working with Christian Bible Studies over it, but, evidently, decided to go for a romp this weekend anyhow!
June 24th, 2009 at 2:35 pmHe says he met her 8 years ago, “innocently” – but then just had to get in her pants (assuming it was actually a woman).
June 24th, 2009 at 2:35 pmHe refered to “her” and “my wife” in the sentence where he listed the people he hurt. So, I think that it is a her, and not a him….Bring on the cascade of him judging other people’s lives.,
And shut up about “god’s law”, god gave us urges.
June 24th, 2009 at 2:36 pmHe’s invoking God’s laws again – part of his explanation as to how it all happened.
June 24th, 2009 at 2:36 pm.
Dear paleolib,
It isn’t called “ineffectual” but instead, “IMPOTENT”!
.
June 24th, 2009 at 2:37 pmIt’s official. Another proud defender of the “sanctity of traditional marriage” can’t seem to keep “it” in his pants. Will he blame same-sex marriage or Bill Clinton or those nasty “libruls” or feminists?
When will we be spared all the moral haranguing from these practitioners of corporate religion?
June 24th, 2009 at 2:38 pmDayrll? help us understand this: how does one shake off the devil in Argentina?
June 24th, 2009 at 2:38 pmNow wouldn’t everyone agree this is a worthwhile distraction from the large issues of the day?
Much more impact and resonance than the likes of a bridge party in the middle of nowhere that wants to start a revolution over obamacare.
But wait – obama himself and many dems are now indicating they will capitulate to the bridge club!
June 24th, 2009 at 2:39 pmBobworst,
June 24th, 2009 at 2:39 pmConfessional…
… That’s where.
LOL – he is saying he didn’t lie to his staff, he just told them, “ummmmmmm, hey, ummmmm… this might be where I will go…”
June 24th, 2009 at 2:39 pmWell, I guess Sanford qualifies for the republican litmus test of ‘impeachment-worthy.’
So, what’re they waiting for….oh, right, the applause from his colleagues.
June 24th, 2009 at 2:41 pmHis big goon squad just came and rescued him just as a reporter was asking, “WILL YOU RESIGN AS GOVERNOR!”
Now that is some backwash that was worth puttin’ some popcorn on for!
June 24th, 2009 at 2:41 pmThese god fearing wackjobs who preach to others how they should live their lives, are the biggest humps around. Almost everyone of them have ended up in some kind of slimey affair. The party of family values has to be one of the biggest jokes on the American people in the last 30 years.
June 24th, 2009 at 2:41 pmHey, rantin’ I find a way to do this at the studio!
But go ahead and whine about what other people post if that is what trips your little trigger!
June 24th, 2009 at 2:43 pmThat presser was something else. He comes out apologizing and crying and thanking people BEFORE he even admits that he was having an affair. What a joke these Repugs are.
June 24th, 2009 at 2:43 pmFreeMarketLiberal Says:
The radical left being exposed as misleading at 24ahead…Independents arent falling for your conservative smear anymore.
Misleading?
24Ahead’s got an entry on “Hottest Iranian protest babe pics?”.
I can see their method of trying to draw Independents–the Fox “softcore-porn-is-bad-and-here-is-some-to-prove-our-point” way.
June 24th, 2009 at 2:43 pmThese holy roller repiggie adulterers had better be careful. They might get applause from their fellow slimebags, but they might get the clap from their little sugar stash.
June 24th, 2009 at 2:43 pmangels, only if the dems offer a clear alternative. Don’t kid yourself, propaganda works and there is always a new individual to take each of these losers place.
Yes, we have been blessed with opportunities over the past few years, but in the end all that really matters is what the dems did with these opportunities.
Right now, we may be looking at a major capitulation on the most salient issue of the day – something that will make how they sold us out over FISA look like student-council stuff.
How quick people forget…
June 24th, 2009 at 2:45 pmThe wingnut evangelical nuts profess to be Calvinists – everything they choose to do is God’s will.
Note how he repeatedly involved God’s law – they don’t exactly blame God for their shortcomings, but they sure seem to be implying that the God of their understanding goes “nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more!”
June 24th, 2009 at 2:47 pm57.IgnoranceIsNotBliss Says: That presser was something else. He comes out apologizing and crying and thanking people BEFORE he even admits that he was having an affair.
Ah, yes; the ‘republican trifecta.’
June 24th, 2009 at 2:48 pmevangenital Says:
whhhhahahahahahah!!!!WHAT A HANDLE!!~!
June 24th, 2009 at 2:51 pmSo is even the most ignorant backwash in his state going to believe his claims that he mysteriously (and dishonestly) went to Argentina over Father’s Day Weekend to “break off” the relationship that his wife had known about for 5 months and that he has been seeking help from a Bible Study to resolve????
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!
June 24th, 2009 at 2:51 pmkaty:
June 24th, 2009 at 2:54 pmDo I need you permission to beat the shit out of Another Joe?
Is this good news: sanford is resigning as head of Republican Governors Association.
Me thinks not, will probably elevate some relatively unknown (on a national level) wacko onto the national stage.
June 24th, 2009 at 2:54 pmI can handle you, db@ass, but if you get a hard-on talkin’ like a thug on a liberal blog, go ahead!
Just be grateful you don’t get what you ask for!
June 24th, 2009 at 2:55 pmYou can handle shit and I have 60 plus that have called you fake ass out, Face it. You have been humilitated by this community. Nobody gives a shit about you…
June 24th, 2009 at 2:55 pmcan’t
June 24th, 2009 at 2:56 pmdbadass Says:
Go for it, I am sure I won’t be the only one to cover your back.
June 24th, 2009 at 3:01 pmDr. Matt, thanks (?) for the FOX tidbit. How many times can FOX get away with misidentifying a disgraced Republican as a Democrat? (Rhetorical question. I know the answer is “as many times as they damn well please”.)
June 24th, 2009 at 3:02 pmAnother Joe Says:
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Is this good news: sanford is resigning as head of Republican Governors Association.
Palin will be stumpin’ for the job by the end of the week.
June 24th, 2009 at 3:04 pmApparently, the best way to protect “traditional marriage” is to bar republicans from engaging in it. Plus that’ll cut down on reproduction of the squirrely fcukers too…
June 24th, 2009 at 3:05 pmPresident Obama needs to make all the appointments that are currently being obstructed by the Republics during the recess. That’s the only way he will be able to have the people in place he needs to make the changes that need to be made. If Bush can make recess appointments, then so can President Obama.
June 24th, 2009 at 3:07 pmMaybe we should just be grateful that sanford didn’t invoke the name of Jesus…
June 24th, 2009 at 3:10 pmHoly Crap, TP! Get up a post on Sanford! People have a lot of funny (and insightful) stuff to write!
June 24th, 2009 at 3:11 pmMust see photo from presser
June 24th, 2009 at 3:12 pmBilbo Hussein Baggins Says:
President Obama needs to make all the appointments that are currently being obstructed by the Republics during the recess. That’s the only way he will be able to have the people in place he needs to make the changes that need to be made. If Bush can make recess appointments, then so can President Obama.
Sound like a good idea to me. Obama and his staff should frame it as ‘wanting to get things done for the country’ and there’s ‘no time to waste in these critical times’ and all that jazz. Give it good spin.
My understanding is that Bush made 171 recess appointments while Clinton made 139.
June 24th, 2009 at 3:15 pmIf you want a good laugh – you have to see what RedState had to say before the conference:
First, we need to be clear on the facts — not the media speculation:
— Sanford did tell his staff and family where he was going.
– Because he was traveling without a security detail, it was in his best interests that no one knew he was gone.
— His political enemies — Republicans at that — ginned up the media story.
— When confronted by a pestering media, things went downhill.
— Again though, at all times there was no doubt that Sanford’s staff and family knew where he was.
June 24th, 2009 at 3:16 pmSen. Kyl, Arizona voters will do the same to you as they did to Hayworth…
put a ‘Hold’ on your political career…
June 24th, 2009 at 3:19 pmturns out sanford voted to impeach clinton on 3 of the 4 counts
June 24th, 2009 at 3:22 pmnoun-verb-9/11 rudy is proclaiming that this shouldn’t be used for political fodder – WOW!
June 24th, 2009 at 3:24 pmAnother Joe, you have made 31 out of the 81 posts on this thread.
June 24th, 2009 at 3:28 pmThat’s roughly over 25% of the thread.
Start your own board poser.
Make that 33
June 24th, 2009 at 3:28 pmAccording to the article, I get the sense that Obama is going on with his plan, whether Kyl likes it or not. Besides I read somewhere earlier this week that the Russians are ready to begin decreasing the size of their nuclear arsenal.
June 24th, 2009 at 3:59 pmThank you..
Sesli Chat
June 24th, 2009 at 4:27 pmSesli Sohbet
Sesli Chat
Sesli Sohbet
Sesli kent
SesliChat
SesliSohbet
Somebody tell these troglodytes that when their messiah Ronnie Raygun single handedly ended the Cold War the Cold war is over.
June 24th, 2009 at 5:46 pmWhat’s with the nuclear weapons adoration, and insisting that we and Russia be enemies? They afraid of peace? I’m thrilled that President Obama and Medvedev are working on arms reductions and better relations.
June 24th, 2009 at 6:03 pmShe’s actually pretty entertaining and whip-cracking when she’s in charge of the House.
June 24th, 2009 at 6:41 pm