« Music as a torture weapon: R.E.M., Nine Inch Nails, and Britney Spears. | Main | Two former Bush Administration Justice Dept. officials weigh in on the 9/11 terrorist trial to be held in NYC. »

It really is all about sticking it to Obama and the Dems. From Kevin Drum:

Congress gave final approval Thursday for an additional $24 billion to help the jobless and support the housing market as climbing unemployment poses a growing liability for elected officials.

The bill, passed overwhelmingly by the House and headed to President Obama for his signature Friday, extends unemployment insurance benefits that were due to expire and renews an $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers, while also expanding it to cover many other home purchases.

And Democrats only had to break three separate filibusters in the Senate to get this passed! The first filibuster was broken by a vote of 87-13, the second by a vote of 85-2, and the third by a vote of 97-1. The fourth and final vote, the one to actually pass the bill, was 98-0. Elapsed time: five weeks for a bill that everyone ended up voting for.

Why? Because even though Republicans were allowed to tack on a tax cut to the bill as the price of getting it passed, they decided to filibuster anyway unless they were also allowed to include an anti-ACORN amendment. Seriously. A bit of ACORN blustering to satisfy the Palin-Beck crowd is the reason they held up a bill designed to help people who are out of work in the deepest recession since World War II.

Egg-zactly! And that's what's going on with the Health Care Reform debate, in addition to the Climate Bill, where Barbara Boxer's committee reported to the full Senate their bill with ZERO input by the Republicans, who boycotted the hearings.

This is the deal: Americans vote, then the majority in the Senate and the House determine the legislative priorities. Democrats suffered through eight years as the minority party, and now it's time for Republicans to take their turn. You don't get to call the shots when your in the minority. It's that simple. You can take your ball and run away (or not show up for debate), sure, but you should be severely punished for it, too, next time the country votes.

That goes for each party, whoever is out of power.

Name (required)
Email
Website
Remember personal info? Yes   No
Comments

home | music | democracy | earth | money | projects | about | contact

Site design by Matthew Fries | © 2003-23 Consilience Productions. All Rights Reserved.
Consilience Productions, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
All contributions are fully tax deductible.