As Steve Benen says, “Democrats appear to have lined up 58 votes, but in the Senate, 42 is greater than 58, even when our economic health is on the line.” He’s referring to the failed effort to pass the ‘tax extenders’ bill.
Democratic leaders in the Senate have apparently failed to win enough support to overcome a Republican filibuster of a bill to help the poor, the old and the jobless, despite making a series of cuts to the measure over the past several weeks to appease deficit hawks.
“It looks like we’re going to come up short,” said a senior Democratic aide on Wednesday evening. “It looks like Republicans are prepared to kill aid to states, an extension of unemployment benefits, and ironically, the Republicans are prepared to kill efforts to close loopholes that allow companies to export jobs overseas.”
The legislation, known as the “tax extenders” bill, would reauthorize extended unemployment benefits for people out of work for six months or longer, would protect doctors from a 21 percent pay cut for seeing Medicare patients, and would provide billions in aid to state Medicaid programs.
Unfortunately, the American people’s reaction is to give Congress a twenty percent approval rating, without much regard for which party is to blame. The Republicans are going with a strategy of making Congress as unpopular as possible in the hope that a widespread effort to throw the bums out will redound to their advantage.
Double-dip here we come! Wheeeee!!!
Maybe the Democrats should start making an effort at pointing out who is voting how, starting with some ads in states with Republican Senators. Even a couple of ads against “Safe Republican” Senators like DeMint, Isakson, Shelby, Crapo, Coburn, and Thune.
No doubt there would be a few (or more) constituents interested in how Republican unity has affected their lives.
At the risk of being an “effing retarded” tactic, some independent group might need to remind the constituents of the 42nd vote (obviously in the Democratic caucus) of how he/she has affected their lives. And then run ads in the states of those 58 Senators thanking them for their vote and pointing out who exactly voted against it.
It is not too early to start rolling out the attack ads. As long as they do not scream and clearly point out who is responsible for this disaster.
Something has to be done. I think it requires a very aggressive response or you just look weak and ineffectual.
“a very aggressive response”.
OK, now maybe i live in an alternate universe, but who’s going to give that aggressive response?
The House is busy destroying Lincoln’s derivatives language, the Senate is (was?) trying to gut the amendment on card swipe fees, the president’s deficit commission is staked with people who want to cut social security, and a number of democrats have talked openly about how 99 weeks of unemployment is enough.
who is going to make this “aggressive response”? and what will that even be?
credibility, like oil, is a finite resource.
adding, i like how it’s all the republicans’ fault, as if people like ben nelson and joe “with us on everythig but the war” lieberman don’t break ranks and vote with the gop.
shit, just look at schumer getting in bed with the GOP on card-swipe fees.
yes, it’s all the fault of those naughty republicans, and nothing to do with corrupt conservative democrats.
maybe it’s time to call those two cockfaces out on a daily basis.
for the record, i called nelson’s office. he couldn’t give less of a shit.
Debbie Stabenow just gave an aggressive response holding Republicans accountable for 80,000+ workers in Michigan losing unemployment benefits.
I heard that. Good on her.
I was talking with my boss yesterday about what this means for PA: we’ve already got 650,000 unemployed, an official unemployment rate of 8.7%, and this means teachers, cops, fireman and lothers get laid off, while PA is forced to cut ALL state funding for homeless services, alcohol treatment, and substance abuse treatment.
it’s going to be a real mess. there’s going to be a very visible homeless problem.
Here’s the kicker. Those folks who are being laid off are likely to be blaming Rendell and Obama instead of the Republican obstructionists.
well, gee maybe if the adminsitration had been careful to tie the blame for the mess around the GOP that wouldn’t be a problem.
…incumbents turn over, tops — and half of them would be Democrats. In the Senate, 1, maybe 2 turnovers — and again, half Democrats.
You’re dealing with a median voter who would volunteer to live with their family in a cardboard box under a railroad bridge, and toast sparrows on an old curtain rod over an open fire, provided you guarantee them that the people in the next box over — black, gay, foreign, liberal, different — don’t even get the sparrow.
Scapegoat, not chicken, is America’s favorite white meat, and the GOP are the Col. Sanders of scapegoat.
We don’t have remotely like the general level of immiseration needed to override a thousand years of tribalism. You need 1933-US levels of immiseration, 1917-Russia, 1787-France levels of immiseration.
Call me back when U6 tops 35%, or U3 tops 16%. Then, maybe, things will be bad enough.
They’re cynical enough to crash the economy on purpose in order to make Obama look bad.
They need to be called on this.
Debbie Stabenow just did that.
I’m sure if Obama took to the bully pulpit or made some threats that they could pass it on through with ease.
Is this snark?
Of course. It’s more or less a response to the FDL crowd, and Glenn Greenwald. Bernstein has been ripping him to shreds, in my opinion.
Like this:
Looks like Yglesias is ahead of me:
http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/2010/06/the-limits-of-presidential-power/
Pick your battles carefully. Apparently the left blogosphere wants Obama to pick every single one with the same amount of force. How long have they been following politics again?
Can Obama do an exec. order to extend benefits, COBRA and get some money to the states?
This is going to be a bloodbath. Millions of people will be on the streets, me included.
The dems need to get out there with this. Ads, on every talk and Sunday show. I’m not sure Obama taking the bully pulpit would have had any effect. You see, us unemployed are spoiled, lazy losers. That’s how the rethugs truly feel and if their constituents agree with them then hey COOL!
The problem is one inherent in any coalition government — it’s why the present arrangement in the UK won’t live to see the new year.
The steps you lay out would split the Democrats in the Senate who are Democrats from the Democrats in the Senate who are Republicans, who already caucus with the Republicans in the Senate who are Republicans, leading to our present-day Republican majority.
(In case you’re keeping score, there are no Republicans in the Senate who are Democrats.)
Press it. Please, dear Senators.
I believe it has already failed.
I hope I am wrong.
If Dems survive this, a failure to change the rules of the next sessions so the Senate operates on majority votes would be inexplicable.
I’m listing to Chris Matthews new broadcast campaign to get ONE Republican to say that Limbaugh is NOT the leader of the Party. He has been at this for several days now and has thus far FAILED! Remember that song, “looking in all the wrong places”? The problem with the Republicans is identical to the problem with the Democrats….NO PARTY LEADERSHIP! Beck and Limbaugh inherited the Republican Party due to absentee leadership. All these jerks want is money, but they found the ball-less republicans mouthing their broadcast stichk. So more echo means mo’ money.
However, the real danger here is that the new membership of the Republican Party are Libertarian- Republicans. These new hyphenated LR’s have an ideological goal of destroying the American government without reservation. Hyphenated LR’s have stated publicly that it is their goal to reduce the size of American government, but what they don’t say to what size. The American gutbuster munching on that Big Mac and fries better wake up and get his ass to the library on get online and find out what the Libertarian movement is all about. The hyphenated LR’s will settle for nothing less than NO GOVERNMENT, period. When the new leadership of the hyphenated LR’s emerges in Congress you won’t see anyone that you recognize.
The National Democratic Party (DCCC) has been in a leadership vacuum since Dean left. They are spending most of their time online copying the Obama for America website tactics and doing little else. To gage the DCCC’s leadership just check the fact that Congressman Chris Van Holland is the chairman of the DCCC. Just how effective do you think the leadership of the DCCC can be when it is lead by a full time elected Congressman. Effectively it makes the top leadership position in the Democratic party a part-time job. Absent is the strategic planning of Howard Dean which enabled the Democrats to recapture congress. Trust me, Howard and his leadership won’t be around for the 2010 elections, so we’ll see how the Democrats make out.
A dangerous game of chicken has broken out between the chicken hawks of both parties. It is like the famous drag strip 100 mph head on collision chicken game. You know where the two cars race directly at each other at high speed and the first driver to swerve to avoid the collision is the chicken. The Republicans are lined up in lock step opposing the bill that just failed on the Senate floor that would have stopped the 21% pay cut for medicare doctors, and would have extended unemployment benefits. While wringing their hands over this issue the Democrats are desperately looking around for some one to step up and publicly show how the Senate Republicans are hurting the American people, Seniors and those people just scrapping by on their unemployment checks.
The looming disaster facing the American people is directly due to lack of RESPONSIBLE leadership in BOTH of our two major political parties and unless averted will lead to blood in the streets long before November.