All the the committee’s Democrats approved the Respect for Marriage Act which would repeal DOMA and allow legally married couples to access federal benefits such as Social Security. Republicans countered that the repeal would undermine “traditional marriage.”

The bill was offered by Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, and every Republican on the committee spoke out against it.

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said, “The Fourteenth Amendment would probably never have been ratified if the public understood it to provide for same-sex marriage.

“This goes against the morality of many millions of Americans. I’ve always supported the definition of marriage between a man and a woman. It’s not about discriminating against anyone.”

It’s about “stable families, good environments for raising children and religious beliefs,” Grassley said.

“The Iowa Supreme Court made up a right to same-sex marriage. The people rose up and voted out all of the judges who were up for retention. In Iowa, the judges ignored the constitution,” Grassley added.

Sen. Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, a Democrat, said, “I support this bill because it takes the federal government out of the business of defining marriage.”

Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma said it would cost the government too much money if same-sex couples had access to Social Security like their heterosexual counterparts.

He also charged Democrats were out of touch by raising the issue.

“What’s changed since 1996? This is just another sign of how out of touch some of our friends across the aisle have been. I think it’s a transparent appeal to an interest group the other side needs in 2012.”

Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said even though he voted for DOMA in 1996, he realized his vote was wrong.

“I believe I was wrong and I readily acknowledge that my views on this issue changed. It’s not because of votes,” he responded to Coburn. “It’s the right thing to do. I don’t care if it costs me votes.”

Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said the repeal would “force states to recognize same-sex marriage.”

“Repealing Section 2 [of DOMA] means these sates may be forced to recognize valid marriage that their laws prohibit,” he said.

Cornyn said states have mostly chosen to affirm traditional marriage, adding he wished Democrats would support state’s rights in other instances. “I wish my liberal friends would pay attention to the prerogatives of the individual states in other situations.”

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said “repealing DOMA respects states right to make their own determination about marriage.”

On state-based bans on same-sex marriage, he said, “It’s not a question of if they are repealed, it’s a question of when.”

Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said, “I was struck at the hearing on the bill last summer by the people who testified. They were discriminated against and unfairly harmed. They were denied protections like the ability to take off work to care for a dying partner and denied survivor benefits when a partner died.”

She also said the issue wasn’t about religion.

“Whatever we vote on today and whatever happens today, the bill doesn’t require any church or mosque or synagogue to perform same-sex marriage. As the debate on this continues, we cannot lose sight of that.”

“I have tremendous respect for Sen. Grassley,” Sen. Al Franken, a Democrat from Minnesota, said. “I just believe you misstated the history of marriage. Marriage has not existed as a union between one man and one woman for thousands of years in every culture. In many cultures, men have been able to marry many women and young girls. For centuries, women have been treated as cattle in marriage. Further, if the religious purpose for marriage is procreation, why would we sanction marriage between an 89-year-old widower and an 80-year-old widow? I just think we need to be accurate when we talk about the history of marriage, the history of man and woman, the history of our institutions.”

Franken spoke about couples in Minnesota who have been harmed by DOMA including a young couple who met in divinity school and married in Connecticut who have to lie on their federal tax forms and say they are single.

He talked about another Minnesota couple that married in Iowa, John and Jeff Westerfied. John was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

“Jeff won’t have the federal right to take a medical leave. If John passes, Jeff won’t see a dime from Social Security,” said Franken. “DOMA hurts people who love each other. DOMA hurts people who want to adopt kids and raise them and take care of them. DOMA hurts families.

“We need to pass this bill. Straight people aren’t suddenly going to become gay, Straight people aren’t going to stop getting married. We are going to be just fine. Really.”

Thompson told Milwaukee’s WTMJ that he was running for Senate “because the country is in terrible shape.”

Thompson has taken heat from conservative groups like the Club for Growth, who say Thompson isn’t conservative enough.

“The truth of the matter is I was the original conservative,” Thompson said on the radio show. “I was the one who carried the state of Wisconsin four times, when Republicans and Republicanism was the not de rigueur of the state, and we were able to change the state of Wisconsin, not to a red state, but a purple state.”

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel points out that Thompson himself admitted his moderation in an earlier interview.

“I’m not as conservative as I once was. … You grow on your job. … It’s much better to use pragmatic common sense than be so rigidly tied to one ideology you can’t see the forest for the trees.”

The only other candidate to enter the race has been Tammy Baldwin, who currently serves the state as a congresswoman. Other Republicans are expected to throw their hats in the ring.

Thompson told Milwaukee’s WTMJ that he was running for Senate “because the country is in terrible shape.”

Thompson has taken heat from conservative groups like the Club for Growth, who say Thompson isn’t conservative enough.

“The truth of the matter is I was the original conservative,” Thompson said on the radio show. “I was the one who carried the state of Wisconsin four times, when Republicans and Republicanism was the not de rigueur of the state, and we were able to change the state of Wisconsin, not to a red state, but a purple state.”

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel points out that Thompson himself admitted his moderation in an earlier interview.

“I’m not as conservative as I once was. . . . You grow on your job. . . . It’s much better to use pragmatic common sense than be so rigidly tied to one ideology you can’t see the forest for the trees.”

The only other candidate to enter the race has been Democratic U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin. Other Republicans are expected to throw their hats in the ring.

In an email message sent to supporters Tuesday morning, Baldwin cited Wall Street reform, economic justice for the middle class and withdrawal from Afghanistan as issues on which her campaign will focus.

“I’ve decided to run for the U.S. Senate because I believe Wisconsin families need a senator who will work hard to deliver results for the middle class — a leader with the courage to do what’s right, no matter how tough the odds or how powerful the special interests we have to fight,” she wrote.

“I can’t wait to take my fight to the Senate: a fight to grow our economy, protect seniors, force Wall Street to clean up its act, and bring our troops home from Afghanistan. And I can’t wait to see you on the trail as we bring our campaign to every corner of Wisconsin.”

Baldwin is the first openly gay woman in the U.S. House. And, if she wins the 2012 race for U.S. Senate, she will become the first openly gay person to serve in that chamber.

“I know that, in this campaign, we’ll be up against some powerful special interests. But I’ve beaten the odds before. All my life, the naysayers have told me that I can’t win because I’m a progressive … because I’m a woman … even because I’m a lesbian. And I’ve proven them wrong because I’ve had rock-solid supporters like you standing with me,” she said.

On the GOP side, several individuals have been rumored as potential candidates — including former Gov. and 2008 presidential candidate Tommy Thompson. Former Wisconsin Rep. Mark Neumann, however, is the only person to make it official.

Former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, who was rumored to be considering a run, recently announced that he would not seek any elected office in 2012.

Baldwin’s candidacy has already drawn support from EMILY’s List president Shephanie Schriock, who labeled Baldwin in a prepared statement as a “dedicated and hardworking leader.”

“In office she has tirelessly advocated for affordable access to women’s health care and equal rights for all Americans. Tammy has earned a strong economic record in the House — standing for jobs and small business against corporate lobbying interests and unfair trade deals. She has consistently spoken out against the GOP war on women and we need her strong voice in the Senate. We’re thrilled she’s thrown her hat in the ring and are excited that this race is starting,” Schriock said.

Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, also put out a statement, saying, “Tammy Baldwin’s candidacy for the U.S. Senate is monumental for both the state of Wisconsin and the country’s LGBT community. Tammy has proven herself as an effective legislator over the course of her 13 years in Congress and this campaign will be a top priority for the Human Rights Campaign.”

Baldwin’s introductory message is embedded below:

Last week, the Courage Campaign noted that Klobuchar was one of two Democratic senators who hadn’t signed on to the DOMA repeal bill (the other is Wisconsin’s Herb Kohl) and that her office stated that she had not taken a position on the bill. That prompted OutFront Minnesota, the state’s largest LGBT advocacy group, to initiate a campaign urging constituents to call on her to support the repeal.

On Tuesday, state Sen. Dibble of Minneapolis noted that he spoke with Klobuchar’s staff, who indicated she would vote for the measure.

“I have spoken directly with Amy Klobuchar’s State Director,” Dibble wrote on Facebook. “Senator Klobuchar will be voting for the repeal of DOMA in the Senate Judiciary Committee.”

Klobuchar’s press office has not responded to the Minnesota Independent’s request for confirmation.

DOMA was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Clinton in 1996. It bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage which, at the time, no states had legalized. Today, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, the District of Columbia and the Coquille Tribal Council in Oregon perform same-sex marriages, and thousands of Californians are also legally married following several months in 2008 prior to the passage of Prop 8 when same-sex marriage was legal.

“It is an important question and a difficult question about how an election contest that at least arguably the political branches can’t find a way to resolve themselves, what should happen,” she said.

Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) had asked Kagan to say whether she felt the Court decided the case correctly. Kagan said she disagreed with Kohl’s assertion that a similar case would never come before the Court again.

“If it did, I would try to consider it in an appropriate way,” she said.

In Bush v. Gore, the Court ruled 5-4 that the state of Florida needed to cease its recount of ballots because it was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause. The Court’s decision meant George W. Bush officially won the state by 543 votes.

Kagan wrote in notes for a 2003 speech that the Court’s decision was a prime example of politics affecting the judicial process, claiming it was “only the tip of the iceberg.”

Updated at 11:20 a.m.

Under the proposed 50/50 formula, utilities that are more coal dependent will need to purchase even more allowances than they would have if all allowances were allocated based on emissions.

Well, yeah. And under the current proposed 50/50 formula, the coal burners would also have to purchase more allowances than if Congress did nothing at all. But the whole point of the bill is to discourage the use of high-emission energies like coal by making them less affordable than cleaner alternatives. Sheppard explains further why the lawmakers’ argument makes little sense in the context of the global warming debate:

Of course, this would work against the entire logic of the proposed scheme, which is to offer utilities financial incentives to switch to lower-carbon fuel sources. [...]

Right now, the climate bill needs all the votes it can get from Democrats. So enviros worry that concessions to this bloc could ultimately result in a deal in which coal plants suffer no real penalties for the carbon they pump into the atmosphere. “Dirty coal polluters know their days are numbered and are lobbying for the largest piece of the pie they can get,” said Jason Kowalski, policy coordinator at 1Sky. “It goes against the spirit of this legislation to reward the polluters that caused this problem in the first place.”

Signing on to the letter were Democratic Sens. Carl Levin (Mich.), Debbie Stabenow (Mich.), Russ Feingold (Wis.), Herb Kohl (Wis.), Tom Harkin (Iowa), Al Franken (Minn.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Byron Dorgan (N.D.), Kent Conrad (N.D.), Roland Burris (Ill.), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Michael Bennet (Colo.), Mark Udall (Colo.) and Robert Byrd (W.Va.).

Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s anti-trust panel, said Monday that a merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation would create a ticketing behemoth threatening to squash smaller competitors and hike costs to consumers. In a letter, Kohl urged the Justice Department to examine the proposal closely to ensure those trends wouldn’t result. The Wisconsin Democrat said Justice should “only approve the merger should it determine that the transaction is unlikely to lead to higher prices for consumers, and is unlikely to cause any substantial lessening of competition in any aspect of the concert business.”

Given the already high market share possessed by Ticketmaster in the ticketing business and consumer complaints of high ticketing fees, special care must be taken to ensure that this merger does not create undue barriers to entry for competitors in the ticketing marketplace.

A similar letter from 50 House members went out to the Justice Department yesterday as well.

Whether Congress has more luck than Pearl Jam taking on Ticketmaster has yet to be seen.

Senator Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), just spent much of his questioning time asking Judge Sonia Sotomayor whether she a) believes there is a right to privacy, as the Supreme court has ruled there is; b) whether she thinks Roe v. Wade is still good law; c) whether she agrees with the Supreme Court’s decision that allows a government to take land by eminent domain and turn it over to a private developer; and d) whether the Supreme Court’s decision in an antitrust case that allowed vertical price-fixing was right or wrong.

Kohl knows full well that no candidate to the Court can or would testify that she believes a recent Supreme Court decision is wrong, or that she’s intent on joining the court and then urging her colleagues to reverse their own precedent.  So why is he wasting his time?

Not to beat up on Kohl in particular, but it’s a perfect example of how nomination hearings are as much (or more) about political posturing for the senators’ constituents as they are about actually learning more about the nominee. In this case, it was also an easy way for Kohl to hand Sotomayor a golden opportunity to display that she would join the Supreme Court without biases or preconceptions and faithfully apply the law (just as Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito, nominated by President George W. Bush, promised to do before her).

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