SASC: Deadlocked!

Though they passed amendments to the SHEEN Act, the Senate Armed Services Committee is now deadlocked over approval of the Act as amended. The Democrats are reportedly split over an accepted amendment to the bill which would allow continued drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), and negotiations are underway between both parties.

"I must express my extreme disappointment over the clause to drill in ANWR," Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) said in an interview with the Huffington Post. "To be honest, ANWR will not produce enough oil to affect supply or to affect global prices. It is a drop in the bucket towards bringing us closer to energy independence, yet it comes at the cost of some of America's largest wildlife refuges and at the cost not only to the well being of Alaska's wild animals, but to the wellbeing of native Alaskans. I am strongly opposed to any bill that will open Yosemite [National Park] for drilling, and in that same sentiment I am strongly opposed to drilling in ANWR.

"99% of the SHEEN Act is still comprised of very productive legislation that will move America forward and promote energy independence. I will be working with colleagues to ensure there is something productive that we can gain from the situation."

BREAKING: Lieberman Amendment Passes

An amendment on the Military Detainee Procedures Improvement Act sponsored by Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) has been unanimously accepted by the Armed Services Committee.

This amendment strikes a compromise over a proposed sunset clause to this Act. As it currently stands, the bill, sponsored by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), is a clarification of the procedures used to try detainees suspected of terrorism against the United States, as well as giving the Secretary of Defense the authority to transfer detainees from military tribunals into civilian courts.

With the passage of this amendment, the bill now has a recommended "expiration date" of December 31, 2013.

Saxby Chambliss Hates Our Troops

With reports that the Republicans of the Armed Services Committee are planning to obstruct the work of the Democrats, one voice stands out from their cabal. Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) has made it inexcusably clear that he will not vote for CHARLIE'S Act for Veterans and Families, which would bring much-needed mental health services to our troops returning from abroad.

Frankly, one shouldn't be surprised by Chambliss's obfuscation. Contrary to the pro-American nationalism he professes to hold dear, Chambliss has a storied and documented history of voting against bills that would help our veterans, the least we can do after sending them in harm's way.

Chambliss has voted to undermine veteran's healthcare. In 2008 he voted against increasing veterns' healthcare and voted to stop the new G.I. Bill.

This pales in comparison to the his mud-slinging in the past: in 2002, Chambliss won his seat in Senate from the incumbent Democrat, Max Cleland. A former Veterans Affairs Chief and a Vietnam veteran, Cleland lost three limbs in the Vietnam War. But apparently this wasn't enough for Chambliss, who accused him of being un-patriotic for fighting to protect unions at the Department of Homeland Security. In this ad below, he even compares Cleland to Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden:

Senator Chambliss, if you wish to atone for your horrific and unseemly attacks on veterans, you know what you have to do.

EDITORIAL: #Rockstar Veterans deserve to #WIN!--Charlie Sheen

When the Democratic caucus (heh. It sounds like "cock." hehehe.) asked me to testify on Charlie's Act, I knew. I knew that finally, my method acting had a purpose. I mean, my dad was a fake soldier in Apocalypse Now (which some droopy-eyed armless Republican Senator had never even heard of. Who the hell is he, Dr. Clownshoes?)

As you can tell in this photo on the right, I too followed in the steps of my father. I served this country in a film called Platoon. Perhaps you've heard of it. You know what sort of horror I experienced in that film? Enough to give me f#$%ing PTSD. You loser people in your loser lives don't know s#$t. Oh god. I can still remember Oliver Stone telling me to shoot at a one-legged kid. "TELL HIM TO DANCE, CHARLIE!" he screamed at me. "TELL HIM TO F^*#ING DANCE!!!!!!!"

It was in that moment that I changed. I changed so profoundly, such that my normal loser human blood was changed into the blood of a thousand tigers. I f&$(ing charged into that movie set battlefield, full of loser people wearing diapers, and started banging seven gram rocks in that very moment and Oliver Stone flipped the F*** out and went "UNPLUG THIS BASTARD!!!!!"

Apparently this kind of behavior hurts my family.

That's why I'm proud to put my name behind Charlie's Act. I mean, I pretended to be a soldier, and my method acting revealed to me how our troops have to be hard, like frickin' bayonets. And I have to admire these rockstars. They bring it, every day, without an exit strategy from the fools and trolls who try to destroy America. And they come back, half the men that they were before they went over to Derka-Derkastan to make the losers go byebye.

Because contrary to how I acted when I was a famous actor with the pressures of fame and success and film PTSD on me, I don't have magic and poetry at my fingertips. That was a hallucination, because of all the illegal drugs I didn't take. (It's not illegal if you never admit it!) But you know who does take illegal drugs? Veterans. At a much higher rate than the normal population. They gotta cope, you know, with the post-traumatic stress disorder that they experience all the time. And PTSD doesn't stop. It has one speed--Go.

The warlocks I've worked with in the Democratic Party are completely devoted to ensuring that these rockstar veterans are given acces to the best of what our nation has to offer--mental services, trauma centers, even the right to have their remains interred in national military cemeteries. I mean, mental health, like my father's movie Apocalypse Now, is complicated. You need some complicated s#$t to deal with that.

I urge you all to support the Democratic warlocks who are deploying their ordinances on the Republicans who are blocking this bill, smoking cigars and banging seven gram rocks in their mahogany-lined cloakroom. Only fools and trolls stand in the way of rockstar veterans. But even though these rockstar veterans deliver the goods every day, they're not bi-winning like me.

Remember, warlocks: the Democrats are bipartisan bi-winners. The Republicans are like TMZ up the butt.

Arianna Huffington heavily ghost-wrote this article.

MARKUP MARKUP MARKUP

The HELP Committee has moved into markup and as expected, both parties are starting to wrestle over Robert's Rules. The Republicans are attempting to block all the Democrats' bills from consideration for markup, claiming that they submitted their bills after the agreed-upon deadline.

The Armed Services Committee has called it a night, and are heading en masse to DuPont Circle for happy hour.

Michael O'Hanlon: Defense is the "single largest discretionary chunk" of government spending

Using impromptu visual aids, not as beautiful as Sharon Burke's PowerPoint but close enough, Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institute deftly demonstrated that while the cuts to the F-35 program would have little impact on the overall economy, it would transfer benefits to the rest of the military by eliminating the Marine variant of the aging military aircraft. The ADONIS Act, which would cut this program, is currently being held up by the committee's Republicans, who are blocking the bill from markup tomorrow due to a scheduling technicality.

The cuts to the F-35 program, O'Hanlon argued in his pie chart, would outweigh the value of all annual earmarks. A vast majority of government spending goes towards entitlements such as Medicare and Social Security, while the oft-vilified "pork-barrel" earmarks make up "a fraction of a percentage" of the federal budget, according to O'Hanlon.

Photo credit: Wade Vaughan, a fresh-faced young man with great promise

Post-Hearing Quarterbacking: Sharon Burke (VIDEO)

I caught up with Sharon Burke after her stunning testimony in the Armed Services Committee.

General Casey, Part 3: Energy Showdown

Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) has been debating General Casey for nearly nine minutes about the role of the US military in reducing energy consumption in the country. As the Senator pointed out, the defense industry generates the most greenhouse gases in the country.

When asked by Sen. Bingaman about net-zero energy consumption, Casey proved adept at responding to the concern of greenhouse gases, pointing out that the issue is about the United States government as a whole. "It affects the world equally, no matter where it's released. The question is about overall practices rather than where the energy comes from."

"Don't you think that possible energy shocks can destabilize our economy and more importantly our national security?" Bingaman countered, framing the issue as a matter of national security.

Casey responded that the "massive energy cocktail" that the military draws its energy from within the nation does not leave the US vulnerable to foreign influence.

General Casey, Part 2--Arianna Huffington

What started out as a broad-reaching hearing over the state of today's military soon focused sharply on the issue of military detainees. Gen. Casey of the Joint Chiefs of Staff defended the current stance on maintaining military tribunals instead of turning these detainees over to civilian judges, as President Obama advocated for in his State of the Union address.

"Many of us in the Armed Services sympathize with the President's goals to close Guantanamo," he stated, but added that "in terms of national security, I don't think that moving people will resolve anything in the short term."

He also addressed the SHEEN Act, which advocates energy efficiency in the military, stressing that he was concerned that "we wouldn't be able to afford it."

Answering a question from Sen. Chambliss (R-GA) about the supply chain which would allow the military to afford these advanced technologies, Casey explained the logistical difficulty of keeping track of technology with multiple functionalities. "Having one more distinction to keep track of," he stated, "really only adds to the operational burdens in an already challenging environment."

Ultimately, the debate over transforming the military into a peacekeeping force for the 21st century hinges on the overall cost of these military reforms.

General Casey, Part 1

Speaking on a broad range of topics from Guantanamo to the creation of a 21st century peacekeeping force, General George Casey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, offered a approach to national security grounded in realism and war hawkishness.

The Democrats engaged him in intense debate, while the Republicans largely sat silent. A notable exchange arose between Casey and Sen. Webb (D-VA), who asked him whether the Boy Scouts of America were likely to be classified as terrorists under Casey's definition.

Meanwhile, the Simulation Gods were caught chortling to themselves over some Youtube videos. That must be one funny cat on a skateboard.

Comprehensive coverage of this hearing will follow after the break.

BREAKING: Robert Gates disappears from Armed Services Hearing--Arianna Huffington

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has disappeared from the Armed Services Committee hearing.

After mumbling that he "had too many classes" and therefore was not prepared to answer any questions, Gates disappeared altogether. Neither parties could establish contact with him. The committee will soon hear testimony from General George W. Casey.

When asked for comment, Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) said that "I'm glad McCain and I worked it out, and I'm glad we had a second witness prepared so that this session wasn't wasted.

At the same time, Gates's positions are probably similar to those of the president's, and we'll be consulting the president anyway, considering that he is giving us final approval."