As has been stated on FDL, this is senator JOB AVOIDANCE. All the prestige, perks and pay and no requirement to actually vote on anything. Democracy In Action — not.

Thanks for covering it Jon. It’s big.

I do wish, Jon, that your stellar earlier post on this topic had been front-paged, as it would put this post in clear context.

http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2013/01/22/the-most-important-vote-of-this-congressional-term/

I hope those who read this current post of yours might take a moment to read the earlier one.

Thank you for your continuing coverage of the filibuster and what it effectively means, in terms of governance AND responsibility.

DW

From the HP article:

“And Reid ….. wanted a bipartisan deal for the long term health of the institution. “

Reid has a curious notion of “health”. It is hard to imagine the that the Senate could possibly be more dysfunctional than it already is. We have managed to turn democracy into Orwellian speak for “minority rules”.

My bet is that Reid couldn’t get 51 votes for meaningful reform, which calls into question his leadership ability.

It is also possible that Obama squashed it. If true reform passed, he might have had to shed his bipartisan cloak and sign some actual progressive legislation.

Whenever the term “bipartisan” is used it means the 1% win and the 99% lose. New Senate votes on bipartisan bills 98 Yea and Warren and Sanders Nay

reid is a corrupt sellout who should have been replaced years ago. his corruption is typical of ALL of the democratic leadership. we have gone from having democrats and republican parties to having republicans and the john birch paties.
i hope reid is tried for treason and thrown in prison.
his recent election gave him an opponent that was toxic, purposefully so.
if you dony believe the fix is in look at the silence from the dem leadership in taking on voting issues or even gerrymandering. every 10 years the right wing makes more and more districts permanently republican and reid and pelosi do nothing
and these are the middle class saviors hahaha the jokes on us

Thank you DW, It was an expected but still depressing outcome

Yes, this is what you get from the Dems. ” Same old Senate, different day. ” The big surprise here is that Merkley gets slammed ( by the leadership ) for pointing out that Sens. Boxer and Feinstein were ” no ” votes on the stronger package of reforms. So, the progressive wing is chopped off by the corporate wing, again. Shame on you, ladies!

Expected and depressing, Jon, for certain.

Yet I do hope that your earlier post might, somehow, receive the serious attention which it deserves, especially as regards the critically important conclusions, the “options”, which you outlined, with precision and clarity.

Thank you again, for your in-depth coverage and thoughtful and detailed analysis of this very important crux point.

DW

Any action plans to tell Reid how constituents feel about this Democratic abdication of responsibility and sell-out? Is there time to change minds yet?

You don’t have to be a professional cynic to conclude that the mandarins of the Democratic Party are happy about this. They have two built-in excuses for the lack of progressive legislation coming out of Washington, DC: gerrymandering and the filibuster.

Yes, both are factors in stopping progress. However, the Democrats deserve much of the blame. Their incompetence led to the 2010 midterm debacle that made much of the gerrymandering possible; and, as we’ve seen once again with the Senate, the Democrats are complicit in perpetuating the filibuster.

My bet is that Reid couldn’t get 51 votes for meaningful reform, which calls into question his leadership ability.

I don’t question Reid’s leadership ability. I concluded long ago that he couldn’t lead ants to a picnic.

Republican light is spelled democrats

From the AP – Letter signed by 53 sinators urge Barry to approve KeystoneXL. How many R’s in the sinate again? Its immaterial as there is overwhelming evidence that there are a majority of Corporatists (Mussolini’s followers). Further evidence of what many have been saying for a great while, THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE ‘PARTIES’.

If Brian Schatz does not vote against this and actively camopaign against this he will have a primary challenge in Hawaii in 2 years.
He was appointed not elected and does not have a large base of support on his own.
This will blot his copy book beyond redemption.
Harry sold the D’s out again.
They all might as well come home since nothing will get done anyway. Adjourn the senate and make the reality apperent rather then continue the kabuki harry reid seems to so enjoy.

Did anyone ever think Senator Limp Dick was gonna do anything substantive?

This is correct; their only incentive is to keep the kabuki going and the finger pointing while the great “sucking sound” continues as the wealth of the 99% is sucked up by the corporations and “redistributed” to the 1%. All the real numbers prove this.

My goodness, tammanyytiger!

Harry Reid, ants to a picnic, could not lead?

And, according to Shoto, “In other news, Lanny Breuer was unable to find his ass with both hands.”

Now, I helpfully pointed out that Lanny Breuer HAD found the Democrat’s mascot … however, given what you and Jon reveal, today, I wonder if all of them, together, could fill a bluster?

Not ours … to reason “why?”, ours but … to be kicked (Man, it felt just like a donkey kicked me, hard, in the ask … not what the Dem leadership can do for you, ask what you can do for … cryin’ out loud, this is not a democracy, it’s business as usual … suspects? Round ‘em off to the nearest whole million, and then we’ll talk turkey around the pork barrel …)

Which politician was it who said, “Thank God for the rich” …?

Because without them …nobody could afford buypartisanship government at today’s prices.

Good thing this is the greatest country in the world, otherwise folks might just take exceptionalism to some things.

Ah, well …

Snark ‘em if ya got ‘em.

DW

Harry sold the D’s out again

Bullshit Harry fucked us over like his fellow democrats wanted . Stop living in a fantasy world.

They’re like a cat killing it’s prey, they first like to build us up and play with us before the final kill.

This is getting depressingly familiar…
First Reed blocks any reform in the previous Congress. Then, when the obstruction gets ridiculous and reform becomes openly popular, he finds “religion” and proclaims that, by George, the reformers were right and he promises to promote their cause this time. In fact, he’ll “lead” the effort.
During the process, it suddenly becomes “clear” that the more ambitious reforms “don’t have the votes” (hello… public option!!) and that he and the opposition leader will meet behind closed doors to reach a “bi-partisans consensus”.
Then, at the appropriate point, they will emerge with a deal that achieves little in the way of any real reform, declare a victory for “bi-partisanship” and slap each other on the back. Comity will be preserved and the Senate can go back to being the dis-functional cesspool we all know and love.
I really have issue with this continued tendency to declare things “not having the votes” without actually voting or releasing a list of who’s for and who’s against. All it seems to do is give cover for those who really are quite happy with disfunction as a legislative tactic, even on the Dem side of the aisle.
I really think that, on some level, as with the “public option”, they are TERRIFIED that the legislation MIGHT actually pass. It’s one thing to declare something “unpassable”. It’s quite another thing to have a vote, then have some Dem Senators have to explain their “NO” votes to a public who is ALL for the changes, whether the bill passes or not. Or… heaven forbid, to actually have to live with the reforms in-place and legislate.
For some of them, a WORSE outcome would be for the reform to actually pass, because, really, they are quite satisfied with the way things are, public proclamations notwithstanding.
Sorry, my cynicism is extremely potent this morning.

From this post, I suss out that the Dems are about to commit political suicide, and help make the federal government increasingly irrelevant and despised.

How that translates to ‘reform’ escapes me entirely.

And on top of the news about DoJ absolute failure to go after the banks breaking earlier this week, when there is abundant evidence of institutionalized fraud in Big Finance, it is almost stupifying to watch a blunder of this magnitude.

Breathtaking stupidity.

The outcome will be even worse than the Democrats committing suicide. The party will survive and be just strong enough to prevent a true progressive third party from forming but too weak to prevent the Republicans from carrying out their agenda.

Maybe the Republicans will split into two parties, the theocrats and the libertarians, but I wouldn’t count on it.

The party will survive and be just strong enough to prevent a true progressive third party from forming but too weak to prevent the Republicans from carrying out their agenda.

Of ALL that was said above, THIS will be our epitaph.

Isn’t that the purpose of the Democratic Party? It’s where progressive activism goes to die…

Nice to know that nothing has changed. We can still count on the Democrats to fold up like cheap card tables.

That’s the party’s mission statement. Beautiful in its simplicity, no?

Q: What, exactly, is a “New Democrat”?
A: A Republican

c. 1994 joke. (Herb Block? I forget.)

I don’t get what you’re complaining about. Seems this is a perfect example of “Democracy Inaction”. ;)

Total sellout!

Excellent work DW. Too bad comments can’t be rec’d.

All the comments here have been so good. We know that o’s mission was to revive the repugs and turn the govt over to them when he was elected. There is nothing progressive about him or his admin. He uses plausible deniability by deferring to his cabinet secs and staying away from actually leading (you know he lost his comfortable walking shoes).

o is corrupt corporate tool here and a war criminal oversees = NEW DEMOCRAT

“… with a live report from Capital Hill. Jake?”

“Thanks, David. In what came as a surprise to no one, …”

*sigh*

See also Jon’s latest
Senate Democrats Really Don’t Want to Govern

Well done..

Hard to feel sympathy for those trapped by their own corruption.

Wonder how many trad-dem voters I know who have told me “if they don’t fix the filibuster, I’m done with the Democrats” will find a way to rationalize this. Estimate: quite possibly, all of them.

Harry Reid just gave the democratic base a golden shower. Incredibly, the 3rd wayers want us to believe it is “trickle down”. Even more amazingly,some believe them. it is frightening to watch my government slip ever further out of the control of the people.