Spot on.

The Democratic Party; Unilaterally disarming since, oh fuck, forever…

If ReidnRahmbama don’t learn to love reconciliation they will surely be retired.

The other theme was elect the GOP and gloom and doom will happen. That may be true but the Dems are also totally inept at preventing that doom. Over a year and we still do not have banking reforms? WTF? 10% unemployment and the Dems are forcing through one shitpile of a health bill that does not control costs or get care, again wtf?

and may I add, turning to parliamentary “tricks”, however ‘legal’ or used by Repubs in the past — to get a HC bill through– will be lethal.

A true, thoughtful press conference by Obama saying that special interests hijacked reform, we are going back to the drawing board and writing some reforms that truly benefit patients and not industry will be an electoral winner for the Pres and Dems in 2010.

There are a couple of very insightful postings concerning the Massachusetts debacle over on the Matt Taibbi blog this morning. The 3:13 a.m. post is worth reading and a very brief Midnight post had this analysis.

Independents voted for Obama thinking he really meant what he said during his campaign. He’s been a huge disappointment to them and now those Obama voters are staring at a health care reform bill they consider a nightmare. Voting this Republican into the Senate was similar to a panicky phone call to the bank to cancel a check you wish you had not written.

Certainly resonates for me.

A very insigtful and accurate analysis.

The Democrats wanted poeer back because of the Bush administration and in many ways have carried on the same policies as the Bush-Cheney administration….

See Scott Horton’s new article on Torture at Harper’s Magazine online and how the Obama administration have continued to cover war crimes in violation of the Geneva Conventions. The Obama administration is now in violation of the Geneva Conventions as well.

The Democratic Party have governed and legislated from weakness not strength.

Yes I agree 100%!

Joe Conason points out that Republicans never, ever let bad poll results stop them from doing what they do:

Perhaps the most outstanding example in recent memory was the 1998  midterm election, held just four weeks after the House Republicans had voted almost unanimously for a highly partisan impeachment resolution against President Clinton. Contrary to the hopes of the GOP leadership, the predictions of mainstream analysts and the usual historical trends, voters then repudiated the Republicans, increasing the number of Democrats in the House by five seats. It was the first time in more than 60 years that the party of an incumbent president had won a midterm election. Yet the Republicans, unchastened by public opinion that ran strongly against impeachment (and in favor of a censure resolution over Clinton’s extramarital misconduct), proceeded with their crusade to oust the president who had been reelected overwhelmingly in 1996. They didn’t even permit a floor vote on a censure resolution. And although they eventually ousted then-Speaker Newt Gingrich, partially as punishment for the bad midterm result, that had more to do with his personal unpopularity than any real differences over policy or politics. If anything, the congressional Republicans became more ideological and more determined to enforce their will.

As every good poker player knows, the only way to recover from a loss is to double down.

Since 1968

I find the Leslie Marshall Radio Program worth listening to as well. She is actually more insightful and far more morally consistent than most of the other so-called liberal radio talk show hosts.

Her analysis last night about Obama and the election was spot on too.

Not only will Democrats lose badly if they adopt this strategy, but they will be laughed at. Republicans never had 59 Senate seats, and that did not stop them from passing the legislation they wanted

bingo

more damage was done under bush without a filibuster proof majority then the combined history of this country

but the fault lies with the big 0 even more then those running against obstructionism

obama has either tricked us, been corrupted or is a coward, bending at each and every corporate sponsored whim

first thing, toss lieberman, let him run as a republican next round so we’re rid of him, send him running to the republican party with only one way to maintain dem caucus rights, vote yea on every progressive dem bill period

next obama needs to simply tell his blue dogs the party is over, they will vote for our agenda or they will not get support, without their vote it does not matter if they claim they are democrats, they are voting like repukes

party is over for these maggots, time to get to the progressive work we elected you to

but will this happen

not a chance, obama is a corporatist plain and simple, he will keep his corporate mentor lieberman, he will keep his corporate hound dog rahm and he will (willingly) hand office over to the corporatist republicans who do it overtly rather then covertly

obama, is there a word bigger then epic to go with fail?…cause that’s what you are

I appreciate your candor. Unfortunately, I’ve grown so cynical about the corporate takeover of our country, my mind immediately goes to “Did they WANT this?” “Did they make this happen?”
I’ll be looking for the way they spin this.
If the Dems decide that, because a REPUBLICAN “took” Teddy Kennedy’s seat that means they will have to go right because that’s what they “think” the “people” want. I’ll suspect strongly the fix was in.
If they decide they’d better adhere a little more to their campaign rhetoric, I suspect the opposite.
Right now, the gnashing of teeth and the tearing of hair are a bit too much after Coakley actually WENT ON VACATION during a campaign fercryingoutloud.
Let’s watch what happens.
If the Senate “health” bill, in all it’s horridness, is passed because the Dems act scared of another Republican ( or that’s their excuse)I’ll strongly suspect they threw the race so they could do just that and the hell with Obama’s agenda.
They don’t care about the rest of it

Obama needs to re-write that bill, not push through the senate bill, then the re-write needs to be made into law through reconciliation

I wonder if Obama is going to cast blame for the bill’s unpopularity where it belongs, square on the desk of Lieberman and rahm

I doubt it, he is hardly the intellect we thought he was

Not only will Democrats lose badly if they adopt this strategy, but they will be laughed at.

Anyone who needs proof of this statement simply needs to turn on the electric TV machine box this morning to see wingnut crowing coming from all directions. It’s sickening…and it didn’t have to be this way.

Hey Democratic Party: Get focused or get stomped in November. This ain’t exactly rocket science…

Will the party brass get the message? Um…I doubt it.

I’ll be looking for the way they spin this.
If the Dems decide that, because a REPUBLICAN “took” Teddy Kennedy’s seat that means they will have to go right because that’s what they “think” the “people” want. I’ll suspect strongly the fix was in.

that is the way the republicans will spin it, that is the way the blue dogs will spin it, that is the way rahm will spin it, that is the way corporate sponsored media will spin it

we are doomed

LOL and as every good 11-dimension chess player knows, the best way to recover from a loss is the concede to your opponent 10 dimensions from the start of the game.

Obama promised health care reform.

He found it to be too much work, so he changed it to health insurance reform. Then he F’d that up.

Sheesh.

that was KENNEDY’S seat GA DAMN IT!!!!

this is an IMPOSSIBLE seat to lose and OBAMA lost it!

not much more to say here, am going to move along, see all later

I honestly don’t think it matters what the Dems do from a policy standpoint, most ‘murkins don’t have the attention span to understand any level of detail anyway. What matters is DECISIVENESS.

The majority of our mouth breathing consumerist society spent almost no time questioning Bush and his hole in the head gang, in large part because it appeared they had a plan, and they took no prisoners in delivering it. The ghost of Clintonian triangulation brought down al Gore in 2000, and it will bring down Obama and his Congress starting now.

IMO, from an electoral standpoit, it doesn’t matter whether BHO and the spineless congress shoot for single payer healthcare or a complete handout for Phrma and Aetna, as long as they drop the compromise-athon and do it with purpose. Soon.

The Obama Administration MUST reverse course and begin a serious investigation of the war crimes of the previous administration. Otherwise, as you correctly state, they are also war criminals.

Progressives have the dems by the throat. Fight for our agenda or die at the polls. It will be fun to watch the show.

is this snark?

doubling down is the worst thing to do on a poker table, you play the good cards you get and toss the bad cards, you don’t play against a better hand

doubling down loses you triple money

obama needs to get on the track that elected him, re-write that bill, at the very least take out the mandate

see all later

why would they be shell shocked? Horrible governing and a complete hcr giveaway on a high profile issue. No, there is something else going on below the surface, no one is this stupid. They want to go to the right and apparently don’t mind sacrificing their seats.

spot on post alan!!!

Let me put this as simply as possible. Democrats control everything in Washington right now.

They run everything right now, except their own caucuses. All the House leadership had to do was block the Stupak Amendment from coming to the floor, and all the Senate leadership had to do was get their entire caucus to vote for cloture on a signature Democratic issue so that the whole Senate could vote up-or-down on hcr with a public option.

Whether they’re in power or not, the Republicans do a far better job of running their caucuses and moving their agenda.

Otherwise, Jon is right on.

If the Democrats decide to use use yesterday as an excuse for doing nothing for the rest of the year, they will face more losses in 2010 and probably 2012, too.

The Oh-so-famous 60 votes never mean diddly-squat because the Democratic party is infested with Republicans.

And I’m not just talking Joe Lieberstod. I mean Barry.

He’s not a leader — he’s a follower. As I trust you all recall I didn’t think much of him to start with.

Now I think even less.

Being gay I’m way on the outside of power and always have been. Breeders have a dog in this fight. But watch out cause your dog’s being put down.

Hijacked reform?

Rahmbama made secret deals in smoked filled rooms with Billy Tauzin and Karen Ignagni and you sit there talking about the process being hijacked?

Please…

If you are going to shove something through with budget reconciliation (as distinct from bill reconciliation), you might as well go simple and clean. Extend Medicare to everyone. Pay for it with a highly progressive tax on incomes over $500,000 (write in a provision that ensures that it is the income and not the revenues from LLCs and subchapter S corporations that are taxed), immediate reversal of the Bush tax cuts, immediate reinstatement of a highly progressive estate tax, and a significant and highly progressive financial transaction tax on trades over $10 million.

Not one of those items will run afoul of the Byrd amendment.

That can be done in 15 days if Democrats will get some caucus unity for a change.

Republicans are willing to obstruct. Democrats are not… They concede on issues all the time. Republicans WILL obstruct. You can see the effect already – the TSA nominee has withdrawn because he can’t beat the filibuster. You need to recognize that democrats can not force anything past the republicans. Unless they change the filibuster rule. I wish it were not the case. To do anything they will have to concede something.

Who first coined the term “progressive” movement during the aughts. Was it a Nader thing, or did it come from Arianna and other reformed Republicans. I’m not talking Teddy Roosevelt’s Progressive Party, I mean the Yes We Can progressives. As a diehard “liberal” from the time I could walk, I feel I should know this.

That has the ring of truth.

Yes-Yep….TaDa

AND BARNEY FRANK…………SHOULD GO TO HELL

Hear, hear.

This item echos the letter that I’m going to be Sending Dick Durbin this morning.

Durbin is the #2 in the Senate for the Republicans and we keep getting the same nonsense.

If I hear about the Senate Democrats making concessions to Joe Lieberman one more time, I’m going to scream. Democrats led the fight over abortion rights and they gave those rights away in a heartbeat.

Something about lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way comes to mind.

The Democrats are losing, they’re giving it away.

Forget about the Democratic Party doing anything. It’s up to the people, the grassroots organizations. It’s up to us. If the Democratic Party wants to help us, fine, if not, fuck ‘em.

What is going on with the democrats? It is almost like they don’t know what they are doing. I think that the progressive democrats in the house and senate need to demand that President Obama start doing what the 53.5% voted him in to do, not what the 46.5% will never support him for doing. President Obama is trying so hard to please the right that he forgets it is the left that elected him. He is willing to commit political suicide for his democratic allies just so he can get the vote of Olympia Snowe or that rat Joe Lieberman and Ben Nelson. Come on President Obama get in the game. You are a sports fanatic so you should know that if you lose the home team during the game then the visiting team is definitely not going to cheer for you.

And many of us who literally put thousands of hours in for numerous Dems over the last 8 years and tens of thousands of hours over the last 40 are just not going to do it anymore until we see results for our efforts. What more do these Dems need? Enough of the excuses, enough of the bi partisan efforts. Roll the people’s bus over the obstructionist.

As Dr. Howard Dean has said about health care reform. “Republicans would have steam rolled it through” that is if the Republicans had ever cared enough about the masses having access. They don’t.

I agree dogjudge the democrats need to get rid of Lieberman, he is a snake is the grass.

Those Ds better hurry up & pass the senate bill, otherwise how can they finance their next campaign.

Bravo…and HOWDY

HUGE wake up call.

When a 3-to-1 Democrat/Republican state goes for a Republican, it’s time to re-evaluate your warmongering, corporation-loving, flash-without-substance ways.

CALLED professional kabuki…ism

We have to apply pressure, but I don’t think telling them all to fuck off is going to move policy where we want it to go.

Then again, some do need to be told to fuck off. That’s what primaries are for!

They already have plenty in the bank but it won’t do them much good unless Obama lets Holder loose to go after the war criminals.

hehehehehehe
and good morning

Thank G-d that we are having this discussion now, with time to course correct. If we don’t course correct, 2010 elections will be a bloodbath.

Frank

Afterward, Frank issued a statement expressing disappointment and conceding that the party’s approach to health care “is no longer appropriate.”

I have two reactions to the election in Massachusetts. One, I am disappointed. Two, I feel strongly that the Democratic majority in Congress must respect the process and make no effort to bypass the electoral results.

If Martha Coakley had won, I believe we could have worked out a reasonable compromise between the House and Senate healthcare bills. But since Scott Brown has won and the Republicans now have 41 votes in the Senate, that approach is no longer appropriate.

I am hopeful that some Republican senators will be willing to discuss a revised version of healthcare reform because I do not think that the country would be well-served by the healthcare status quo. But our respect for democratic procedures must rule out any effort to pass a healthcare bill as if the Massachusetts election had not happened.

Going forward, I hope there will be a serious effort to change the Senate rule which means that 59 votes are not enough to pass major legislation, but those are the rules by which the healthcare bill was considered, and it would be wrong to change them in the middle of this process.

Guess who is also on the chopping block come 2010 elections? HARRY REID! Good f*cking riddance to that limpdick. THAT will be another good embarrassing fail right there, the Democraps losing their majority “leader”.

Another loser come November looks to be NELSON! He blew off his constituents who were, like the rest of America, in favor of the public option, and went with the corporations in screwing the people. He’s a gonner. Also GOOD RIDDANCE!

It doesn’t matter if the Democraps have a 60 vote majority or a majority of 51 to 49, the result is still the same: the GOP rules the roost. Thus, I don’t give a flaming f*ck how many Democraps lose in November. I am also looking happily upon Obama’s political demise. Hell, barely a year into his first failed term and he is already a lame duck. Deservedly so, I must say.

Everyone thought that Obama would be a modern Roosevelt to Bush’s Hoover. Nope. Bush = Coolidge, Obama = Hoover, and the next President has the opportunity to be Roosevelt. One thing for sure though, it wont be Obama. He is a Chicago crook through and through. He is a corporatist with banker dick buried in his butt and insurance company dick tickling the back of his throat. There’s no way he can (or wants to) change what he is.

Why is Cenk the only person calling for Tim Kaine’s head?

Howard Dean was criticized for winning. Tim Kaine is not criticized for losing. Odd.

And Michael Steele is the winner? Odd.

Sadly that is NOT the message that the Democraps will see. They will, as ALWAYS, see this loss as meaning that they were STILL not GOP enough. They actually will believe that the result is due to overreach when it is actually about not having any reach whatsoever.

Democraps are incapable of learning.

If the criminals from the prior administration are put in cages at The Hague, there will be no bloodbath in 2010.

“Not only will Democrats lose badly if they adopt this strategy, but they will be laughed at. Republicans never had 59 Senate seats, and that did not stop them from passing the legislation they wanted.”

well, yes and no. The republicans were always able to peel off a few democratic votes, but the dems in 2009 were unable to peel off ANY republican votes. Now, one can argue that the republicans pretty much told the dems flat out this was how they were gonna play 2009 and that the dems should have taken that seriously, and one can argue that the democrats need to start acting like a parliamentary block themselves, but the fact is that the GOP was able to pass legislation when they didn’t have the majorities that the dems do is because the dems cooperated and the GOP won’t.

dems need to learn how to play the game.

Agree.

the link doesn’t go to that post, can you provide it?

Seems to me this is just another sign that it’s time for the President to make good on his promises about bringing back bipartisanship and ending the polarization in DC. It’s a big part of why I voted for him. On the health care reform efforts, there are some reasonable ways to do this:
1) Make the exchanges completely inclusive for all businesses and individuals. This is the one really shining idea in this mess, and it’s been mucked up. Both parties like markets. I don’t remember much complaining by anyone about this part.
2) Throw in some tort reform. Give the dog a bone. Just don’t do it exactly like they asked. Instead of award caps, how about expert courts? We have courts for dealing with family law, bankruptcy, traffic, etc. Why not have some specifically geared towards medical cases?
3) Drop the far left idea of universal coverage. It’s pretty clear this is too contentious to pass even amongst the democrats. Come back later with an expansion to medicaid. If the rest of this works, then people will be more ready to spend their money on health welfare for the working poor.

That seems hard to vote against on it’s own. I may be naive about this, but I think some reasonable efforts bring in some of the less combative republicans and get real bipartisanship going again. People like results. People vote for results.
And it’s time to stop being a fillibuster pushover. Dare them to do it for a year. Their precious military spending contracts won’t go out. Tax cuts will fall by the wayside. And the people will remember that we paid their salaries to stop results rather than doing their jobs. Obstructionism works, until it stops everything.

That is NOT enough. Not only do the criminals from the previous Admin need to see bars, ALL the illegal acts that they committed need to stop YESTERDAY: the illegal war in Iraq (NO residual forces, NO military bases), fire Petraeus, fire McChrystal, illegal domestic spying (it is STILL ongoing), indefinite detention, jail for ALL involved in beatings, torture, and murder of prisoners, closing not only Gitmo but also ALL other similar prisons (Bagram!), end private contractor war all just for starters.

It does no good to simply jail Bush, Cheney, Yoo, Rice. The shit they started (all of it) needs to come to a halt and full reversal.

Then there needs to be banks regulated out the wazoo, card check passed, and insurance companies regulated to within an millimeter of existence. THEN we’ll say some good has been done just for a start.

Let’s hope the Democrats can read the results correctly and/or want to fix this mess before they lose big time in Nov.

I was not implying that caging the war criminals would be enough, but it is the mandatory start. Ending the illegal wars comes next. After that, we can begin to recover our civil form of government.

Concur.

meanwhile…over at thinkprogress.com Lanny Davis is reported to lay the blame on the “the Left” and calls for a return to Clinton Democratic Party practices and process.

Lanny Davis is wrong. Clintonism is not the way forward.

Pelosi. Reid. Emanuel. Find some honor.Resign.

Barack Obama. Stop beating up and abusing your core liberal/left bases.

Barack Obama. Reboot your adviser team and ditch your 2009 WH playbook.

Barack Obama. You gave away what was not yours to do so with. Find some principles and acquire some integrity. Lose the corporatists. Enough of your stinking money politics. 2009 was your WH year and your agenda. Look. See. Fix it.

They have zero excuses for failing to deliver. Americans will not find some nonsense about having only 59 Senate seats as an acceptable excuse for failing to accomplish anything. If Democrats think they can win in 2010 by running against Republican obstructionism, they will lose badly.

amen.

if the democrats in the senate are too lazy to make the republicans really filibuster — they’d have to be available for quorum calls poor things — they should resign so someone else willing to do the people’s business can take their place.

New post up top…

What is the Democratic Party’s electoral record since Howard Dean left as DNC Chair?

How were the Dems doing prior to having Howard Dean as the DNC Chair?

The results are obvious…..

I absolutely agree with Jon Walker.

It is time to use what we have and get on with our agenda. The right wing is getting tough with their constant disinformation campaign and vast amounts of money and marketing. We must respond with action or we will continue to lose ground. Stop pandering and start preaching !!! and doing!!!

This election should be a wake up call to all of us !!!!

We have the numbers in Congress … lets start flexing some muscle and ditch those pretending to be democrats like nelson, lincoln and lieberman…we dont need them !!!

first thing, toss lieberman, let him run as a republican next round so we’re rid of him, send him running to the republican party with only one way to maintain dem caucus rights, vote yea on every progressive dem bill period

next obama needs to simply tell his blue dogs the party is over, they will vote for our agenda or they will not get support, without their vote it does not matter if they claim they are democrats, they are voting like repukes

Bingo. The need to preserve that precious and poorly used 60-vote majority is the last bit of foot dragging cover they had available. It’s gone now, as they will be if they don’t get with the People’s program.

they are playing the game…………it is a dance ,where they feign knowledge,and know-how

Let me provide you with the most incisive analysis:

If the Dems don’t give the public Wall Street scalps, they lose.

Obama was elected on a platform of “change” and has delivered mostly “continuity.”

Heads must roll.

Sadly that is NOT the message that the Democraps will see. They will, as ALWAYS, see this loss as meaning that they were STILL not GOP enough. They actually will believe that the result is due to overreach when it is actually about not having any reach whatsoever.

Frankly, I don’t think so. That’s what they will say, of course, but really it’s just a game of “if you can’t make me say I’m wrong I win” they’re playing.

But they know what’s really going on, count on it. Speaks volumes as to whose interests they’re really looking out for, eh?

it was his MEME

CLAW BACK the$$$$$$$$$$
wall street BONUSES FOR 1 Y E A R …140 billion,a few lucky souls
aid to 3 million Haitians…100 mill

Interesting post over at Kos. Mother of poster is an old time democratic party worker from Boston. Seems as though Cokely did not use the party. Same as Kerry . No phone banking or signs out. Set up? No criticism of Tim Kaine by anybody but Cenk?

Sure it is a referendum on Obama, but if there is more to it than that…We ignore at our own peril.The demise of both political parties a planned event? One only has to look for a motive. It might be sitting in the WH.

Not the motive BUT Rahm , a citizen of Israel and the US. Time for him to step down.And why the hatred for Howard Dean? It does not make sense.

Here is a snapshot of health insurance cartel: Aetna Inc. (AET 32.44, -0.22, -0.67%) , Cigna Corp. (CI 38.35, +0.43, +1.13%) , Humana Inc. (HUM 50.91, -1.03, -1.98%) , UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH 34.67, -0.46, -1.31%) and Wellpoint Inc. (WLP 68.90, +0.84, +1.23%) .

Everyone is down except Cigna and WellPoint, which may mean those two had less exposure to the Senate version of feudalism.

These early results confirm FDL reporting that the health insurance cartel wrote the version of the bill that passed the Senate.

Hopefully not too OT.

Looks like President Obama is getting even with us. The cat food commission rears its ugly head.

I like the analogy.

Sadly, the Dems ARE going to learn the wrong lesson and they ARE going to believe that their problem is not being Republican enough. Once again, the base, the majority in the country, will be ignored in favor of the crazy, greedy, fearful dolts on the right (of both parties).

65+% of the people wanted a public option (or medicare buy-in). The Democraps flatout ignored them in favor of insurance company and big pharma lobbyists. They fail to understand that insurance companies and big pharma companies and banks don’t get to vote. The people they have ignored and even spat upon vote and they have fired a shot across the Democrap bow.

The Democraps are ignoring the shot at best, totally misrepresenting what that shot was for at worst.

Good analysis. One reason the Republicans were able to pass everything without a supermajority is that they are openly pushing a corporatist agenda and they needed just a few Dems to help them pass their bills. The problem now is that if the Dems truly want to push the people’s agenda (a questionable assumption at this point), they are going against all the corporatists in their own party. It thus becomes a very elaborate game of blaming Lieberman or Nelson for the failure of health care reform, when in fact there is very little will among many Dems to do real reform, e.g. senators like Schumer and Gillibrand voting against the Dorgan ammendment.

No they don’t. All they need is a bare majority vote and the wanton use of reconciliation time after time after time.

No more seeking 60 votes for ANYTHING. Simply go with getting a bill passed and using reconciliation to turn it into the bill it should have been in the first place if not for corrupt DINOs and cowardly “moderates”. As for GOP votes, the GOP should be treated as if they don’t exist at all. Don’t ask them for input, don’t ask them for their votes or support. Sideline them entirely and reconcile the crap out of them and, if necessary, force filibusters to be REAL filibusters (including shutting down ALL other senate business until the REAL filibuster is concluded).

The voters are more interested in seeing the plans that they now enjoy cost less. Most of the country wanted to deal with costs, not expansion of coverage. This is going to raise costs dramatically. That is why, in this recession, this plan is being rejected.

In the campaign, Obama said he would change politics as usual. He did change them. It’s now worse than it was…blatantly buying off of politicians. It’s politically corrupt and it’s disgusting.

Obama could have had bipartisan support for a cost-containment bill that included insurance reforms, that modestly expanded Medicaid coverage to those who cannot afford insurance…but the WH and Dems in Congress seriously overreached. To double down on providing a massive entitlement that will expand government and be a fiscal disaster for this country is political suicide.

Obama could raise cheers in the streets and guarantee a Democratic congress for decades if he would simply take on some bad guys: TBTF banks (insist on regulations with teeth; split them up into commercial banks and investment houses put the banks in receivership if they complain and fire Geithner and Summers if they obstruct such action); the military (contractors who defraud the government; those responsible for rendition and torture); Bush appointees who are still in their jobs (especially Bush-era attorneys in the DOJ and corporatists in other departments under control of the administration), and for God’s sake clean out the hornet’s nest that is the CIA.

Then bring the Blue Dogs into a nice spring luncheon at the White House and tell them, “If you’re going to act like Republicans you’re going to be treated like Republicans – that is, you will have opponents in your elections that will have massive financing and support from the Democrats and you will have none. If a Republican wins your seat he will be no more obstructionist than you have been). Then call Harry Reid in for a chat and tell him that he will have to do whatever has to be done to pass bills that comport with what the White House wants, bills which will not pander to corporations and which will not hand over taxpayer money to them – change whatever Senate rules have been played to obstruct the administration’s agenda and ram through progressive bills with whatever tools are available.

If he is willing to do this by the end of summer, 2010, the Democrats will have no problems holding onto their majorities in congress – voters will be elated and dispirited Democrats will be willing to work to elect more Democrats next fall.

Goes to the right link for me. You need to scroll down a bit to see the comments though.

I no longer have any faith whatsoever that the Democratic party represents ME or anyone else of my political leanings. The Democrats clearly are paid off by the corporations, just like the Republics are. DINOS, all, they cower and kowtow to Republics no matter who is in the majority and in the White House. This kabuki show has gotten stupid and old and now is out of control.

I agree with some prior posts: when the Bush crime syndicate was in power, at least they looked like they had a plan, and they pushed through a lot of their agenda with the WILLING cooperation of many DINOS. BHO comes sauntering in with a lot of happy-talk rhetoric and promises, and what do we get? Some wimp who looks like he can’t find his way out of wet paper bag with hole on either end. What the eff does Rahmbama stand for?? Certainly not for ME or you or any other citizen.

Rahmbama have proven themselves to be just as corrupt as the Bush crime syndicate; they’ve done precious little to address the criminal actions that this nation has embarked on; and they either ACT inept or they ARE inept – I’m not sure which one is worse.

Brown is clearly a dolt, but the teabaggers – whether astroturfed or not – have a lot of passion and are well organized and will always GOTV. I don’t know that much about Coakley’s campaign, but it appears to have been horribly mismanaged, dull & stupid with no real message. Doltish as he is, Brown made 3 times as many campaign appearances and had lots more ads on the tv. It does make me wonder if the Democrats WANTED this loss to cover their butts in the ongoing kabuki show. At this point, who knows and who cares?

Since Rahmbama is merely Bush-lite (and not that much “lite-r”), I have to ask myself what’s the difference? Better the devil you know, than the one who keeps trying to fool you?? I hold out NO hope that the Democrats will “learn” anything from this exercise in stupidity; rather I think they will use it as an excuse to move the Overton window ever rightward. That seems to be the goal.

Coakley lost because, as she apparently has just enough sense to recognize, Democrats have moved so far to the right that they are now indistinguishable from Republicans in terms of policy. This allows the GOP to run as the anti-establishment party, even though it has been the establishment party for decades. The lesson that should have been learned is that Democrats need to start governing from the left, but as is typical of a failed and bankrupt establishment party, they are taking all the wrong lessons away from Coakley’s defeat yesterday. They’ll move even farther to the right now to appease their comrades, the public will vote them out in a fit of righteous outrage, and the sideshow will continue until America finally collapses (and it won’t be long before that happens).

Something has to be done.

You are under the impression that Obama is a progressive. He is not. He is an opportunist who has played progressives, independents and Blue Dogs to get him into the WH so that he can construct a Chicago-style machine in DC.

I disagree. America’s unavoidable collapse doesn’t require anything be done (except by you and me individually to prepare for the aftermath). It is happening at its own pace and inexorably. The ball got rolling with real speed with the witless response to the financial collapse.

It is for the best really. After 230+ years the system is clogged like a really bad artery and cannot be unclogged. Hell, democracies historically only last around 200 years anyway. The ALWAYS end up corrupted and broken, hence their collapse.

Embrace it and be ready to deal with the aftermath.

We are a center-right country. The left has seriously misread the electoral mood of the country. If you think pushing a progressive agenda after the tsnuami of opposition to this health-care bill progressives will drown the party.

Hope they do not run on Obstructionist excuses. Hope they roll over the obstructionist with 60% of the American people in that bus.

What else do they need? Besides people like Liarman being an honest broker for the American people. And that is just not going to happen

Oh, and notice how the cries for eliminating the filibuster from the right-wing of the Democratic Party have increased since Coakley conceded. Never mind that, as Jon points out, Republicans have rarely if ever needed to overcome one despite not having a filibuster-proof majority. This is because they use it at every opportunity, while Democrats rarely if ever resort to it. And even then, the GOP wanted the filibuster gone so they would have absolutely no obstacles left to thwart their extremist agenda. Now Democrats, being the party in power, refuse to use the filibuster-proof majority they had and lost it, and they’re still focused on all the wrong things. I am done with theis party of perpetual losers and corporatists.

And i thought, tho firmly, that constitution controls everything. For a decade or longer i thought that is is not either wing of one goose which solely manages plutocratic business.
Both wings of one party form US gov’t. The party has an assigned role to play just like the other branches of one governance; i.e., system of rule.

Media’s role is basicly to avoid as plague to touch the system. It is ok to proffer and endless ad hominem praise and blame, tactical mistakes; to talk ab palin, cultivate the cult of personality, etc.

And avoidance of talking ab or discussing constitution, which is just another ‘law’ [made by slave owners], is of the system.
In short, everything that happens or not happens in US and everything that US does to aliens is systemic.

And the wagons are circled; surrounded by indians and new indians. And as US explains;oops, bush, clearly: u’r with us or against us. The old indians were not with uncle. Now all new-indians who are not with uncle are against him and are paying price for that in palestine, somalia, iraq, afpak. This can happen only in one party system laboring under one the most inhuman constitutions [set of 'laws']ever put together.

If i am seeing things correctly, this bodes ill for many people and heralds more wars and oppression of own people! tnx

“America is a center/right country”

That’s just a bunch of gobble-dee-gook”

Americans support some ideas from the left and some from the right. They are in favor of “choice”, progressive taxation, social security, etc. etc. They also fear change oftentimes.

There’s no such thing as the center, and if you ask people, I think you’ll find more of them have left-wing points of view on a given issue, or would if our position were effectively argued. Polls have shown for years that single-payer or a public option is what the public wants. But that is dismissed by the corporatists as the “extreme” position and those polls are almost never even mentioned. So it’s easier to lie about where the country stands politically and make stuff up about a mythical and undefined political center that justifies constant moves to the right.

Goopers don’t need 60 votes to pass tax cuts for example. They would have needed them to privatize social security.

It all depends on the issue.

I am not under the impression that Obama is a progressive. I’m suggesting what Obama needs to do in order to rally his party to work for the election and re-election of Democrats, including himself. I’m under no illusion that he will listen to the people who worked so hard to put him in office instead of the DNC or the corporate donors who can vastly outspend the donations of grass roots Democrats; I’m just saying if he doesn’t grow a set and take on the people who are causing the voters misery, robbing them blind and defying the law, he will be compromising away the support he enjoyed in the 2008 presidential election.

“…elected Democrats are liars, wimps, idiots, or an ineffectual combination of all three.”

This is how dems in MA really saw Coakley. As a result they chose to elect an inexperienced, partisan, racist demagogue that ran an effective campaign over someone that ran an inept, lazy, “I’m entitled” campaign. Apparently Coakley never learned a thing from Hillary’s loss.

WAKE UP DEMS! Voters everywhere want a show of competence both in governance and campaigns. In fact – as MA clearly demonstrates – the electorate would rather vote for a fascist, backwards looking obstructionist Teabagger than an incompetent, excuse-giving mainstream dem.

If dems and progressives don’t get their shit together a GOP “Fourth Reich” in America is not that far fetched an idea. If the National Socialists of the 1930′s can go from zero to hero because of incompent incumbent politicians and hard economic times what makes you think the US of A is immune?

As for HCR and the current legislation – Dump It – This thing is a real cluster fuck. Simply add Medicare for all with no annual income cap and a means test to a bill the rethugs have to vote for and be done with it…

I don’t think the Dems can do what needs to be done.Hell of a time to have to rebuild a party when you control everything. It looks to me that George W. destroyed the Dems worse than he did the Repugs.

“take on the people who are causing the voters misery, robbing them blind and defying the law”

In order to do that Obama and the Dems would have to take a good hard look in the mirror.

People want JOBS, they want the economy to RECOVER. They want LESS government. They want to KEEP their hard earned incomes, not hand it over to favored DC firms and special interests. Republicans, independents, conservatives, Reagan Dems, moderates…

It’s not all that complicated but you choose to reinterpret what ACTUALLY happened in MA to fit your own agenda.

52% of Bay State voters who were surveyed as the polls closed said they opposed the federal health care reform measure and 42% said they cast their ballot to help stop President Obama from passing his chief domestic initiative.

It became a focal point for the frustration that has been brewing with voters.

“A plurality of voters said their vote was to stop the president’s health care plan.

48% of Massachusetts voters said that health care was the single issue driving their vote and 39% said they voted for Brown specifically because of his vocal opposition to the measure.

Massachusetts has had a law in place for the past four years that requires every resident to purchase health insurance, and reaction among residents to the mandate has been mixed.

That program remains controversial with voters who have not seen their medical costs drop significantly. “It is grossly over budget and causing the state severe fiscal problems. In short, Massachusetts voters know the shortcomings of government health care.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31708.html#ixzz0dAoTVllA

How exactly is the Dem split we are seeing Bush’s fault? That’s deluded.

I voted for Obama expecting him to play “Smash Mouth” give the Republiclowns a taste of their own medicine. He needs to launch an assault on the banks, regulate, tax, regulate,tax. Wall Street? 80% tax on bonuses. Health Care? regulate, restore the public option, reconciliation baby. Lieberman? Out as Chair, out as a Dem. Make the Republiclowns actually filibuster, don’t fold at the threat.

but the fault lies with the big 0 even more then those running against obstructionism

obama has either tricked us, been corrupted or is a coward, bending at each and every corporate sponsored whim

That’s not the problem – Obama would sign a single payer bill if it landed on his desk – the problem is that the democrats can’t govern – that we allow assholes like Ben nelson to dictate the day – how could a state like Nebraska dictate to NY and CA? How is that possible – and how is that Obama’s fault? And why didn’t the republicans deal with this under Bush? it’s because that Democrats have never accepted Obama as their leader – he is black, after all, and instead of slamming the racism and lies leveld at Obama – and pushing the dirty laundry back where it belongs, we’ve allow Liz Cheney – LIZ FUCKING CHENEY – to dictate the debate. tell me, when Bush was in power – how many times did you see far lefties on meet the press or Stephanopoulos? And why does no one EVER ask Cheney the OBVIOUS question – about that little incident on 9/11? And why was the underwear bomber treated as a greater misstep than 9/11?

because Obama is black and Americans don’t like black people – thus his dropping polls (it’s with white people, you know). Had ONLY white people voted, McCain would be president.

Elite liberals are not good class warriors. Big Wall Street money went into Obama’s campaign coffers, and it is hard for me to to take seriously Obama’s constant war against “them.”

Obama likes the elite plutocracy and the lower middle classes, but not so much the industrious and ambitious who aspire to cross his hated $250,000 income threshold — at which point suddenly they become unpatriotic, unwilling to pay their fair shares, and reluctant to spread the wealth around.

As for Health Care Reform…Most voters have had enough of talk of massive new health-care entitlements, cap-and-trade taxes and regulation, more stimulus, and more takeovers of private enterprise. The country is broke and the people want to pay off, not incur more, crushing debt. What got us into the mess was too much borrowing, skyrocketing debt, and reckless spending — not too many balanced budgets and too much lean government.

Clownservative want less government the way criminals want less police, so they can rob the people blind.

I am sure the message that Obama is going to take from this loss is he hasn’t pandered to the Republicans enough.

The republiclown response to job creation is “Lower taxes on millionaires & corporations”. With the massive tax breaks given under W. why aren’t we awash in jobs? When he drove the deficit though the roof where were the teabaggers then? Apparently waiting for corporate sponsorship of their “grassroots” movement. This is all fraud on the right, plain & simple & the so called “liberal media” aides & abets.

Elite liberals DLC pragmatists are not good class warriors.

Fixed.

A civil war is brewing…

Time to make some more popcorn.

Damn frickin’ right, period, amen, absolutely, and thank you. If we put away the fantasyland lies the actual difference between a 59-41 landslide and a 60-40 landslide isn’t much and isn’t important, but if they’re just using it to pull wool over peoples’ eyes it’s all the difference in the world. I suspect it’s the latter.

Sorry indie@98 but your zig-zagging screed is an excellect example of what’s wrong with the left today and why we’re losing elections all over the place – Over thinking, excuse making and quoting meaningless numbers that numb the voters minds.

“Cowboy up” not “Intellectual up” – That’s the winning strategy for this upcoming decade. We have to “dumb down” for the “Idiot America” electorate in order to get elected. Once in office -if we can stick together like rethuglicans do – we can get our real agenda of balance and fairness for ALL Americans done.

I think Democrats should run by demonizing other Democrats, particularly that sellout in the White House, amirite? I mean, look at what we accomplished, Ted Kennedy’s seat goes to male version of Palin! Congratulations progressives, you are truly winners today! Woohoo!

This is such a clusterfuck of epic proportions. The Democratic mirage is falling apart.

I am thoroughly disgusted. The White House, the national Democratic party, the Massachusetts Dems, Marth Coakley herself, ran this campaign as if they wanted to lose. Obama hasn’t closed Gitmo, hasn’t dismantled the Patriot Act, hasn’t prosecuted, rather has defended, the previous administration for the egregious crimes they committed, hasn’t passed banking reform, hasn’t passed meaningful employment legislation, made a disaster of healthcare reform. Still bailing out banks as if Henry Paulson was still in charge, Timothy Geitner and Larry Summers are still firmly in place, the nominated head of the TSA has run like a scalded dog. And the Republicans and conservatives are crowing and sending their misinformation, saying this election victory is proof that Americans want tort prevention, less taxes and more favor for corporations and the rich, perpetual warfare, less civil liberties, more restrictions on prenatal choice, more religion in government, etc., etc., and the Democrats are MUTE! Blaming on another in a classic circular firing squad. A pox on all their houses! I’ve nad enough of Republican-light, of false bi-partisanship, of shipworm Democrat Lieberman and all the other conservative renegades that have only set fire to the “big tent” that is nothing but a circus of clowns. The Republicans never disappoint, they will ruin thid country just as they promise; the Democrats always disappoint after they tell us they will save it. I want this mythical progressive party, I am no longer interested in the lies of the Democrats. This country is in crisis, and we’re needing and waiting for bold action where there is none. TO HELL WITH THE DEMOCRATS, I WANT A PROGRESSIVE PARTY!

No, nobody wants Republican Mitt Romney’s expensive healthcare mandate. They wanted a public option. But don’t expect Politico to interpret public sentiment correctly, they never do.

SueDe, you are so right. We’re not so impatient that we would require results by then, but just some real movement would be enough. We haven’t even seen that. How long did it take Roosevelt to pass securities regulation like the Glass-Steagall Act? A legislative blink of an eye. Obama needed to hit the ground running, push through financial reform and employment legislation, rolling up a big snowball of support for his mandate and then plow real healthcare reform through when nobody could argue against his impetus. That’s what we, not just the left but the majority of the American electorate voted for, despite what teabaggers, Politico & all the other clueless pundits try to spin.

That’s pretty much what Adolph Reed, Jr. had to write about Obama in The Progressive during the campaign. Reed called him “a vacuous opportunist” whose only experience in community organizing was apparently “youth-oriented voter registration.” Everything about Obama is a shameless lie designed to ingratiate him to the powerful while fooling the powerless into supporting his ambitions.

Bush and the GOPukes effectively dragged the already right-wing Democratic Party further to the right, leaving the left-wing out of the equation. What we have now in the Democratic Party is the progressive-liberal base and the fascist leadership, the latter of which sides with the Republicans on everything. This isn’t surprising, since so many GOPukes (such as Arlen Specter) changed parties but not ideology.

As it happens, one exists:

http://www.progressiveparty.org

http://waprogparty.org

Get in touch with them about forming or joining a chapter in your community.

Spot on but…. You’ve got to realize the Democrats are pretenders… they’re not really trying the do the peoples bidding just like they never really apposed anything that Bush did. ITS AN ACT! One that disgusted good people like Byron Dorgan. They are every bit as despicable and knieving as the Republicans are. Rahmobama got his health care bill (its the Senate version) which is design to steal from the public and give the the Government owned corporations. see : http://cafr1.com

The decision to send Brown to Washington is irrational because his statements contradict the political values of those who elected him. The sentiment I’ve heard expressed most often by disgruntled tea partiers is animosity directed at “too big to fail” financial institutions for wrecking the economy and the federal government for bailing those banks out with taxpayer money. If that’s the case, they elected the wrong candidate to stick it to Wall Street’s fat cat financiers.

Read more @ http://armchairfirebrand.wordpress.com/

[Mod Note: Just to note that there is only one of these allowed per day. Thank you for your cooperation on this]

Frankly, it doesn’t matter what the Dems do, they are pretty much scr*wed. They have lost the swing voters who were basically fiscally conservative democrats and independents. (aka teabaggers) Like it or not that is an unpleasant fact for most progressives, but the stats don’t lie. From the outside looking in, for what its worth, the Dems have one way to redeem themselves. Jobs Jobs and Jobs…you’d basically need to employ 2 – 3 million people by this September to reverse the overwhelming groundswell of disapproval from 60% of the American population. Forget about the right wing, forget about Rush, forget about the echo chamber….The people progressives need to connect with are fiscally conservative democrats and independents…frankly, it’s probably too late. You’ll need a miracle of Scott Brown historical proportions to reverse the tide.