Politics!

[ericluxury]

Boo-hoo. But yeah, maybe Obama's latest meeting with Satan will yield some sort of soul-exchange for the replacement of all of the centrist Democrat do-nothings with ball-kickin' progressives.

Ugh. I am also not a fan of the way and the when of Bayh's retirement and I would agree with your reasoning that Bayh complaining about how hard it is to get anything done is bizarre since he is one of the most well-positioned Senators to be able to get anything done. Just by being in the Senate. Sen. Kennedy had a more lasting effect than either of his brothers politically because being a dedicated Senator for a long time is probably the most effective place to be in the government for getting things done. But even if he does want to quit, why use a Republican talking point as your reason.
HOWEVER, I'd point out that progressives have absolutely no record of getting anything done and that their inability to confront and clearly see political realities are on par the worst of the Republican Party. What is currently holding up the passage of the Senate health care bill in the House is progressives.

[Hated Milk Machine]

What is currently holding up the passage of the Senate health care bill in the House is progressives.

Can you back this up a little?

(Not saying I don't believe you - I'm saying I don't know what you mean)

[ericluxury]

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS...are/index.html
Thats Pelosi saying that the House can't pass the Senate Bill. This is in part because of the Blue Dogs, the Democratic centrists, but also because of the progressives in House. The House health care bill passed without a lot of Blue Dogs, but it was a more liberal bill. The conventional thinking is that the Senate bill would pick up a few Blue Dogs, but lose a bunch of progressives.

[Umlaut]

It literally kills me how spineless and impotent the Democrats are.

And I do mean literally. I don't have health insurance!

[thegreg]

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010...proposal_.html

Knock on wood people

[Berliner]

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefi...within-60-days

Now back to my vacation.

[nathansmart]

so this is for sure then? they are definitely going to use reconciliation?

[Berliner]

Bam

Also, bam.

[RoyalDutchOfDukes]

Did anyone else read about Congress yelling at the CEO of Toyota yesterday? Of all the stupid, ineffectual showboating Congress engages in, I hate it when they get some disgraced CEO in there to hurl abuse at the most. The phony, manufactured outrage and high-horsery on display would have been hilarious if it weren't so infuriating. Toyoda could have committed seppuku live on C-SPAN and half of those boobs would be yelling at him as he lay there bleeding to death. "You expect the American people to accept this? We want answers, Mr. Toyoda, and unless your intestines contain them this ostentatious display doesn't satisfy them!"

I swear the only thing this country manufactures anymore is phony outrage and delusion.

[nathansmart]

I would be more okay with it if they would do it to their own when one of them fucks up (like every week).

[Me!]

Well, at least they were yelling at a ceo instead of a baseball player this time.

[nathansmart]

I guess I don't really care because I think it's okay to be shamed for doing something really bad - but I would rather they made policy instead of yelled.

[RoyalDutchOfDukes]

The CEO of Toyota may need to be yelled at, but not by a bunch of utter frauds who are wholly owned corporate whores whose ideals shift with each new poll.

Everytime they get a chance to haul someone in front of them, they start grandstanding and beating their chests like they're all Huey Long reincarnated and not a bunch of weasely douches who couldn't lead a conga line.

[ProfessorShutYoMouth]

Everytime they get a chance to haul someone in front of them, they start grandstanding and beating their chests like they're all Huey Long reincarnated and not a bunch of weasely douches who couldn't lead a conga line.

You're definitely not going to want to watch any clips of this morning's HCR summit...lotta grandstanding going on from both sides. Obama seems pretty sober though and he did take a crack at a whining McCain, saying "we aren't campaigning anymore" and "the election's over".

I really have to wonder how Eric Cantor gets elected and put into the position he is in...every time I see him on TV he looks like someone who walked into the wrong classroom and is asked to give a presentation on last week's required reading.

[Umlaut]

Anyone else been watching this bullshit?

[scamboogah]

Anyone else been watching this bullshit?

Don't watch CNN's coverage, whatever you do. They've managed to catch every minute of Republican 'grilling', but then as soon as a Democrat is allowed to speak, and even once or twice when the President was about to speak, suddenly Wolf Blitzer has more important things to do, like let Ben Stein say this;

Ben Stein: Most of the people who pay taxes in this Country are Republicans, which is why they're more concerned about the cost of all this.

Fuck you CNN, and fuck the GOP for being little more than Insurance industry lobbyists at this point.

[RoyalDutchOfDukes]

And fuck the Democrats for not forcefully and consistently calling the GOP on their bullshit, coming up with a coherent plan, sticking with it and ignoring the obstructionist cunts and doing what they supposedly set out to do.

The GOP is at least consistent in their position. It's "Whatever It Is, We're Against It!" The Democrats would rather hedge bets and hem and haw and shake their heads about how the mean ol GOP isn't letting them, the majority fucking party do this nice healthcare thing. But man, when it comes time for them to start asking their supporters for money for reelection, they're going to remind you of how hard they fought for this shitty, compromised bill that they never really gave a shit about in the first place! So hard, you guys! But the Republicans, hey, what can you do. They threatened to FILIBUSTER US! We have our re-elections to think of!

Fuck the lot of them.

[Berliner]

Here's a nice zinger from Richard Durbin:

"If you think it's a socialist plot, then please drop out of the federal employees health program."

[Berliner]

Are most people aware of what Jim Bunning is doing right now?

[thegreg]

Is he still being a complete dick and stonewalling the reauthorization of unemployment benefits?