Portman, R Sen

an 4 24

month after the January 6, 2021 siege of the US Capitol, 43 Republican senators voted to acquit former President Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial. If even just 10 of those Republicans sided with seven of their GOP colleagues and all 50 Democrats, Trump would have been ousted from office — and potentially barred from running again.

One of those 43 Republicans was Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), an establishment Republican who previously served in the George W. Bush administration. Atlantic editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg recently shared his experience about what happened when he confronted Portman during the Aspen Ideas Festival in 2022.

That interview took place the same day Cassidy Hutchinson — a senior aide to former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows — testified before the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack. One of the more harrowing details Hutchinson shared with the committee while under oath was that Trump was nonchalant about the fact that many of the insurrectionists storming the Capitol building had weapons.

"I don’t f---ing care that they have weapons," Hutchinson recalled the former president saying. "They’re not here to hurt me. Take the f---ing [metal detectors] away."

Goldberg recalled he was watching Hutchinson's testimony the same day he was due to interview Portman about what he noted was a far more safe topic of infrastructure spending. Even though the event organizers encouraged him to not divert from that topic while interviewing Portman in front of roughly 2,000 attendees, Goldberg wrote that he "did believe it to be my professional responsibility to ask Portman about Hutchinson’s testimony, and, more broadly, about his current views of Donald Trump."

While Goldberg gave Portman credit for denouncing Trump in the wake of the Access Hollywood tape that emerged in 2016 in which the GOP nominee made crude remarks suggesting he routinely groped women without their consent, he nonetheless endorsed Trump's candidacy in 2020 and ultimately voted to acquit him the week after the January 6 insurrection. Goldberg also noted that Portman wasn't the main offender among the Senate Republican Caucus, believing that Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), the GOP leader, could have pressured enough of his fellow Republicans to convict if he chose.

"I wanted to ask [Portman] if Hutchinson’s testimony, or anything else he had heard in the 18 months since the violent attack on the Capitol, had made him regret his decision," Goldberg recalled. "I was interested in pressing Portman because, unlike some of his dimmer colleagues, he clearly understood the threat Trump posed to constitutional order, and he was clearly, by virtue of his sterling reputation, in a position to influence his colleagues."

READ MORE:[Trump's promise to pardon Jan. 6 rioters guarantees 'likelihood of more violence': experts

When the two were onstage, Goldberg put aside the topic of infrastructure spending and simply asked Portman, “given what you know now about what happened on January 6, do you regret your vote to acquit in impeachment?”

"Portman immediately expressed his unhappiness with what he took to be an outré question," Goldberg wrote, recalling that Portman initially complained that Goldberg hadn’t told him beforehand that he would ask a question about Trump.

"American journalists generally do not warn government officials of their questions ahead of time," Goldberg wrote. Portman then reportedly reminded Goldberg about his harsh words condemning Trump for his role in the insurrection. And while Goldberg credited Portman for his speech on the floor of the US Senate, and while the former Ohio senator insisted "that's who I am," Goldberg disagreed.

"This is not who he is. Portman showed the people of Ohio who he is five weeks later, on February 13, when he voted to acquit Trump, the man he knew to have fomented a violent, antidemocratic insurrection meant to overturn the results of a fair election," Goldberg wrote. He recalled that Portman insisted that convicting a former president in an impeachment trial would have violated norms, and would have "further politicized the impeachment process." Portman suggested that Republicans may seek to impeach and convict former President Barack Obama in the future had the same been done with Trump.

"It was an interesting, and also pathetic, point to make: Portman was arguing that his Republican colleagues are so corrupt that they would impeach a president who had committed no impeachable offenses simply out of spite," Goldberg noted. "I eventually pivoted the discussion to the topic of bridges in Ohio, but Portman remained upset, rushing offstage at the end of the conversation to confront the leaders of the festival, who tried to placate him."

Click here to read Goldberg's full essay in The Atlantic (*subscription required

===

https://www.alternet.org/2021/01/rob-portman/ will not run b/c of gridlock (vs insurr?)

===

ukraine war may well be inflection pt between getting off FF and 2x down?!

https://www.alternet.org/2022/03/gop-lawmaker-fact-checked-by-cnn-s-dana-bash-after-blaming-biden-for-oil-companies-not-drilling/

===

his name 2x as in ethical adult in rm? comm chair?

https://www.alternet.org/2020/11/crazy-thing-going-on-inside-that-white-house-retired-general-says-trump-loyalists-want-to-stage-a-coup/

raw story

A four-star United States retired general is sounding the alarm on key national security concerns after President Donald J. Trump shakes up the Pentagon staff less than one week after losing the election to President-elect Joe Biden.

"I have been shot at a lot and nearly killed a bunch of times," said Gen. Barry Richard McCaffrey (ret.). "I'm not an alarmist. I stay cool under pressure. Mark me down as alarmed. I just listened to Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) — wonderful, experienced, mature guy — say this is just payback to [Mark] Esper not being a loyalist. I don't believe it. We're watching a setup of some people who are unqualified for office to be in control of the 2.1 million men and women of the armed forces."

McCaffrey said, "And I remind our viewers, the only one who can give orders to the armed forces is the president and the secretary of defense. This acting secretary Chris Miller is a perfectly good, experienced combat soldier. He is unqualified for this office. The other three, one of them, a retired one-star, is a dangerous man. That team moving in, no one in his right mind would have accepted an appointment for 90 days. These people are in there to control a coercive institution of U.S. democracy. Watch out."

Host Ari Melber asked McCaffrey, "What specifically are you warning against, general? Do you feel based on your knowledge of these individuals and the situation that you have a credible reason or evidence to think that there could be an effort to enlist the military in something unlawful?"

"The federal government tools could be used in an oppressive manner, start with the attorney general of the United States, the Department of Homeland Security, and federal law enforcement agencies, who — unless they get an order that is patently illegal — will carry out their instructions. So the end of the story is, you know, I don't believe in any way this should be minimized or this is just a tantrum of a president trying to accommodate himself to the outcome of the elections. This is some crazy thinking going on inside that White House."

McCaffrey added, "If I was a CIA officer trying to understand what was going on in a third-world country and I saw this pattern of behavior, I would say the stronghand's trying to take over the government and defy an election — and I think they're playing with that idea inside the White House. I can't imagine that Sen.Rob Portman (R-OH) and even [Sen. Mitch] McConnell (R-KY) and people like this are going to disregard the Constitution, but I think that's the thinking that's going on in the White House right now and we ought to be worried about it. And the Republicans in Congress ought to speak up and push back."

Watch the video below.

===

https://www.alternet.org/koch-brothers-are-watching-you-and-new-documents-reveal-just-how-much-they-know

new documents uncovered by the Center for Media and Democracy show that the billionaire Koch brothers have developed detailed personality profiles on 89 percent of the U.S. population; and are using those profiles to launch an unprecedented private propaganda offensive to advance Republican candidates in the 2018 midterms.

The documents also show that the Kochs have developed persuasion models — like their "Heroin Model" and "Heroin Treatment Model" — that target voters with tailored messaging on select issues, and partner with cable and satellite TV providers to play those tailored messages during “regular” television broadcasts.

Over the last decade, big data and microtargeting have revolutionized political communications. And the Kochs, who are collectively worth $120 billion, now stand at the forefront of that revolution — investing billions in data aggregation, machine learning, software engineering and Artificial Intelligence optimization.

In modern elections, incorporating AI into voter file maintenance has become a prerequisite to producing reliable data. The Kochs’ political data firm, i360 states that it has “been practicing AI for years. Our team of data scientists uses components of Machine learning, Deep Learning and Predictive Analytics, every day as they build and refine our predictive models.”

Thanks to that investment (and the Supreme Court’s campaign finance rulings that opened the floodgates for super PACs), the Koch network is better positioned than either the Democratic Party or the GOP to reach voters with their individually tailored communications.

That is a dangerous development, with potentially dramatic consequences for our democracy.

The Kochs and i360

The Kochs formally entered the data space nine years ago, developing the “Themis Trust” program for the 2010 midterms — an uncommonly impactful election cycle where Republican operatives executed their REDMAP program and algorithmically gerrymandered congressional maps across the country in their favor.

In 2011, the Kochs folded Themis into a data competitor it acquired, i360 LLC, which was founded by Michael Palmer, the former chief technology officer of Sen. John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. Palmer still leads the organization.

Back then, as journalists Kenneth Vogel and Mike Allen documented, the Kochs’ long-term funding commitments to i360 allowed the organization to think bigger than their political competitors.

“Right now, we’re talking about and building things that you won’t see in 2016, because it’s not going to be ready until 2018,” Michael Palmer said in the wake of the 2014 midterm cycle.

Those programs are now operational. And according to a successful GOP campaign manager, i360 is the “best in the business” at providing Republicans with voter data.

i360’s client list reflects that data superiority. The country’s most notorious and effective political spenders, like the National Rifle Association, use the platform to identify and influence voters, as do Republican party committees, and U.S. House and Senate campaigns.

(A full list of i360’s clients is available here. Some clients, like the Republican Party of Wisconsin, have multiple sub-campaigns they run. It is also important to note that many Koch political groups, like Americans for Prosperity and the Libre Initiative, signed data sharing agreements with i360 in 2016 that are most likely still in effect.)

i360 sweetens the deal to its clients by offering its services at below-market rates. And once clients are locked into the i360 platform, they have access to the company’s voter file — the beating heart of modern political campaigns.

Conservatives agree that the Kochs are subsidizing i360. The losses they sustain by undercharging clients, however, are a pittance compared to the down-stream public policy returns and political power the Kochs receive from operating what amounts to a shadow political party in the United States — one that vigilantly guards the fossil fuel subsidies, deregulatory schemes, and regressive tax structures that enable Koch Industries to bring in $115 billion annually in private revenue.

Inside the i360 Voter File

i360’s voter file identifies “more than 199 million active voters and 290 million U.S. consumers,” and provides its users with up to 1,800 unique data points on each identified individual.

As a result, i360 and the Kochs know your vitals, ethnicity, religion, occupation, hobbies, shopping habits, political leanings, financial assets, marital status and much more.

They know if you enjoy fishing — and if you do, whether you prefer salt or fresh water. They know if you have bladder control difficulty, get migraines or have osteoporosis. They know which advertising mediums (radio, TV, internet, email) are the most effective. For you.

i360 has the following attribute tags, among hundreds of others, ranked 1-10, or subdivided otherwise in their voter file.

Here’s an example of an i360 attribute tag and code name, using a 1-10 value scale:

But i360 attribute codes are not limited to that 1-10 scale. Their knowledge of your financial standing is granular, from how much equity you have in your home to your net wealth and expendable income.

They know where you live, what your mortgage status is and even how many bathrooms are in your house.

i360 has also created a set of 70 “clustercodes” to humanize its data for campaign operatives. These categories range from “Faded Blue Collars” to “Meandering Millennials,” and have flamboyant descriptions that correspond with their attribute headings.

Here are some examples:

Koch Persuasion Models

Additionally, i360 has developed a series of persuasion models for its voter file. These models are often regionally sensitive — since voters have regional concerns — and are being used in federal elections and down-ballot races to assist Republicans across the country.

In 2016, i360 created a set of regional models while working with Sen. Rob Portman’s 2016 re-election campaign in Ohio. Portman started out the race polling nine points behind his Democratic opponent, Gov. Ted Strickland, but ultimately won with 58 percent of the vote.

The company developed a model that could predict whether a voter supported Portman or Strickland with 89 percent accuracy, and others that predicted voter policy preferences. Well aware of the 2016 landscape, i360 also made a Trump/Clinton model, an Anti-Hillary model, and a Ticket Splitter model.

Much of i360’s success in the race, however, was linked to understanding (after conducting extensive polling) that a “key local issue facing Ohio was the opioid epidemic.” In response, the company created a “heroin model” and a “heroin treatment model” that were particularly effective at convincing voters to support Portman.

When describing how they employed their “heroin model,” i360 was clear that Portman’s “position” on the crisis depended on the voter, emphasizing health care solution communications for some, and criminal justice solution communications for others.

Here is i360 on the subject:

…the issue of opioid abuse was particularly complex in that it was relatively unknown whether it was considered a healthcare issue or a criminal justice issue. The answer to this would dictate the most effective messaging. In addition, this was a particularly personal issue affecting some voters and not others.

By leveraging two predictive models — the Heroin model identifying those constituents most likely to have been affected by the issue of opioid abuse and the Heroin Treatment model determining whether those individuals were more likely to view the issue as one of healthcare or of criminal justice — the campaign was able to effectively craft their messaging about Senator Portman’s extensive work in the Senate to be tailored to each individual according to their disposition on the topic.

This manipulation of the opioid crisis for political gain has a perverse irony given the Kochs’ long-running work to provide corporate interests, including health care and pharmaceutical interests, with undue political power and influence over public policy decisions. The Kochs have gifted over a million dollars to ALEC, for example, an organization that counts Purdue Pharma — the unconscionable manufacturer of OxyContin — as a member.

The company also stated it joined Portman’s campaign 21 months before the election, and that, “Together, i360 and the campaign strategized a plan to execute one of the most custom-targeted, integrated campaigns to date with a focus on getting the right message to the right voter wherever that might be.”

This is notable because during the 2016 election, i360 also ran $11.7 million worth of “independent” expenditures for the National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund, Freedom Partners Action Fund, and Americans for Prosperity in Portman’s race.

These outside spenders, two of which are Koch-funded groups, and Portman’s campaign all used i360 to coordinate their digital marketing, phone banks and television ad buys, in the same market, in the same election.

Additionally, i360 supplied Portman’s campaign with other issue-based models on gun control, gay marriage and abortion that the company continues to supply to its clients in 2018.

Here are some examples of i360’s issue-based models:

The list goes on, but the structure stays the same. The Kochs are tailoring their advertising to you, because they know nearly everything about you.

even worse:

http://ecowatch.com/2016/06/28/koch-fund-portman-heck/

Billionaire oil barons Charles and David Koch are reaching into their deep pockets to fund Republican candidates in the tight Senate races in Ohio and Nevada, two states that have seen powerful political and corporate interests block progress in renewable energy.

The Koch brothers’s Super Pac is spending millions in ads to help Ohio Senator Rob Portman (top left) and Nevada Representative Joe Heck (bottom left) win their respective Senate races.

According to NBC News, the Koch Super PAC Freedom Partners Action Fund has announced it will buy $2.7 million television and digital ads to help Ohio Republican incumbent Sen. Rob Portman defeat Democrat Ted Strickland in the key swing state. The candidates are currentlylocked in a dead heat with each polling at 42 percent.

This news comes after the Super PAC’s announcement last week that it is spending $1.2 million on advertising to boost Nevada Republican Rep. Joe Heck’s race against Democrat and former Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto to replace Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. That race is also pretty much tied.

The Koch brothers have notoriously dumped wild sums of money on conservative causes and campaigns, with more than $88 million in traceable funding to groups attacking climate change science, policy and regulation. According to NBC News, the two latest $3.7 million ad buy brings the Super PAC’s spending to $19.3 million in an effort to control the Senate.

So who are the Koch-approved Senate choices for Ohio on Nevada?

Rob Portman, who has been in office since 2011, is a pro-business conservative who has a prominent track record of choosing fossil fuel interests over environmental protection. AsCinncinati.com reported, he was a vocal opponent to the Obama administration’s regulations to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and has introduced an amendment that would let states opt out of those clean power rules.

While he doesn’t completely deny global warming, he has played the “not a scientist” card when it comes to whether or not human activity causes climate change, saying, “I’m not going to quantify it because scientists have a lot of different views on that.” In March 2015, when Democrats tried to pass an amendment that specified that human action contributed “significantly” to climate change, Portman voted no because of the single word, “significantly.”

And, if this tells you anything, George W. Bush will stump for Portman later this summer and Portman’s name has been floated as a potential VP pick for Donald Trump (FYI: Portman isn’t interested in running with Trump, who the Kochs have basically rejected).

The Sierra Club’s Ohio branch observed that “over the course of his career, Portman has received more than $1.7 million from the energy and natural resources sector, including $761,000 from oil and gas, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Marathon Petroleum, FirstEnergy and American Electric Power were among his Top 20 contributors in 2013-14.”

The Koch’s non-profit foundation Americans for Prosperity has given Portman an 89 percent score for 2015-16 for his support of Senate Joint Resolution 24 to disapprove of President Obama’s Clean Power Plan, a plan supported by over two-thirds of Ohioans, the Sierra Club said.

The League of Conversation Voters (LCV) on the other hand has given Portman a mere 8 percent for 2015 for his anti-environment voting record on the LCV’s National Environmental Scorecard. He has a lifetime score of 20 percent.

As for Joe Heck, who has represented Nevada’s 3rd congressional district since 2011, the LCV has given him a terrible lifetime score of just 8 percent and a lower score of 6 percent for the year 2015. The group has even named Heck as the first member of its trademark Dirty Dozen program for the 2016 cycle.

“Joe Heck is a poster child for the Dirty Dozen, a climate change denier who would rather fight the expansion of clean renewable energy than protect the health of our families,” said Nevada Conservation League executive director Andy Maggi. “Nevadans know how critical it is that our next senator prioritize protecting our clean air and water and help make Nevada a solar energy leader, and Joe Heck just doesn’t fit the bill—he would rather represent big polluters, no surprise when they have funded his campaigns to the tune of over $400,000 dollars.”

You’d think that Nevada, which enjoys nearly 300 days of sunshine, would lead states on solar energy generation. However, in December 2015, the Republican-appointed Public Utilities Commission overhauled a net-metering program in favor of the state’s utilities (such as Warren Buffett’s NV Energy) and effectively killed Nevada’s rooftop solar industry. Solar providers SolarCity and Sunrun Inc. have since left the state.

The Americans for Prosperity have rated Heck with a 77 percent lifetime score and a current score of 85 percent.

Additionally, NBC News reported that the Koch’s Super PAC is now aiding Florida’s Sen. Marco Rubio‘s reelection campaign and has reserved television airtime beginning Aug. 31. As it happens, the Koch brothers are leading the efforts to stifle solar energy in Florida as well.

how the mighty have fallen:

2008 election? only gop to sorta break ranks?

"When you analyze all the data, there is a warming trend according to science. But the jury is out on the degree of how much is manmade."[source]

raga cpp

Ohio Attorney General DeWine speaking about the Clean Power Plan at an Ohio Coal Association "closed press event" to allow him to “speak freely” o In August 2015, Michael Murry , the Deputy Director of Policy and Public Affairs for Ohio Attorney General DeWine, emailed Ohio Coal Association (OCA) President Christian R. Palich to “touch base about next week’s OCA annual meeting luncheon” where Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine was scheduled to give a speech. Palich indicated that he planned for Ohio Attorney General DeWine to speak beforeU.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) about the “court cases against Waters of the US and Clean Power Plan…and anything else with coal he is seeing…” Palich also wrote that the event would be a “closed press event” because they “[wanted] people to be able to speak freely.”  Ohio Attorney General DeWine receiving anti-Clean Power Plan emails at a personal email address, which he forwarded to senior members of his staff at their government email address. o Four industry representatives, including Ohio Attorney Mike DeWine former Communications Director Mike Dawson, exchanged emails expressing opposition to the Clean Power Plan. Mike Dawson forwarded this exchange to Mike DeWine at his personal email address. The four people on this exchange were Sam Randazzo, Matt Evans, Greg Browning, and Mike Dawson. Randazzo is Member-in-charge at McNees, Wallace & Nurick, specializing in energy regulation, Matt Evans is the President of External Relations for Boich Companies, a privately held coal marketing and mining company, Greg Browning is the Owner of Capital Partners, a government relations firm, and Mike Dawson was the Communications Director for Attorney General DeWine when he was a Senator and, more recently, has been a Lobbyist linked to energy companies. Mike Dawson forwarded the message directly to Attorney General DeWine’s personal email address “mike@silverdollarbaseball.com.” DeWine forwarded the email to senior members of his staff including his Director of Major Litigation the State Solicitor

Freedom Partners Action Fund, a group at the center of Charles Koch's conservative political network, unleashed its first political ad of the 2016 campaign Wednesday, launching a $2 million campaign in Ohio's closely watched Senate race.

The ad targets Democrat Ted Strickland, Ohio's former governor who formally captured his party's nomination Tuesday night. The 30-second commercial features a man identified only as "Joel," a former employee of the international shipping giant DHL, which closed its hub in Wilmington, Ohio, during Strickland's tenure as the state's chief executive.

"When he should have been in there fighting, we lost 400,000 jobs in the state of Ohio," Joel says in the ad. "His track record is not there. There's no reason to go back to Ted Strickland."

The ad argues that Strickland's policies created an environment that encouraged employers to move jobs to other states with more business-friendly tax policies.

Strickland is seeking to oust a Republican incumbent, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman.

Strickland spokesman David Bergstein defended his boss' record. "Washington power brokers and wealthy, shadowy special interests are spending millions to prop up Sen. Rob Portman because he’s pushing their agenda at the expense of Ohio’s working families," he said in a statement.

The new ad is a sign the Koch network is gearing up to play a big role in federal races, even as its leaders insist they are not trying to shape the Republican presidential primarydominated by billionaire Donald Trump, who notched five wins Tuesday night. Earlier this month, a Koch-affiliated group, Concerned Veterans for America, began a $700,000 ad campaign in Nevada that featured military veterans voicing support for Rep. Joe Heck, the Republican hoping to fill Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid's seat when the Democrat retires this year.

Republicans face a challenging election season as they fight to retain their majority in the U.S. Senate and defend GOP-held seats in seven states, including Ohio, that President Obama won both in 2008 and 2012.

Party insiders have begun to openly fret that a Trump nomination will endanger other down-ballot contests on Election Day.

waffle man

ROB PORTMAN (R-OH) Team: Fossil Fools Joined the League: January 3, 2011 Hometown: Cincinnati, OH BIO: This Ohioan was at the top of a lot of watch lists in the last few years, but the numbers just aren’t adding up. While he’s made solid contact when it comes to energy efficiency, he just isn’t up to the task of supporting clean energy jobs in the Buckeye State and is less than dependable when it comes to clean air. He also attacked the Clean Power Plan with a proposed amendment to make state compliance optional. We’re guessing he got distracted by all those checks from oil and gas companies, which is a real shame as he’s letting a lot of fans down who were pulling for protections from toxic pollution. QUOTED: “When you analyze all the data, there is a warming trend according to science. But the jury is out on the degree of how much is man-made.”56 SEASON LOWLIGHTS: « Senator Portman has consistently voted against clean air, clean energy solutions, and Ohio clean energy jobs in the 114th Congress. SPONSORSHIPS: « Oil & Gas: $428,158 STATS: « Climate: « Clean Air: « Clean Energy: « Energy Efficiency: WH

shift positions

Thursday’s move by the Senate Finance Committee doesn’t guarantee that the full Senate will support resurrection of the credits, much less the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. But encouraging signs emerged after Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) tried to kill the credits. He argued that restoring them would amount to picking energy-industry winners and losers and forcing taxpayers to “subsidize inefficient, uncompetitive forms of energy.” (Meanwhile, taxpayers continue a century-long tradition of subsidizing fossil fuels.) CleanTechnica reports on the encouraging bipartisan response to Toomey’s effort:

The PTC [wind energy Production Tax Credit] and the alternate Investment Tax Credit were added overnight to a modified “Chairman’s mark,” after an earlier draft released Monday left them and several other provisions for further negotiation.

They prevailed on a critical 18-6 vote during the committee markup late Thursday morning, on a motion by Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) to strip them out. Five Republicans joined the committee’s Democrats in voting down that amendment: Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), John Thune (R-SD), Rob Portman (R-OH), Mike Crapo (R-ID), and John Cornyn (R-TX).

stop epa from limit coalfire plants

The Senators urged the president “to avoid any actions which damage ratepayers throughout this country, especially when those actions result in no measurable benefits and no measurable effects on the very thing that the actions are designed to address.”The letter was co-signed by: U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), John Barrasso (Wyo.), John Boozman (Ark.), Dan Coats (Ind.), John Cornyn (Texas), Mike Enzi (Wyo.), Deb Fischer (Neb.), Dean Heller (Nev.), John Hoeven (N.D.), Jim Inhofe (Okla.), Mike Johanns (Neb.), Joe Manchin (W.V.), Jerry Moran (Kan.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (Ohio), Jim Risch (Idaho), Pat Roberts (Kan.), Tim Scott (S.C.), Jeff Sessions (Ala.), John Thune (S.D.), and David Vitter (La.).

http://www.blunt.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news?ID=e7605cc7-ab72-4a03-b3bb-7d7e014d1fd3 see desmog

===

Sen. Rob Portman

2008 election? only gop to sorta break ranks?

"When you analyze all the data, there is a warming trend according to science. But the jury is out on the degree of how much is manmade."[source]

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_J._Portman

Robert "Rob" J. Portman who was named April 18, 2006, by President George W. Bush to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget, resigned his position June 19, 2007. He will be replaced by former Iowa congressman Jim Nussle.^[1]

Portman previously resigned as United States Trade Representative, a position he had held since April 28, 2005, when he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Portman's nomination for OMB director was sent to the Senate for confirmation on April 27, 2006.

President Bush nominated Portman on March 17, 2005, to be U.S. Trade Representative, with the Rank of Ambassador Extraordinary And Plenipotentiary, and his nomination was sent to the Senate April 14, 2005. Portman replaced Robert B. Zoellick, who resigned.

---

Contents

Jack Abramoff Connection

"Former Congressman Rob Portman, R-Ohio, got $4,000 from two tribes. The contributions were made to America's Majority Trust, the leadership PAC that Portman formed before he left Congress to join the Bush cabinet as U.S. trade representative." [1]

Coal Contributions

In late October 2010, during the lead up to the Congressional midterm elections, The New York Times reported:

Coal industry spending on campaigns and lobbying is substantial and growing, although it is dwarfed by the far better-financed oil and gas, electric utility, financial services and health care lobbies.Among the largest recipients of coal money are Republican and Democratic members who have sponsored or voted for measures to block new E.P.A. regulations on climate change pollution from the burning of coal and oil and who are most likely to support efforts to block other new rules.These members include Representatives Roy Blunt of Missouri and Joe L. Barton of Texas, both Republicans, and Nick J. Rahall II of West Virginia and Rick Boucher of Virginia, both Democrats. Each had received more than $25,000 in contributions as of early October, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks campaign spending.Two Senate candidates, Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio, and Gov. Joe Manchin, Democrat of West Virginia, have also received sizable industry donations.The political action committee of Representative John Boehner of Ohio, who is in line to become speaker if Republicans capture the House, has received more than $300,000 from mining interests, most of it from coal companies. The industry is counting on Mr. Boehner to reverse the current Democratic leadership's refusal to allow a vote on the measure blocking E.P.A. carbon regulation.^[2]

Profiles

At the time of his appointment, Portman was serving in the United States House of Representatives. According to his March 17, 2005, nomination profile:

"Throughout his 12 years in Congress, he has authored numerous bills that have become law including legislation regarding pension laws, capital gains taxes, IRS reform, and community anti-drug efforts. Congressman Portman is a member of the Ways and Means Committee and its subcommittee on Trade. He is also Vice Chairman of the Budget Committee, and he serves as the Chairman of the House Republican Leadership."Prior to his election to Congress, he practiced business and international law as a partner in the Cincinnati law firm of Graydon, Head and Ritchey. Earlier in his career, Congressman Portman practiced international trade law at the Washington, DC law firm of Patton Boggs. He also served in President George H.W. Bush's Administration as Associate Counsel to the President and later as Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. He received his bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College and his J.D. from the University of Michigan."

Records and Controversies

Iraq War

For more information see the chart of U.S. House of Representatives votes on the Iraq War.

Portman voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 that started the Iraq War.^[3]

Resources and articles

External articles

Andrew Taylor, "Portman, a Loyal Insider With Hill Ties," Washington Post, April 18, 2006.

Category:

Politics (U.S.)

===

drill baby drill

http://portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/columns?ID=fbd9f31b-ddae-41f5-a152-1a636eaee677

===

This bipartisan energy-efficiency bill might actually be able to pass Congress

By Lisa Hymas

U.S. SenateA Democrat and a Republican, working together. Weird.

Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) have come up with an energy-efficiency bill that they think has a real chance of passing the U.S. Senate. And then the U.S. House. In this Congress. Really!

From Politico:

The legislation, known as the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act, focuses on improving energy efficiency in commercial buildings, the manufacturing sector and the federal government.

Among other things, the bill strengthens building codes to make new homes and buildings more efficient, creates a new Energy Department program called SupplySTAR to improve the efficiency of companies’ supply chains and requires the federal government — the country’s largest energy user — to adopt strategies to conserve the electricity used for computers.

It's a scaled-back version of a bill they introduced last year. To preempt conservative objections, it drops a provision that would have expanded a Department of Energy loan program. After Solyndra, "Department of Energy loan program" is not a phrase Republicans are warm to.

A bipartisan duo -- Reps. David McKinley (R-W.Va.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) -- will be pushing a similar bill in the House.

2011

S.AMDT.183

Amends: S.493

Amendments to this amendment: S.AMDT.244

Sponsor: Sen McConnell, Mitch [KY] (submitted 3/15/2011) (proposed 3/15/2011)

AMENDMENT PURPOSE:

To prohibit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from promulgating any regulation concerning, taking action relating to, or taking into consideration the emission of a greenhouse gas to address climate change.

TEXT OF AMENDMENT AS SUBMITTED: CR S1686

STATUS:

3/15/2011:

Amendment SA 183 proposed by Senator McConnell. (consideration: CR S1641-1642, S1643-1644, S1649-1653, S1665-1668, S1669-1673; text: CR S1642)

3/16/2011:

Considered by Senate. (consideration: CR S1715, S1726-1728, S1741-1744)

3/17/2011:

Considered by Senate. (consideration: CR S1780, S1782)

3/28/2011:

Considered by Senate. (consideration: CR S1883)

3/29/2011:

Considered by Senate. (consideration: CR S1913, S1923-1925)

3/30/2011:

Considered by Senate. (consideration: CR S1962)

4/5/2011:

Considered by Senate. (consideration: CR S2111)

4/6/2011:

Considered by Senate. (consideration: CR S2154, S2161-2165, S2165-2168, S2171-2177, S2179)

4/6/2011:

Amendment SA 183, under the order of 4/5/2011, not having achieved 60 votes in the affirmative, the amendment was not agreed to in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 50 - 50. Record Vote Number: 54.

COSPONSORS(8):

Sen Manchin, Joe, III [WV] - 3/16/2011

Sen Hatch, Orrin G. [UT] - 3/16/2011

Sen Toomey, Pat [PA] - 3/16/2011

Sen Cornyn, John [TX] - 3/16/2011

Sen Johanns, Mike [NE] - 3/16/2011

Sen Portman, Rob [OH] - 3/28/2011

Sen Isakson, Johnny [GA] - 3/28/2011

Sen Paul, Rand [KY] - 3/29/2011