“I think it's an excellent starting point, and I think 95, 96 percent of the bill is in perfect shape and ready to go.  But there are elements that need to be improved.  This is how the legislative process is supposed to work,” he said, speaking on ABC's "This Week."

Rubio continued that "the bottom line is a bill that does not have increased border security, which everyone now I think has conceded needs to happen -- I think the debate now is about what that border security provision looks like."

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The Hill reports:

The Senate held its last vote of the week a little after noon on Thursday, and many lawmakers were eager to take advantage of the short day and head back to their home states for Father’s Day weekend.

Only 47 of 100 senators attended the 2:30 briefing, leaving dozens of chairs in the secure meeting room empty as Clapper, Alexander and other senior officials told lawmakers about classified programs to monitor millions of telephone calls and broad swaths of Internet activity. The room on the lower level of the Capitol Visitor Center is large enough to fit the entire Senate membership, according to a Senate aide.

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From the Hill:

The Senate held its last vote of the week a little after noon on Thursday, and many lawmakers were eager to take advantage of the short day and head back to their home states for Father’s Day weekend.

Only 47 of 100 senators attended the 2:30 briefing, leaving dozens of chairs in the secure meeting room empty as Clapper, Alexander and other senior officials told lawmakers about classified programs to monitor millions of telephone calls and broad swaths of Internet activity. The room on the lower level of the Capitol Visitor Center is large enough to fit the entire Senate membership, according to a Senate aide.

The Hill doesn't know who attended the briefing and who didn't, but it would be interesting to know what proud father Jeff Flake decided to do.

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“No one should face discrimination in their workplace based on sexual orientation,” Reid, D-Nev., said in a statement, the Washington Blade reports. “It’s time to make fairness the law of the land. That is why I am co-sponsoring this legislation and I will do everything I can to ensure that it passes the Senate.”

From the Blade:

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Construction crews are currently renovating the women's bathroom off the Senate floor -- a paltry two stalls -- to accommodate the 20 female senators in the 113th Congress, a record high.

“We’re even going to have a window,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., told the Washington Post.

The symbolism of the crowded ladies room was not lost on Shaheen and her colleagues: “It’s a really positive sign of how things have changed here,” she said.

While 20 female senators is an all-time high, it's still actually pretty low since women account for, you know, half of the population; as Salon has previously noted, women make up 20 percent of the Senate and 17 percent of the House.

Clearly, we have a long way to go -- hopefully there are more bathroom renovations in Congress' future.

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"I encourage this, though I think it is going to be ill-fated," Durbin, the Senate majority whip, told the Hill. He continued that even if the bill, which has bipartisan support, makes it through Congress, he doesn't see Obama signing it. "I think they are going to eventually turn us down," he said, adding: "They are [just] going to say no."

"I have been offering these amendments for years ... and losing them, regularly," Durbin said.

The bill would require Attorney General Eric Holder to declassify opinions issued by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which authorizes domestic intelligence operations, like those NSA phone surveillance programs revealed last week by the Guardian and the Washington Post, under FISA and the Patriot Act.

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That was five years ago.

Conservatives calling for an overhaul of the domestic food aid program will try to trim the nation's nearly $80 billion grocery bill when the House weighs in on farm legislation in a few weeks. The Senate overwhelmingly voted Monday to expand farm subsidies and make small cuts to food stamps in a five-year, half-trillion dollar measure. But passage in the House isn't expected to be so easy — or so bipartisan.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Monday that his chamber will take up its version of the farm bill later this month. He made clear his own dislike for generous farm subsidies included in the bill, saying his "concerns about our country's farm programs are well-known." But Boehner acknowledged that the rest of the chamber might not agree with him.

"If you have ideas on how to make the bill better, bring them forward," Boehner said in a statement directed to his colleagues. "Let's have the debate, and let's vote on them."

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From the Grand Forks Herald:

Andrew Arulanandam, NRA spokesman, said the group wanted to make sure its members in the state express their gratitude because Heitkamp stood up to “tremendous political pressure.”

“The NRA thinks that Sen. Heitkamp is a profile in courage and common sense. She listens to her constituents,” he said.

Heitkamp was one of four Democrats to vote against the Manchin-Toomey Amendment. She has an A-rating from the NRA.

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On MSNBC's "Up with Steve Kornacki," panelists discuss Booker's chances in the democratic primary and the general election in October.

Kornacki describes Booker as the "overwhelming favorite" of the candidates and potential candidates in the democratic primary, which include Rep. Rush Holt, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone and speaker of the state assembly Sheila Oliver.

Ingrid Reed of the Eagleton Institute of Politics, said, "He is well known, so around the state if you had to name one person, showed them the list, they would point to Cory Booker."

"But if you look a little deeper, Newark is not Cory Booker's place," she said. "He's not -- doesn't seem to be in control in administrative matters, budget, police, so on, but he's had political problems in Newark. How do New Jerseyans look at that?"

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The 44-year-old mayor was introduced by former U.S. Bill Bradley, D-N.J. at the press conference, who said that Booker is "the right person for the right office at the right time."

"I believe the right kind of politics allows us to see something bigger than ourselves. It allows politicians to appeal to our better nature. And it allows citizens to have faith in their neighbors, in people, in humankind. The reason I am here today is because I believe Cory Booker embodies that kind of politics and is that kind of leader," said Bradley.

The party primary will take place on Aug. 13 and the special general election will be held Oct. 16.

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The trouble, of course, is that the folklore has a diminishing connection to reality. Case in point is the narrative that now defines the Washington debate over gun control.

This week, in a piece summarizing that narrative, Time magazine's White House correspondent Michael Scherer asserted that television ads pressuring lawmakers to support background check legislation will harm Democratic politicians who represent Republican-leaning states (ed. note: Scherer disputes this interpretation of his argument). About the ads, Scherer asked: "Is it better to teach wavering Democrats that there is a cost to voting against gun control, even if it jeopardizes Democratic control of the Senate, which is needed to enact gun control?"

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The 13-5 vote cleared the way for an epic showdown on the Senate floor on legislation that is one of President Barack Obama's top domestic priorities — yet also gives the Republican Party a chance to recast itself as more appealing to minorities.

The action sparked rejoicing from immigration activists who crowded into a Senate committee room to witness the proceedings. "Yes, we can! Si, se puede" they shouted, reprising the campaign cry from Obama's first run for the White House in 2008.

In addition to creating a pathway to citizenship for 11.5 million immigrants, the legislation creates a new program for low-skilled foreign labor and would permit highly skilled workers into the country at far higher levels than is currently the case.

At the same time, it requires the government to take costly new steps to guard against future illegal immigration.

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The world's most valuable company is holding overseas some $102 billion of its $145 billion in cash, and an Irish subsidiary that earned $22 billion in 2011 paid only $10 million in taxes, according to the report issued Monday by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

The strategies Apple uses are legal, and many other multinational corporations use similar tax techniques to avoid paying U.S. income taxes on profits they reap overseas. But Apple uses a unique twist, the report found. The company's tactics raise questions about loopholes in the U.S. tax code, lawmakers say.

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Meanwhile, Wyden has also accumulated considerable seniority, despite his youthful demeanor (and a new baby at home). With the announced retirement of Democratic Senator of Montana Max Baucus, Wyden is set to replace him as chair of the powerful Senate Finance Committee in the next Congress (assuming that Democrats retain control of the Senate). Recently he spoke with The National Memo about the budget, tax reform, health care and other matters of concern to the Finance committee.

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Less obvious? It’s bad for Republicans.

Now, in electoral terms, it can’t be bad for both parties, since electoral politics is a zero-sum game. Indeed, that’s sort of the problem for Republicans; obstruction of these nominations almost certainly has zero electoral effect. After all, most voters couldn’t tell you who the nominees for secretary of labor or to head the Environmental Protection Agency are, let alone the obscure rules Republicans are using to delay their confirmation.

So the effects of massive, across-the-board obstruction are going to be on policy, not elections. And that’s not a zero-sum game – and it will hurt Republicans and Republican-aligned groups, too.

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"This is not the first time we've seen this," Reid told reporters, according to the Huffington Post. "It wasn't long ago that the IRS inappropriately targeted the NAACP, Greenpeace and a California church that was progressive, called the All-Saints Church in Pasadena. It was interesting at that time, we didn't hear a single Republican grandstand the issue then. Where was their outrage when groups on the other side of the political spectrum were under attack?"

Reid emphasized that he believes the IRS's behavior was "inappropriate," adding: "I believed it then, I believe it now."

He continued that accusations about a Benghazi coverup by the Obama administration are "about smear politics and nothing else." Reid added: "Earlier this year, they didn't say a word when Republicans held up for months and months security funding of our embassies."

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From earlier:

The Senate is scheduled to vote on the Water Resources Development Act on Wednesday, which authoritzes water projects by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. But Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., also wants to add two pro-gun amendments to the equation.

One of the amendments would allow people to carry guns at water resources development projects regulated by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, including outdoor recreational areas where guns are currently forbidden. The other amendment would require federal agencies to register guns and ammunition it owns, purchases or loses within a given year.

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The Senate is scheduled to vote Monday on a bill that would empower states to collect sales taxes for purchases made over the Internet. The measure is expected to pass because it has already survived three procedural votes. But it faces opposition in the House, where some Republicans regard it as a tax increase. A broad coalition of retailers is lobbying in favor of it.

Under current law, states can only require retailers to collect sales taxes if the store has a physical presence in the state.

That means big retailers with stores all over the country like Walmart, Best Buy and Target collect sales taxes when they sell goods over the Internet. But online retailers like eBay and Amazon don't have to collect sales taxes, except in states where they have offices or distribution centers.

As a result, many online sales are tax-free, giving Internet retailers an advantage over brick-and-mortar stores.

The bill would empower states to require businesses to collect taxes for products they sell on the Internet, in catalogs and through radio and TV ads. Under the legislation, the sales taxes would be sent to the states where a shopper lives.

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From PPP:

 52% of voters say they're less likely to support [Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.] in a future election because of this vote, compared to only 19% who say they're more likely to. Additionally voters say by a 21 point margin, 45/24, that they trust senior colleague John McCain more than Flake when it comes to gun issues

....

39% of voters say they're less likely to vote for each of [Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska] and [Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska] in their next elections based on this vote, while only 22% and 26% say they're more likely to vote for Begich and Murkowski respectively because of this.

Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and Nevada Sen. Dean Heller, both Republicans, saw similar results. A poll from PPP released last week also had Sen. Kelly Ayotte seeing a drop in her approval rating since her vote against background checks.

Sen. Pat Toomey, on the other hand, has gotten a boost in the polls since he spearheaded the measure.

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