From the Washington Post:
Now that the Minnesota Supreme Court has ended the long count on the 2008 Senate race by awarding the seat to Al Franken, Democrats -- at least on paper -- have the power to pass whatever bills they want, without a single Republican vote.
Nothing would be a bigger mistake.
Franken, the loud-mouthed former comedian, will be the 60th member of the Senate Democratic caucus -- just enough for them to cut off any filibuster threat if they can muster all their members. With solid majorities in both houses, the Democratic leaders, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, could dismiss Republican objections to any bill without a second thought.
So. According to the wisdom of Dean Broder, if the Democrats CAN do it, they shouldn't. All bills must be bipartisan, or else.
Yet when it comes to the big initiatives -- energy, health care and the rest -- the risks of such a choice are obvious. When no Republican votes are in play, the price individual Democratic legislators can extract from the White House goes up. We saw plenty of that with the stimulus bill and the energy bill, both of which were weakened substantively by the concessions Obama had to make to get the last Democratic votes.
It's true that bills may be weakened substantively by the concessions Obama will have to make to the likes of the Blue Dog Dems, but does Broder believe that Republicans can be brought on board without concessions? He doesn't make any sense. Time to think about taking a long vacation, David.
Press on Mr. President and Democrats, and dare to take risks for the sake of doing the right thing, even the enormous risk of not being bi-partisan.
True. One of our former State ministers once said: One must do what is right - even if it benefits ones on party ;=)
ReplyDeleteMany of us who believe in that little guy, the regular worker think that once in a while those who are in control should relinquish it to keep some kind of balance - that's who we are in America, those who once in a while listen to the needs of those regular citizens. But we certainly haven't done it not enough in recent years! :-)
ReplyDeleteDon't dismiss Broder too quickly. He's been watching the DC scene for a long time and has a good reputation for calling things with accuracy.
ReplyDeleteCP
Country Parson, I'm afraid that I do dismiss much of what he says. Occasionaly he says something worthwhile, but not very often.
ReplyDeleteHe's attended the cocktail parties and dinner parties for too long. He and the politicians and the lobbyists and the clubby old timers of the Washington Press Corps mingle too much together. The press people love their access to the powerful and don't want to miss out on their invitations by being too critical.
Someone called the "Meet the Press" roundtable, a poker game for mummies. Cruel, yes, but a good bit of truth lies in the description.
Sorry about the rant, but that's what I think.
He is certainly known for "high broderism" but accuracy?
ReplyDeleteHe's so - I don't know. How far back would I have to go? Ten years ago?
ReplyDelete