The Six Skanks Gang of Six will come out with a shitty bill named after Kennedy, the Rethugs will filibuster it, saying the bill was Kennedy’s and how it screws Americans.

a weak, watered down bill with concessions to the obstructionists? there would be no greater insult to the man’s memory.

BOSTON — Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said Wednesday he would support changing state law to allow him to appoint an interim successor to Sen. Edward Kennedy’s seat while a special election is held.

Why don’t we just stop screwing around and pass the following law:

“If there’s a Senate vacancy and the governor is Republican, we have a special election to determine a replacement; if the governor is a Democrat, the governor appoints the replacement.”

That way, everybody knows where we stand.

A weak watered down bill in Kennedy’s name? What a frackin’ disgrace!! I sure hope that happens. If Obama has any sense, he won’t let that happen. What a way to depress the base going into 2010. It’s not the campaign cash Obama should be worried about. It’s firing up the base so that they come out and vote in ‘10.

Hapless Harry Reid has already agreed to allow Republics to pre-filibuster all bills that have anything more than meaningless language. Reid wouldn’t want to upset the Republics by making them actually have to take a stand.

It’s a “mute” point, (as the ignorant fucking conservatives like to say). Those 60 “Democrats” include the likes of Max Baucus, Kent Conrad, Ben Nelson and Joe Lieberman.

Anyway, choice #3, reconciliation, looks like it’s going to be the only choice we have.

Reconciliation!

We know they’d do it, no doubt at all.

Anybody have any guesses as to who takes the seat?

Actually Riesz I’ve become convinced, mostly via this site and the excellent reporting, that option #3 produces the best bill, thus the only choice may provide the best result.

After what the fucking Republicans have done in the Senate and House,
we need to cram it right up their arse.
The Democartic controlled Mass House ans Senate WILL pass a law allowing
Patrick to appoint a successor to Kennedy.
Massachusetts is the bluest of states and should execise all options to
get a Senator who will vote for health care reform.
You can’t compromise with fucking idiots.

Where we stand is your 20% party is motivated by fear and racism. If you want a determinate voice, tell the truth and win an election.

A wait won’t be bad for us if the Swine Flu hits a plague works in our favor.

“What the turkeys have is the human virus — there is no mutation at all,” Deputy Health Minister Jeanette Vega told Chile’s Radio Cooperativa on Friday.
The Health Ministry said that in addition to ordering the quarantine, it has alerted the United Nations’ World Health Organization. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, meanwhile, was working closely with Chilean government scientists, said Juan Lubroth, the head of the FAO’S infectious diseases group in Rome.
Chile is sending some samples abroad for more genetic sequencing to confirm that it matches the pandemic strain, Lubroth said. “As a scientist, I want to touch, smell, feel, taste it” before agreeing that it is a match, he said.
Meanwhile, officials are acting to contain the outbreak by limiting the turkeys’ contact with people and wildlife, Lubroth said. The H1N1 virus has infected at least 12,000 people in Chile and is responsible for 128 confirmed deaths.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..ailarticle

My bold The Swine Flu has transferred to Turkeys Farmers, Butchers, food processing workers, restaurant cooks should all be vaccinated.
Or we can kiss our Pig and Poultry export market good bye. If our turkeys get infected before Thanksgiving and there is no healthcare bill the GOP will own those deaths.

Remember, this is Massachusetts state law we’re talking about. Or maybe you don’t think states ought to be able to make their own laws to suit themselves?

Rethugs today only know how to lie, cheat and steal. Doing anything honestly or ethically would take them out of the sewer and they’re afraid to leave its comforting aura.

The Republ [sic] Party can’t tell the truth and win elections. When the truth becomes apparent, they lose elections.

Whatcha drinking, SD?

Doesn’t matter much what’s fed into the front end of a dog. What comes out the other end is predictable.

Not to insult man’s best friend, the senate is a dog in terms of what comes out of it.

Ha ha haaaaaaaaa, this is priceless! Sheer, blatant, in-your-face “hypocracy,” as some ignorant *** liberals like to write.

I’m actually glad you’re doing this. It won’t make a darn bit of difference in the Senate, and it puts that blazing hypocracy right out there for all to marvel at.

Well done!

There was a considerable amount of hubris in Kennedy seeking to change the rules for who would fill his seat. Kennedy’s cancer and its prognosis were known to him in May 2008. In other words, he had a year and a half to relinguish his office and for a special election to be held. He chose to hold on to it despite his general incapacity and despite the coming healthcare debate and his worsening condition. Now I am sure we can all understand why he would want to hold on but it was not a wise decision.

We should remember too that Kennedy’s version of a healthcare plan had mandates and state exchanges and maintained the system of private insurers. There was a commitment to a public plan but with the details concerning it left up in the air. What Kennedy was proposing is essentially what we are seeing with Obamacare, with only perhaps a slightly greater emphasis given to the public option.

Iced tea. *g* On the way out the door to pick up Gigi’s ashes, then I’m gonna have something a little stiffer.

Not to disenfranchise a political party.

The GOP has fought government regulation of the food industry as to expensive. The GOP has fought against Healthcare as to expensive. The GOP is fighting against immigrants getting Healthcare as to expensive.
However low cost immigrant labor helps prepare their food From farm workers, butchers at slaughter houses, food processing workers, cooks etc. Giving immigrants healthcare would give us an idea if certain farms, slaughterhouses, restaurants are contaminated before the customers get sick.
Not very many people are immune to this disease. Despite government lies you can get this disease from eating meat if the meat is uncooked. Turkey Stuffing in the inside of the turkey the last place to heat up could be real dangerous this year.

Any analysis about what will happen includes lots of assumptions about how static public opinion is about healthcare reform. And too many of those assumptions are coming from Village pundits and pollsters. And our own cynicism about the American people, the unshakable positions of various members of Congress, and the ability and willingness of the President to get real healthcare reform.

My guess, and I make no claims for it being other than a SWAG, is that while the Senate vote takes place around December 15, the House vote could come at any time. I’m still guessing that there will be no bill from Senate Finance; Democrats won’t have the votes to report it out. And when that happens, the tone of the White House changes. I don’t know when Senators wake up to the fact that individual mandates without cost controls that don’t also reduce benefits is a strategy of political suicide, but I guess that at some point in the next decade it will occur to them; hopefully before they set the bill in concrete instead of after.

Malcolm X, “The Ballot or the Bullet,” 1964

In this present administration they have in the House of Representatives 257 Democrats to only 177 Republicans. They control two-thirds of the House vote. Why can’t they pass something that will help you and me? In the Senate, there are 67 senators who are of the Democratic Party. Only 33 of them are Republicans. Why, the Democrats have got the government sewed up, and you’re the one who sewed it up for them. And what have they given you for it?

Nothing new.

I’m sorry for your loss… a pet? I’ll fix a virtual something stronger for you. Later, amigo.

Which of Kennedy’s plans? He’s sought several different approaches. The current plan reflects his knowledge of the committee that he had to work with and the full expectation that no Republicans would come on board. The plan is indicative more of the state of the Democrats on the committee than Kennedy’s own preferences.

That’s the most remarkable post, really nails the issue. Which is the poor ability of Democrats in Congress to use the majority position effectively over time. Why? My guess would be lobby $.

The GOP if they had a brain would pass a Healthcare bill now before the Swine Flu hits. Sure the odds that the Swine Flu will be a plague while greater than most years is still low.
But what if this is the year? The damage to the GOP politically if there is no healthcare bill and we get hit hard by the Swine Flu well “No one could have predicted” won’t cut it..

You can follow the link. This is as far as I know the last one he proposed. The one that was supposed to be his legacy.

you could write a law that says that, to honor the voters choice, the temporary replacement SHALL come from the party of the senator who previously held the seat.

here’s hypocrisy for you.

mike enzi
“If I hadn’t been involved in this process as long as I have and to the depth as I have, you would already have national health care.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..69447.html

you can’t play by the rules with snakes in the grass. you just have to ride your mower over them. too bad if it hurts your “fair and balanced” republican sensibilities.

Hello, Anybody Home?

It’s over guys. Come to terms with it.

Three words for you:

Dick. Shun. Airy.

No fricken way we need a placeholder. It’s “Deval” not “Duval”. This here is an incumbent state and if you think the pledge not to run will be honored I have a bridge to sell you. MA voters deserve a real election, and the bureaucrats here deserve a chance to run.

Blue Texan’s regularly schedule post is up a little late but better than never: “Right-Wingers Trash Ted Kennedy While His Body is Still Warm”

The Massachusetts Dems:

hoisted with their own petard.

So I gather from all your rationalizations and your failures to put forth any objection on ethical grounds that all you progressives are in favor of . . . if I might riff off of the late, great Democrat governor George Wallace . . . “hypocracy” now, “hypocracy” ta-marr-ah, “hypocracy” fo-evah!

A perfect opportunity for the “Dims” to explain to the Progressives that now they have to eliminate the public option because they will have one less vote. Big health care will be very pleased!

Rather than coming together to pass a better bill in his honor, Democrats are likely to take up Robert Byrd’s call to name the bill after him, then gut his bill use his legacy to get it passed.

This is usually how politicians operate. What would be really extraordinary is if they didn’t do this. Naming a bill after someone who has died is easy. Passing a bill that has a chance of achieving its purpose isn’t. They’ll do the easy thing, avoid the hard thing.

http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/7093

Swine influenza virus is common throughout pig populations worldwide. Transmission of the virus from pigs to humans is not common and does not always lead to human influenza, often resulting only in the production of antibodies in the blood. If transmission does cause human influenza, it is called zoonotic swine flu. People with regular exposure to pigs are at increased risk of swine flu infection. The meat of an infected animal poses no risk of infection when properly cooked.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swine_influenza

I found this in the wiki entry awhile ago but now it seems to have disappeared I think the Pig industry is editing wiki.

cynic

The last bill is not reflective of his intentions. The first bill he introduced is — decades ago.

Yup, and LBJ’s backing civil rights cost him the White House, as he well knew it would — along with handing the South to the Republicans for at least a generation. (Make that three and counting.)

The funny thing is that the Rasmussen Poll is not exactly the most honest poll out there — which considering Scott Rasmussen is a Republican is not surprising.

The last bill is not reflective of his intentions.

Then what was it reflective of?

i’ll amend that a bit: “kick republicans to the dung heap of history today, tomorrow and forever.”

i don’t support or condone hypocrisy, but when a republican lectures others about it, it’s downright offensive.

“Which means the Republicans could filibuster any health care bill.”

Good. Let the 76% of the country which wants a public option watch the republicans read from the phone book instead of representing their constituents. As important as the health care debate is, I’d rather see that than any further hypocritical bullshit from politicians.

“The White House has proven itself to be historically sensitive to those optics far more than they have worried about losing the base, and I don’t see any reason why that should stop now. ” ; best part of the post Jane.
So why doesn’t a pollster ask the question -given the 70 odd per cent of the U.S. that supports a ‘public option’-”If the Republicans will not support a public option in a health reform (health insurance reform) bill, should the Democrats go ahead and pass such a bill with the public option in it without Republican support?

As towards the Rasmussen poll; WHICH bill is being referenced by such a pollster? That’s why when they come up with such garbage as the public knows more about the bill than Congress, I can’t give any credence to such a poll.

And anyone who does(e.g. the ‘best part of the post,Jane) simply says that the Obama Admin is more interested in politics than the actual subject(and THAT of course goes back to Rahm, one of history’s biggest whores).

If Obama is REALLY willing to be a one term President, then why doesn’t he act like it and take courageous stands?

What I don’t understand about the Massachusett’s law is the long delay after the vacancy? That’s nearly 5 months before an election. Five months before the people of Massachusetts have their full representation. What is the logic behind this? In fact the window almost guarantees that the election must be a special election…so it’s not designed to reduce the cost of such.

Mass. is a small state with most of the political players and issues well-known…a series of debates over a month could produce a reasonably fair result. The only beneficiaries of such a long protracted campaign would be the media outlets getting larded up with advertising revenue.

MA may be a small state in size but it has still got a fairly large population. Setting up a special election is neither cheap nor happening overnight (if it were, you wouldn’t have all the other states allowing an “interim” appointment for a vacant seat with the actual special election set to occur at the next general election.

Five months for a statewide election campaign is actually fairly reasonable. Especially when number of the potential candidates for the seat are in the House with the addition of other former House members (including Ted’s nephew Joe) and state wide candidates.

Seems to me that type of shortened sched. would preclude anyone but a well-known insider running for the seat. Democracy demands a bit more effort, yes? What if a newby jumps in, impresses the hell out of everyone, runs a great campaign and wins the seat even though most voters in Mass. hardly knew of him/her before?

I’d like to suggest that to honor Kennedy, we pups throw in an extra donation, either to The Marcy Fund, the ActBlue page, or the FDL “Health Care Initiative [I don’t know its “real” name — or it it has one].

I think Sen. Kennedy would appreciate such moves.

[Cross-posted on BlueTexan’s diary.]

That stopped me in my tracks. I cannot believe those were the numbers.

Political reality. Years ago Kennedy was a single-payer advocate.

You knew George Wallace…looks like George Wallace was a friend of yours.

From Wiki

Senate
Composition of the Senate at the start of the 88th Congress

* Democratic (D): 63 (majority)
* Republican (R): 37

TOTAL members: 100

House seats by party holding plurality in state

* Democratic (D): 259 (majority)
* Republican (R): 176

TOTAL members: 435

I was really starting to like “The Freedom Option”.
How about The Ted Kennedy Patriot Plan?

88th Congress:
66 Dem Senators
259 Dem Reps

http://senate.gov/pagelayout/h…..rtydiv.htm
http://clerk.house.gov/art_his…..ml?cong=88

The whole thing is a good read, Jane.

http://www.edchange.org/multic…..allot.html

Look at it the way it is. What alibis do they use, since they control Congress and the Senate? What alibi do they use when you and I ask, “Well, when are you going to keep your promise?” They blame the Dixiecrats. What is a Dixiecrat? A Democrat. A Dixiecrat is nothing but a Democrat in disguise. … No, look at that thing the way it is. They have got a con game going on, a political con game, and you and I are in the middle. It’s time for you and me to wake up and start looking at it like it is, and trying to understand it like it is; and then we can deal with it like it is.

He’d be real good with a blog, wouldn’t he.

That text could have been written this morning, and everyone here would be reading and nodding their heads.

That is a significant thing to ponder.

You are hoping that we have massive illness and deaths in
this country for your interest.
I am betting on our health care system and we will
fare far better than any other country in the event of a breakout
I hope you don’t reflect the views of most on this site

Kennedy would eventually have made concessions (a weaker public option, though not none), though he would have had Republicans shaking in their boots up until the last moment and groveling at his thereafter.