Dems Find Supermajority Hasn't Changed Balance Of Power

Washington Post:

Senate Democrats spent their first full day holding 60 votes just as they have spent the previous 2 1/2 years without such a supermajority: scrambling to find Republican support for their key initiatives in order to choke off potential filibusters.

Read the whole story: Washington Post

Comments

[butterfliesblossom]

TO KDOG76A, I based my comment on the current article that is protesting that the Democrats are not taking the party line. Based on that I am glad the Democrats in this term are not acting like the Republicans. I am non-partisan, I post all the time in regards to concerns I have with the Democrats and the Republicans. In this story, I am glad to see that the Democrats are not voting strictly along party lines that should be unconstitutional.

I have read the Constitution, the people who wrote that Constitution, in no regard ever imagine a Democracy like we have now have which is owned by Lobbyist and Corporate America who makes bribes to the parties along party lines.

[abby4ever]

test

[scooperss]

Excuses excuses.

They might as well just say it, they DON"T WANT to do what's right and the GOP is the only EXCUSE left.

[dmzrn]

I love watching the left squirm.

[ezeflyer]

Them with the gold STILL makes the rules.

[KDog76A]

Some of the richest people in America voted Democratic, weird the Democrats aren't making the rules...


"According to public record, one of every three members of the Senate and one out of every four members of the House are millionaires. Despite popular stereotypes of Republicans as the party of the rich and Democrats as the party of the working class, the wealthiest member of the Senate (John Kerry of Massachusetts) and the wealthiest member of the House (Jane Harman of California) are both Democrats. Of the top six wealthiest senators, five are Democrats.

The ownership society has certainly found its way into Congress. But the wealthy Democratic owner class shows little interest in spreading the wealth and opportunity around.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California, worth $16.3 million, is an appropriate spokesperson for the plantation caucus. This past week she stood at a press conference with other Democratic leaders stating uncompromising opposition to personal retirement accounts. The Democrats' message: No negotiation on Social Security until "privatization is off the table."
" http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43413

[calfacon]

Of course it doesn't make a difference. For that you need Leadership and Courage. Both sadly lacking in the Senate.

[isadora]

Repubs, meanwhile, are engaging in distortion in their advertising. Elsewhere on Huffpost one can view a spot where Franken's telling of a story about the late Sen. Welstone is monkeyed with to make it look like he is doing a $arah Palin rant. Name calling continues, and erroneous statements are also being made about the newest U.S. Senator. I believe he can handle it. This articles title refers to what Democrats are doing, I thought I'd balance it out by making note or repubbehavior.

[fairtaxnow]

Will DHS call these people right wing extremeists?

Akron police investigate teen mob attack on family

It came after a family night of celebrating America and freedom with a fireworks show at Firestone Stadium. Marshall, his family and two friends were gathered outside a friend's home in South Akron.

Out of nowhere, the six were attacked by dozens of teenage boys, who shouted ''This is our world'' and ''This is a black world'' as they confronted Marshall and his family.

http://www.ohio.com/news/50172282.html

[TaxDayMan]

Let see, NO, Don't worry it wasn't a "h@te crime" the victims were white! Libs, LoL!

[PKatherine]

ok thats a hate crime but there are many hate crimes happening everyday.

mostly on blacks and gays or other minorities­...

sooo you really don't have a point

whites, blacks, gays, and other minorities are dying from hate crimes... which is WRONG!!

[marxmarv]

Well, we'll see how it shakes out. It could be another Ashley Todd.

[mcfried]

Harry Reid has no balls. It's time to get some serious challengers to run in the primaries. In my NY neighborhood yesterday 2 separate people were petitioning to get on the dem primary ballad, here's hoping it's happening in Nevada

[KDog76A]

Reid does need to go, he's not only a lousy leader, he's a hypocrite when it comes to th environment. He helped put together a water pipeline for Las Vegas that is draining a giant aquifer in Utah, in the end it will be an environment catastrophe that will turn a huge region into another dustbowl..­.

[BillN]

Maybe I'm missing something.­..

Has there been a major vote in the Senate on ANY issue since Al Franken was sworn in?

Health care?

Environment (Cap & Trade)?

Sotomayor?

I don't believe a REAL opportunity has presented itself yet for the Democrats to assert their Super Majority status.

Sticking out their tongues at the other side, and saying "Nyaaah Nyaah" doesn't qualify, therefore if you're waiting for that to happen, don't hold your breath.

[BigAl72]

Good point. The Dems have yet to use that Super Majority, that I'm aware of.

[lastams]

No but the idea that THE Democrats are somehow a cohesive unit are grossly unreal.
What having this so-called super majority does is shine a light on the faux-populists that
pretend to serve the best interests of the American people while pocketing special interest cash.
Baucus and Dodd and the other Senators who have been raking in hundred of thousands of dollars NEED the Republicans as an excuse to "compromise".
Otherwise they might have to take responsibility for their own actual agendas.

[KDog76A]

apparently you don't follow the positions of many democratic senators.

many blue dogs are against cap and trade as well the healthcare plan that is currently on the table., The senate won't need to worry about Sotomayor, despite all the ruffled feathers, she was one of Bush's choices (either in the top 5 or top 3) for the Supreme Court.

[rf-hawaii]

Democrats need to grow a spine.

Stop looking to destructive Republicans for approval and to water down their efforts.

[willt7311]

Democrats don't have the spine to pass anything because they don't want to fully own it. They want it to seem as if the republicans were just as complicit in passing the bad legislation.

These politicians don't truly believe in all this legislation. They just believe in pandering for votes. If they truly believed in what they were doing then they would just pass their legislation.

[treadway123]

They are damned if they try for Partisenship, and damned if they don't! Make up yourmind.

[dave1111]

Agreed, Democrats need to be made aware that the voting public will hold THEM accountable for both the success and or failure of their policies.

[KDog76A]

eh, not really, like you'd vote a Republican in to replace a Democrat that wasn't liberal enough? please... the Dems aren't scared of any left-wingers, there only scare of independen­ts/centris­ts which is why everything Obama has primised will get watered down to nothing by Congress..­. a Cap and Trade law that doesn't reduce CO2 emissions a healthcare reform with no single-pay­er... Change will be in name only...

[standforpeace]

The full length article goes on to make the point that the Democrats are not just worried about a fillibuster-proof majority but also care a great deal about getting some Republicans onboard so that they can give off the appearance of bipartisanship. I for one am already sick of this focus. The purpose of elections is to give citizens a voice in choosing between alternative visions for the country. The Democrats won the last go around and now need to implement a Democratic vision rather than constantly seeking to make their vision acceptable to the Republicans in the House and Senate (who tend to be way more conservative than the majority of Americans). In particular, the health care crisis is a disaster for the millions of uninsured Americans, employers who can't compete with foreign companies whose workers enjoy government provided insurance, and the overall economy which is being dragged down by healthcare costs that rise much faster than any other sector . The public health insurance option is key to fixing this crisis. If we've learned anything from the economic disaster we find ourselves in, it should be that "free" markets are not the solution to every problem. Watching the Democrats consider trading this building block away to win a vote a vote or two from the Republicans is sickening.

[dave1111]

Yes, if we, the voters, had wanted bipartisanship, we, the voters, would NOT have given them a majority.

[KDog76A]

dave1111 you'd make a horrible leader. If you think you gain support thinking this way, wait until that super majority vanishes in 2010.

[willt7311]

You are asking for democrats to be accountable and responsible for the things they implement. That just isn't going to happen.

Dems want republican votes so they don't have to own their legislation. They can come back and say look the republicans voted for it as well so it wasn't just us making a mistake.

You are asking for a bunch of agitators that lack convictions to lead.

[dave1111]

Maybe a few more republican convictions, along with lengthy prison sentences, would help change that.

[abby4ever]

"Dems want republican votes so they don't have to own their legislation. They can come back and say look the republicans voted for it as well so it wasn't just us making a mistake."

Come on, you talk as if, if Repubs were the ones in power, they themselves would not be doing the above. I am not sure that what you say is true; I AM sure that if Dems are doing it, it's not because it's a Dem characteristic, something peculiar to Dems alone, as you are suggesting. It would be because it's a political instinct..­.of anyone in any party.

Shame on you.

[druidlady42]

TOTALLY AGREE!!!

[KDog76A]

"employers who can't compete with foreign companies whose workers enjoy government provided insurance"

um thats not why jobs are leaving the country, they are leaving the country because corporate tax rates are so high and production regulations are so stringent we cannot compete.

"Watching the Democrats consider trading this building block away to win a vote a vote or two from the Republicans is sickening.­"

Actually Democrats are beholden to their constituency more than their party. If a Senator's state will lose 500,000 industrial jobs because of the Cap and Trade Legislation, do you think, unions will vote to keep that Senator in office? no way...

you forget that the dems in office were not put there by liberals, they were put there by centrists.­.. they want change, but not a radical govt-controlled "vision." The curent Democratic block contains many demographics and doesn't really have the mandate behind their supermajority. THey will surely use it if its necessary, but not if its going to cost them seats.

[marxmarv]

Or, put another way, jobs are leaving the country because free movement of capital takes precedence (wrongly, IMHO) over free movement of labor.

[marxmarv]

If two people pull the rope wrapped around someone's neck, who's the kiIIer and who's the accessory?

[MurrayAbraham]

Only the press corps thought there would be a major change.

[dave1111]

Would that be Major Garrett?

[abby4ever]

Someone must have got to Harry for him to so quickly go back on his own command not to chase Repub votes.

[ljc]

I don't believer there is any such thing as a Super Majority in the Democratic Party. Democrats do not vote in lock step as a party and do not have group think agendas like Republicans. The infighting and power hungry egos get in their way.

[KDog76A]

You're right the Democrats do have power hungry egos and a lot of infighting that gets in their way of passing legislation.

You're wrong that Republicans vote lockstep or groupthink though...t­hey actually have crossed party lines more often than democrats, just not when it comes to hot-button issues.

[marxmarv]

Which is another way of saying that the only thing the D party really has to offer is that it's not the R party.

[butterfliesblossom]

If the super majority was Republicans it would have changed the balance of power, because Republicans vote along a party line. I am glad the Democrats are not like the Republicans. Voting along party lines seems unconstitutional to me.

[willt7311]

Sure, there is no evidence to suggest that republicans would buck their party and vote against it.

[KDog76A]

You really should read the consitution so you understand it... its only 11 pages long when typed, shouldn't be too difficult.

And believe me both parties vote on party lines quite a bit. THey have done so numerous times since Obama's election. So before you say things like " I am glad the Democrats are not like the Republicans" you might want to do a little research, they are more alike than you think.

[butterfliesblossom]

TO KDOG76A, I based my comment on the current article that is protesting that the Democrats are not taking the party line. Based on that I am glad the Democrats at term are not acting like the Republicans. I am non-partisan, I post all the time in regards to concerns I have with the Democrats and the Republicans. In this story, I am glad to see that the Democrats are not voting strictly along party lines that should be unconstitutional.

I have read the Constitution, the people who wrote that Constitution, in no regard ever imagine a Democracy like we have now have which is owned by Lobbyist and Corporate America who makes bribes to the parties along party lines.

[butterfliesblossom]

KDog you should look up the definition of Congress in Wikipedia. Congress is a gathering of individuals not a representation of only two parties.

Give me time to put my thoughts together, and I can answer more specifically why our current parties should be unconstitutional.