In Alabama: CNN projects Republican Sen. win
(CNN) - Republican incumbent Sen. Richard Shelby has won a fifth term to his Alabama seat in the U.S. Senate, CNN projects, beating out Democratic nominee William Barnes. Projections are based on CNN analysis of exit poll data.
'Big Oil wants its way,' Dem says
Two senators - one Democrat and one Republican - slammed the oil and gas industry Sunday along with the federal agency responsible for regulating the industry. (Photo Credit: CNN)
Washington (CNN) – A Democratic senator whose state is in the bulls’ eye of the massive oil spill swirling around the Gulf of Mexico said Sunday that the oil and gas industry has used its political muscle to frustrate past efforts to tighten regulations and increase safety precautions.
Watch: Nelson, Shelby slam industry and its regulator
“’Big Oil’ wants its way,” Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, said on CNN’s State of the Union, “They’ve been trying to bully their way to drill off the coast of Florida.” Nelson was responding to a suggestion from CNN Chief Political Correspondent Candy Crowley that Congress had failed in its oversight responsibility relating to the Minerals Management Service (“MMS”), the federal agency the regulates offshore drilling.
“’Big Oil’ has had its way among the regulators, the senator said. Nelson said the relationship between the industry and MMS is a “cozy” one and the Florida Democrat referenced embarrassing revelations about the MMS which both regulates the safety of oil and gas exploration and manages the federal government’s lucrative leases of federal land to the oil and gas industry.
Related video: MMS in bed with 'Big Oil'?
“But shouldn’t Congress have some responsibility?” Crowley asked Nelson.
FULL POST
'Big Oil wants its way,' Dem says
Two senators - one Democrat and one Republican - slammed the oil and gas industry Sunday along with the federal agency responsible for regulating the industry. (Photo Credit: CNN)
Washington (CNN) – A Democratic senator whose state is in the bulls’ eye of the massive oil spill swirling around the Gulf of Mexico said Sunday that the oil and gas industry has used its political muscle to frustrate past efforts to tighten regulations and increase safety precautions.
Watch: Nelson, Shelby slam industry and its regulator
“’Big Oil’ wants its way,” Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, said on CNN’s State of the Union, “They’ve been trying to bully their way to drill off the coast of Florida.” Nelson was responding to a suggestion from CNN Chief Political Correspondent Candy Crowley that Congress had failed in its oversight responsibility relating to the Minerals Management Service (“MMS”), the federal agency the regulates offshore drilling.
“’Big Oil’ has had its way among the regulators, the senator said. Nelson said the relationship between the industry and MMS is a “cozy” one and the Florida Democrat referenced embarrassing revelations about the MMS which both regulates the safety of oil and gas exploration and manages the federal government’s lucrative leases of federal land to the oil and gas industry.
Related video: MMS in bed with 'Big Oil'?
“But shouldn’t Congress have some responsibility?” Crowley asked Nelson.
FULL POST
We can't prevent every terrorism attack, Republican says
Washington (CNN) – Reflecting on the recent failed terrorism attack on Times Square, a Republican senator said Sunday that the United States may not be able to prevent every scheme designed to do harm.
“We can do everything we can to protect – but there will be some things that will slip up on us, no matter what,” Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, said on CNN’s State of the Union.
Shelby noted that the recent Times Square plot and last year’s failed attempt to blow up a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day had something in common - they were both carried out in the main by a single person. Those types of one-person operations make intelligence gathering and detection that much harder, he said.
“So if they keep doing this and they fan out all over the country, we’re going to have deep, deep challenges ahead in terms terrorism work,” Shelby told CNN Chief Political Correspondent Candy Crowley.
Later in the interview, Shelby said that law enforcement officials were lucky when it came to the botched Times Square plot. “It’s been said before: Luck shouldn’t be our policy,” said Shelby, “We’ve got to be more diligent. We’ve got to do more training. We’ve got to realize that individuals are dangerous by themselves especially when they’ve had training.”
FULL POST
Shelby on Wall Street reform: 'We need to get this right'
Washington (CNN) - In this week's Republican address, Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama pans the Wall Street reform legislation currently being debated in the Senate, saying it does nothing to fix the root cause of the recent financial meltdown.
"[R]eform should address the causes of the financial crisis, promote economic growth, and end bailouts for good," Shelby said in video released Saturday. "The legislation that the Democrats proposed failed each of these tests."
Twin mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are singled out by Shelby, the ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, as two institutions that need significant reform.
Key senators agree on too big to fail deal
Washington (CNNMoney.com) - Top senators on the banking panel released the details of a bipartisan deal on how to unwind big financial firms that are considered too big to fail.
Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said he's finished making changes to an amendment to the Wall Street reform bill that concerned Republicans like Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala.
Dodd and Shelby reached an agreement in principle last week, and now the Senate will vote on this amendment later this afternoon.
Among the more significant changes, Democrats are officially dropping the tax on banks that would have funded a $50 billion pot of money that regulators could tap to help take down failing banks. Now the bill stipulates that banks will be taxed to pay unwinding banks after a collapse.
Full story on CNNMoney.com
Shelby gets 'The Last Word'
Washington (CNN) – Weighing in on a number of national political and economic issues, outspoken Republican Sen. Richard Shelby got ‘The Last Word’ Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union.
Asked about Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke who has been nominated by President Obama for a second term heading the nation’s central bank, Shelby said, “I believe if you look at his record objectively, you shouldn’t vote for him.”
“I believe the Federal Reserve is part and parcel of the whole problem [that led to the recent financial crisis], that helped create the problem – loose money and too little regulation Now they want to ride to the rescue with the taxpayers’ money. I believe that is not a good record by the Fed, led by Ben Bernanke. I intend to vote against him.”
Asked whether not confirming Bernanke could spook already shaky financial markets, Shelby brushed aside the suggestion that protecting the markets is a reason to back Bernanke.
FULL POST
Boxer 'worried' about transferring Gitmo detainees
(CNN) - California Sen. Barbara Boxer told CNN Sunday she and her Senate colleagues are "worried" about the possibility of transferring current Guantanamo Bay detainees into the United States, adding she is awaiting a more comprehensive plan on the matter from President Obama.
"We only have one max security prison in California and it's, right now, overbooked, that's the case," Boxer told CNN's John King on State of The Union. "In all, we are worried and we want to to see what the plan is."
Boxer's comments come days after Senate Democrats voted to withhold funding to close the Guantanamo Bay facility until the president lays out a more detailed plan on where the current 240 detainees will go.
Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, also appearing on State of The Union, cautioned the president against relocating the most "incorrigible" detainees in the United States.
"Nobody wants them. We got all kinds of places in the world we can house these people," Shelby said. "If we have to move them from Cuba, from Gitmo, we have other territory that can bring them in, but don't bring them to the United States of America.
In a high profile speech Thursday, Obama pledged no detainees would be brought to the United States "if it would endanger our national security."
No payback for Obama on high court pick, says Shelby
(CNN) - Republican Sen. Richard Shelby told CNN Sunday his decision on President Obama's Supreme Court pick would not be affected by "payback" for the former Illinois senator's votes against Bush nominees John Roberts and Samuel Alito.
"I’m not a payback type guy," he told John King on State of the Union. "I think you have to keep moving."
He was also pragmatic about the kind of nominee the Senate could expect to see. "I have no illusions about President Obama appointing a conservative like Alito or Roberts," he said. " But if he will appoint a pragmatist, someone who is not an ideologue, that someone is not just going to light all the lightbulbs in America on the left, I think that would be good for the country. He is very smart. He is very careful. I hope he is going to be careful in this appointment.”
Judiciary Committee Chairman, Democratic Sen. Pat Leahy suggested he knew some of the names on President Obama's Supreme Court shortlist, and planned to meet with the president this week to discuss the issue. He also said he was encouraging Obama to meet soon with leaders of both parties.
Some banks should be allowed to fail, say two top Republicans
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Two top Senate Republicans said Sunday that banks shouldn't be able to count on any more bailout money - and that the federal government should let some of them fail rather than distribute further funds to keep them afloat.
"Close them down, get them out of business. If they're dead, they ought to be buried," Sen. Richard Shelby, the Ranking Republican on the banking committee, told ABC's This Week. "We bury the small banks - we've got to bury some big ones, and send a strong message to the market." He did not mention any banks by name, although he responded to a question about Citigroup by noting that "Citi's always been a problem child."
Former GOP presidential candidate John McCain told Fox News Sunday that he did not think President Obama "made the hard decision, and that is to let these banks fail." He did not call for nationalization of troubled financial institutions, which many Republicans oppose, but said their assets should be sold. "Unfortunately, the shareholders and others will take a beating," he said.
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