I’m sad to learn that Iowa Senator Tom Harkin will not seek reelection in 2014. He is one of my favorite members of Congress and an all around decent person. He will be missed. The Democrats have several excellent options to run for the seat, so I am not overly concerned about that.
I did quickly check what Harkin’s retirement will mean for the Senate in terms of committee chairs, and I have happy news. Despite being in only the first year of his second term, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has gained enough seniority to be in line to replace Harkin as the chairman (or ranking member) of the Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions (HELP) Committee. This is the happy result of Sen. Barbara Mikulski taking over the chair of Appropriations (in the wake of Sen. Inouye’s death) and Sen. Patty Murray taking over the Budget chair (in the wake of Sen. Conrad’s retirement). Neither of them are likely to give up those powerful chairs to lead the HELP Committee, so it will probably be Sanders’ for the taking. Harkin’s retirement also puts Sen. Sherrod Brown in place to take over the Agriculture Committee should Sen. Stabenow leave the Senate for any reason.
So, even though Harkin’s retirement will be a heavy blow for progressives, we are good position to maintain progressive power in the areas where Harkin is currently representing us so well. And we can definitely keep his seat with Braley, Loebsack, or either Vilsack.
He was also one of the most wealthy in the Senate. I’d rather have Harkin in there than change committee seats right now. Fuck. Though his one blight was funneling money for “woo”.
Harkin will remain chair of HELP until he retires in January 2015.
Interesting.
How can Harkin be one of the wealthiest, and one of the most liberal at the same time?
I thought that was impossible.
Because financial self-interest is the only kind of self-interest, and self-interest is the only thing that moves people.
I learned this on the internet.
I learned that too. That’s why we need a former community organizer to make sure that Wall Street is held accountable and taxpayer-funded bailouts trickle up rather than down. It’s also why we’d never want to elect someone who comes from inherited wealth, like FDR or JFK.
On DKos they are reporting that this announcement came as quite a surprise, and he even had a fundraiser planned for next month.
So I can’t help wondering if the lame filibuster deal had something to do with this. Harkin (even before Markley and Udall) and been one of the most outspoken proponents of filibuster reform.
Health, I’m guessing. Suddenness of it all…
My first thought was that this decision is surely related to his almost certain disgust with the failure of filibuster reform in the senate.
I’d venture to say that he decided to retire after Reid negotiated that shit sandwich of a filibuster deal.
I’d also say that maybe Tom Vilsack would maybe win statewide, but it seems like he’s content as Secretary of Agriculture for now. Not idea about Christie Vilsack, but she lost to that nutjob Steven King in a presidential year – so not thrilled. I’m pretty sure the spot is basically Braley’s for the taking…hopefully he and Loebsack work it out ahead of time so they don’t get into a contentious primary. Have one of them run this time, and have the other run when that asshole Chuck Grassley retires or croaks.
I hope the decision to retire IS related to the abject failure of the democrats in filibuster reform.
I also hope Harkin spends the next 2 years calling out the the senate, and his fellow senators, whenever they act to preserve the game – as they clearly did in this instance – instead of acting in the best interests of the country.
I am just as furious today as I was 2 days ago when I first heard Durbin say they didn’t have the votes for the talking filibuster.
I used to hate Reid; I thought he was worthless. Then he did a few good things and I thought perhaps I had misjudged him. I completely believed Reid when he said he regretted not reforming the filibuster last time around and that he was going to do it this time.
Now I feel lied to and used. I thought democrats in the senate had woken up; clearly I got that wrong!
They have likely been awake the whole time. It’s the liberal people that have been asleep.
Don’t miss Matt Taibbi’s Choice of Mary Jo White to Head SEC Puts Fox In Charge of Hen House for more truth about the real DC Democrats that are in power.
“Lied to and used.” I’ve felt a lot like that since 2008, both on the National and State level.
He was my choice for POTUS in 1992. Alas, months before the CA primary, NH voters chose Tsongas and Clinton and thereby, continued the assault on the New Deal by Democrats.
Of course I favored Paul Tsongas (known locally as “Saint Paul”) in the 1992 Democratic primary, but Harkin was my #2.
A true fighting liberal.