On way out, Specter sees little room for centrists

In his final floor speech, Specter said there is scant room for centrists like himself in a polarized Senate where civility is in short supply.

“In some quarters, compromise has become a dirty word,’’ said Pennsylvania’s longest-serving senator, who lost his reelection bid after three decades in the Senate.

Specter said some GOP senators had helped challengers beat incumbent Republicans such as Utah Senator Bob Bennett and Representative Mike Castle in his Delaware Senate primary.

“Eating or defeating your own is a form of sophisticated cannibalism,’’ he said.

Specter said the reelection of Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski on a write-in vote against the Tea Party movement challenger who toppled her in the primary may show the way to “counter right-wing extremists.’’

Specter, 80, has been a fixture in American politics, emerging as a prominent centrist who used his willingness to cross party lines on key votes as a way to boost his clout in Congress. Specter has survived a brain tumor, cardiac arrest following bypass surgery, and two bouts with Hodgkin’s disease.

He lost the Democratic primary in May to Representative Joe Sestak after taking the risky step of switching from the GOP in his bid for a sixth term. Specter would have faced a tough Republican primary challenge from Pat Toomey, who eventually beat Sestak in the Nov. 2 race.

— Associated Press

Obama orders new federal policy for breastfeeding WASHINGTON — President Obama is asking federal personnel officials to draft “appropriate workplace accommodations’’ for federal employees who are nursing mothers.

The president issued a memo Monday to the Office of Personnel Management, asking for new guidelines to be published when ready.

The order is required by the new health care reform law, which mandates new breastfeeding rights primarily for hourly workers in the private and public sectors.

But Obama asked the federal government to go a step further by establishing guidelines for all federal employees, no matter their status, according to White House aides.

The legislative branch already has breastfeeding policies. In the House, congressional staffers who are nursing can use special rooms in the Cannon House Office Building. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, established the special rooms in 2007. Senate offices and committees also must make breastfeeding accommodations for staffers.

Senator Jeff Merkley, Democrat of Oregon, pushed for the inclusion of breastfeeding rights in the health care legislation after securing passage of a similar bill when he served as a state legislator.

What was originally known as the Breastfeeding Promotion Act ensured that women cannot be discriminated against or fired for breastfeeding or pumping breast milk during breaks or lunch. It also provided tax breaks to employers who establish special rooms for breastfeeding mothers or that rent lactation-related equipment.

— Washington Post

President vows to push for young illegal immigrants WASHINGTON — The White House says President Obama is not giving up on legislation that would offer a path to legal status to young illegal immigrants.

Obama met with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus yesterday and reiterated his support for the Dream Act, which died in the Senate last weekend and appears to have even less chance when a new, more Republican Congress convenes in January.

The legislation would have provided a route to legal status for illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States before age 16, have been here for five years, graduated high school or gained an equivalency degree, and who joined the military or attend college.

Obama also told lawmakers a broader reform of the immigration system should be a priority for the next Congress.

— Associated Press