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Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has been diagnosed with early stage prostate cancer, his office said Thursday.
"Thanks to routine screening, this was diagnosed very early and I expect a full and speedy recovery," Wyden said in a statement.
But the 61-year-old lawmaker will miss votes tomorrow and possibly next week due to surgery on December 20, possibly affecting Democrats' ability to reach the 60 vote threshold necessary to move forward on a handful of remaining legislative priorities.
“I scheduled the surgery for the Monday before Christmas anticipating that the Senate would have recessed by that time and that there would be no disruption to my work in Oregon or Washington,” he said. “However, it now appears that I will be missing votes tomorrow and possibly next week while I prepare and undergo this procedure.”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid again vowed Thursday to hold votes on the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the START treaty, and the DREAM Act. Republicans are vowing to block those initiatives in the waning days of the lame duck session until work on a bill to fund the government next year is completed.
Wyden is expected to be back to work full-time after the New Year.
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You watch. He won't be back in time for the Rules change vote on the first day of the new senate, Lieberman will call in sick, Nelson will vote with the Republicans...........nothing gets changed for the better.
Yesterday on "The Ed Show", host Ed Schultz interviewed Senator Wyden's colleague, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), about Merkley's plan to try and make changes in the Senate's filibuster and cloture rules on the first day of the new 112th Congress.
Schultz, who has repeatedly accused the Republican minority of abusing those rules, has suddenly decided that...since Democrats will be defending 21 Senate seats and Republicans only 10 in 2012, he is opposed to changing the status quo.
Hilarious...
Senate Democrats aren't going to produce the votes to change anything ahead of their very likely loss of the majority in 2012.
Hypocrites...
It appears that what goes around comes around.
People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
Good luck Senator, I hope everything works alright after the operation (sometimes it doesn't).
The new filibuster/ cloture rule should incorporate the disparity in the abuse of the old filibuster rule. The dems should be able to retain usage of the fake filibuster until they have made use of it the same nimber of times as the RE-peat-the-lie-to-the-PUBLIC-ans. Roughly 400 times to get back to even , and then we can cancel the practice entirely. Fair and Balanced.
Are you suggesting he manipulated his cancer surgery for some kind of political statement?? That really is ridiculous--
No. I am saying if there is a way for Democrats to drop the ball, they will fumble every time.
Before making any judgement you need to know the Gleason stage of the cancer.
It has two components, size and SPEED. If you havan't been there look it up.
Mixedbag......I agree with ya on Mr. Ed.....he is a blowhard.....constantly blowing "stuff" out of his mouth...."stuff" that he has no idea if it is right or wrong, he just talks, apparently because he likes the sound of his voice. When Comcast takes over, the first thing they should do is cancel Mr. Ed. Can't believe I put Mr. Ed ahead of Olberman. Both need to go......yesterday.
Yellowcake from NIGER, please.
I am no great fan of Ed Shultz, but he is not one millionth of the problem for America that FAUX News is.
Be honest Paul. When did you ever watch FOX news? How would you know what it contains?
I can make through about 2 hours of it each day before I have to switch to BBC news.
"I can make through about 2 hours of it each day before I have to switch to BBC news."
So I suppose you already know that Fox News covers all sides of a story and many of their hosts and pundits are Democrats. Right?
They even have independents and Libitarians acting as hosts. A judge does a show on the legal aspects of legislation. You know that too don't you. Right?
Seems to me you would have named them, if you believed what you wrote.
Getalifevirginia: Let me make this clear there is NO Independence thought at work on Faux. Even the weak so called Dems are told what to say. Juan Williams is Independent not a Democrat. Pray tell who is the Democrat on FUX Views? There are none!! Right wingnuts and Far rightwingnuts!! They don't get opposing points of views. Even when they have a weak Dem on they edit out most of the exchange. Media matters was able to acquire some unedited tapes which showed FUX Views removed the responses they don't want you to hear!!! Koch sucking teabaggers are so far up Faux' but they cant see daylight!
sharing the facts
that may have made you feel better to spout those lies and inaccurate analysis; BUT that's as far as it GOES!
NOW, quit making stuff up or LEAVE these vines!
What facts do you believe that he made up?
There's just too many Kafka/Joseph Heller implications. This seems to only happen to Dems - going back to Paul Wellstone and on through Ted Kennedy. I guess this proves that the Dems are real human beings, while the GOP is immortal, because they are really just robots. I wonder if this is a ploy to see if the GOP will take advantage if the Dems can only muster 59 or 66 votes. Does this let everyone (Dem and GOP) off the hook, because it's a foregone conclusion that the votes aren't there without Wyden? I understand the Rules vote, but if the Dems have 53, wouldn't they need 3 defectors/absentees? And if it is 50-50, can the VP cast the deciding vote? Something sounds fishy - if it's early stage, then surgery can wait. So why doesn't Wyden want to wait? There seems to be something else going on, or he's not fully disclosing his condition (which he has the right to do).
Early prostate cancer is at worst a watch and wait situation and is not an emergency. Sometimes they will wait years until they feel the cancer is causing a risk. At the very least, postponing the surgery a month or so would not cause any health issue for the Senator. It is a big fat lie to cover up another agenda he might have.
JerryS-1446998
Early prostate cancer is the least a watch and wait situation and is not an emergency. Sometimes they will wait years until they feel the cancer is causing a risk. At the very least, postponing the surgery a month or so would not cause any health issue for the Senator. It is a big fat lie to cover up another agenda he might have.
You'd think he could reschedule. it's not a medical emergency.
beat you to it Beverly, but just by a few minutes!!!
Who the heck are you to tell the man that his health is secondary to voting for whatever Obama wants?
Good lord- then you attack republicans as lacking compassion!
Nice to see what liberals REALLY think for a change. . .
this is conspiracy mania run amok...you people will believe anything and I do mean anything--
Geez, someone isn't from your political party and you can't even grant the guy his cancer treatment. And I thought the bar couldn't get any lower. Wrong again.
AP- It's the Democrats and Liberals on this board that are barking about his cancer treatment getting in the way of his votes. So much for compassion on left.
Cancer, of any kind, is scary. I wish him well and hope all turns out alright.
This senator has access to the best medical care that the U.S. can provide. Its probably head and shoulders better than your policy or my own.
I hate to be a conspiracy theorist, but what healthcare providers tell us ( "you don't need that surgery now..." ) vs. what they recommend to those that can pay of any and every proceedure may be two totally different things.
Our doctors may use the "Gleason stages" as a bible, because that is what Cigna/Blue Cross/Atena/et all tell them to do while more privledged patients get a different assesment and recommendation.
His doctors want to remove the cancer now...
Yes, jerry and beverly, it seem your uhhhhhhhhhhh "compassion" is running a little thin when it comes to furthering the destructive socialist agenda.
I disagree. My brother had early stage prostate cancer but it was causing problems so he had the surgery. No all early stage prostate cancer is "wait and see" and moreover, the surgery is very delicate so the smaller the tumor the better the prognosis and the faster the recovery.
wrong..it's slow growing cancer and if truly early, one week or one month makes no difference
There is the possibility too, that it is not in quite the early stage that has been reported... (Example: Our tv news reported that Elizabeth Edwards had just been given weeks to live by her doctors - and she died the next day....) We're just not told everything factually...
It was early stage when they caught it. Who knows when that was? But the nimrod scheduled the surgery himself, for a date when he supposed they would be out on recess. A little consult with Sen. Reid would have dispelled that notion. DUH!
@5.2... prof: When the chemo is stopped, the body is already dying; no one knows the WHEN of death.
When people watch too much fox spews, they tend to think everything in life is filled with sinister drama and they then become foxheads. They forget who they were before giving their brains over to fox! Sometimes a tree is just a tree. Time to go outside, take a walk and look at some trees - it's healthy!
You folks who haven't been there should know the Gleason scale of the cancer before commenting. Look it up.
jerry:
There are many forms of prostate cancer. Even "early stage" can be "rapid growth" in some cases.
Please zip your lip when you do not know what you are lying about.
If Prostate Cancer is detected in an early stage, in some cases, doctors will recommend a "wait and see" approach. This "wait and see" approach will only be made if the doctor has determined the cancer has not spread and does not appear to be
progressing rapidly.
you all must understand that it is quite a shock to the system to find out one has CANCER!!! for heaven's
sake give the man a break.
What happened to electronic votes for the US Congress and US Senators?
Good thing US Senators have Cadillac health care plans paid largely off the backs of the tired American taxpayers!
Ron Wyden is a outstanding advocate for the American people whom he serves, all 100% of them, NOT the 2% that the Republican US Senators are in the pocket to!
I actually think that they should have to go out and find their own health insurance like the rest of us ~ They really shouldn't have socialized medicine (being the GOP is against it)! ~ Do they not realize that is exactly what THEY DO HAVE? ~ Or is that something that they only should have?
Then we have the retirement plans ~~~ Why aren't they in on Social Security just the way we are? ~ Why are we allowing them to make it so "cushy" for themselves that it becomes their career?!? ~ And why don't they take ADC (Aid to Dependent Children) and God alone knows how many other things, out of their retirement funds as they do out of our Social Security Monies? ~ I would bet we would hear a lot of squealing then. ~ Gee, I wonder why Social Security is having financial problems?!?
There are good people in Congress, however, there are many that have no business being there ~ They don't care about the people and I really don't understand how they get back into office ~ Don't people watch how their congressmen vote, etc. ~ I honestly don't understand how so many "nuts" stay in office ~ I thought they were there to represent "we the people" ~ Silly me!!!
First of all Countrygirl if you would do a little reading you would know that they do pay into Social Security, they have since 1984. They are also required to purchase health insurance from one of the "Pools" being set up in the new Health Care Plan, and they pay huge amounts each month into their retirement accounts. It is not all gravy like you seem to think it is. Do they get good perks?? Yes, but they also pay into a lot of it. It is not free for them.
The receive payments from their Federal retirement + social security
I can't help but wonder. If Justice O'Conner hadn't retired from the Supreme Court, If Ralph Nader never ran for President, If people would have shown up this past Nov 2nd, If Jon Stewart would've asked the President what the real reason is he keeps trying to compromise with Republicans even though they openly advocate his failure, If the real American people stopped shooting themselves in the foot....I just wonder.
Senator Wyden, a Senator I have gotten to know over the last few years from his interviews on tv, and I like him a great deal. I wish him the best of luck and hope to see him soon back in the fight. He's someone I have always enjoyed listening to when interviewed on various issues. A good Senator and one I am proud to boast is a Democrat.
DADT - I am holding out hope that this will pass in the Senate this weekend. And if it does, it will be a big deal. I am touched by the amount of work & dedication Senators Lieberman and Reid put into seeing that this unfair piece of legislation is repealed.
Think about it -
Senator Harry Reid was born in 1939, the year Gone With The Wind was released.
Senator Joe Liberman was born in 1942, the year Casablanca was released.
{Sorry, I have to admit that I always think of years in terms of movies or baseball or famous songs. I've been like that my entire life, much to the annoyance of many in my life. lol}
Anyway. Senators Lieberman and Reid, two senators from a few generations ago, who are fighting to repeal DADT. Thank you both. Sometimes you realize that we don't always need a new generation in the Senate. Sometimes we just need humanity and decency. Something you have both shown on this issue.
"Rick: You know what I want to hear.
Sam: [lying] No, I don't.
Rick: You played it for her, you can play it for me.
Sam: [lying] Well, I don't think I can remember...
Rick: If she can stand it, I can! Play it. Play it Sam.
You must remember this, a kiss is just a kiss,
A sigh is just a sigh...
Frank Sinata, As Time Goes By With Clips From Casablanca
Bogie & Bergman.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY62QByUYJQ&feature=related
Love. It's What the World Needs More of. Love.
Come on United States Senate. The future is in your hands as we speak.
The economy is in the toilet, the country has no money or approved budget, and the homosexuals think their genitals should be the country's highest priority??? And then, with judgement like that, they wonder why they are not welcomed into our military??? This attitude pretty much explains why homosexual Bradley Manning attacked America - by selling thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks after his "boyfriend" dumped him. I hope they fry his traitorous, patulous rectum for espionage and treason. The elections of 2012 can't come soon enough.
Heard Congress approval rating is down to 13% under Pelos leadership, isn't that idiotic?? Yet these people continue to write laws that continue to destrou this country. Pelosi may be the "first woman" speaker, but by far she has been the most CORRUPT in history. She will go into history works that way. She is totally out of touch with the American public and her famous phase " you have to pass the bill before you know what's in it?" how stupid is that ?? Pelosi is a disgrace to this country. She really needs to stop those botox shots, she looks awful scary with that frozen face.
Is there a poll separating the approval ratings for the two distinctly different houses of congress? I think the Senate is dragging the House and Nancy down.
Sen. Wyden, this ole republican is lifting a prayer for your complete recovery.
recycle, count me in too.
Ron although I do not wish you ill health, I would enjoy seeing you go somewhere else. Your services to the citizens of this state have been less than stellar, and have more than anything else, served to make you a rich man. You have proven yourself to be a liar, untrustworthy, and completely eaten up with your own opinion of yourself. You fall directly in line with the misfits in power within the portland metro area and the balance of the pseudo, hippie, faggots and california transplants that have peutrified the State of Oregon. Go away, stay away and stop using the media to jerk tears on your miserable behalf.
Friday seems to bring out those who like to contemplate 'south of the border' issues. I respect Senator Wyden enough to support his decisions on most issues. He has integrity and the right to privacy.
ive never heard of fox news, does it have something to do with sarah"thequitter,edithbunker"palin?
mrs stephens why dont you go down to the border and apply for a job their, and help out, ooops cowards like you only run their yap , typical conservative
In the unlikely event we are still talking about the Senators cancer, what early stage. One or two? If it is 3 or 4 he needs to deal with it asap. You only wait and see if you are probably in your seventies with a slow growth cancer and more likely to die from other causes. But at 61, you need to deal with now before it spreads to the lymph nodes which are nearby, then it will be uncurable. Wait and see is not an option. Not worth the risk. Why surgery? The side effects are worse than the cancer.
I'm 62. Stage 2. 43 days radiation with 2 years hormone treatment (that is the worse thing) was my choice. I'm on day 9 now. I did a lot of research and did not like the option of surgery. So my question is, what does he know that I don't?
And btw, have not missed any work. Only come in late because of the treatments.
Get well.