NEWS JUNKIE POST
Mar 2, 2010 at 11:40 pmBeyond Stunning Bunning: Still A Glimmer Of Hope in Senate
That short national nightmare known as the ‘Bunning filibuster’ is finally over. The tone deaf lame duck GOP senator from Kentucky finally freed jobless benefits and other entitlement extensions from the grips of his political grandstanding last night. The new bill–which will extend unemployment and C.OB.R.A. as well as fund some construction projects–passed the Senate by a vote of 78-19. The House passed the measure last week, so it’s off to President Obama’s desk for a quick signature. But 200,000 Americans found their jobless bennies cut -off as of Monday, and 2000 construction workers were furloughed by the Transportation Department. Presumably, all be be restored. But what havoc one bull-headed geezer can cause.
Quite frankly, I’ve just about had it with the whole sordid bunch. Republican and Democrat. Sorry libs, but even the Dems are biz as usual. And most don’t have the backbone to push forward the people’s business. That’s how the minority party has managed–with the help of hyperbolic, cynical media maestros like Beck and Limbaugh–to hold real health reform hostage. Weak- kneed democrats, whose own pockets are lined with health insurance company gold have allowed the status quo to rumble along. And the President–who clearly quit the Senate because he couldn’t stomach the legislative sausage-making–allowed the process to be held hostage by a bunch of crazy tea-partiers. It took him a year and a day long so-called health care summit before he finally had that light bulb moment. He conceded he might have to forget bipartisan support and push through the landmark legislation via simple majority rule. It took you that long to figure this out? I mean weren’t the signs there after you took Olympia Snowe around for a half-hearted spin on the Senate dance floor last September? As Bill Maher said, “Obama is like a guy in college who wastes a year trying to hit on Ellen DeGeneres. I keep telling you, Barry, they’re just not that into you.”
So the Dems may have to use reconciliation, which the GOP hypocrites are treating like its the red menace redux. Even clowns like Orin Hatch and Lamar Alexander, who have been around forever, with the records to check, are showing up on TV and in op-ed pages decrying the practice. Okay, fellas, now try to defend your participation in the scourge four or five times when ‘W’ rammed through his ingenious tax cuts that have in part, sunk us into the current economic quagmire from which we have yet to slog through.
Hypocrisy, of course, is not just a Republican privilege. No, the Democrats can play that game quite deftly, too. Don’t you love Evan “Bye Bye’ Bayh. He’s got the chutzpah to embark on a farewell talk show tour, lamenting partisanship and senatorial gridlock. Make no mistake, Bayh–whose wife has a six figure plus gig on the Wellpoint board–was one of the Dems who held up health reform, refusing for a time to allow an up or down vote on the proposed legislation. He wants to get while the getting is good so he can cash in in the private sector and maybe return in six years as a re-fashioned Democrat and make a presidential bid. Just watch. In the mean time, I say bring on Senator Mellencamp. We could use another populist voice that can’t be bought and sold by corporate America.
Of course, my rage is tempered a bit by honest brokers like Iowa’s Tom Harkin and Colorado’s Michael Bennet. Harkin–a longtime supporter of a single payer health system–is also a realist who levels with people. He did just that on “The Ed Show” on MSNBC Monday when he told host Ed Schultz he won’t push for the public option if it means killing the entire health bill. There are too many important provisions in the bill, things people desperately need regarding pre-existing conditions and catastrophic coverage–that he simply won’t abandon. “Nothing is final,” he said. “We get what we can now and we can revisit the legislation later in the year or next year and add to it.”
That’s honest and reasonable. Harkin–pardon the pun–hearkens back to a more cooperative era in Washington, a time when pols from both sides could engage in a healthy and vigorous debate and strike a compromise. Sure, there have always been back room deals and mudslinging, but the level of discourse and honest bidding was elevated.
For his part,Bennet, has re-introduced the public option. “The fight has been difficult. but I remain confident that a public option will be included in our final health care legislation–and I still believe we can include a public option,” he said.
To join Bennet, and Senators Kerry, Reid, Gillibrand and Brown go to:Save the Public Option
Wake up progressives, moderates,independent-minded people of common sense and common decency. Join the Coffee Party. And let’s take back our country from the cynical and corporate shills.
Follow Amy Beth Arkawy on Twitter. You can also read her other News Junkie Post articles.
YES!! You’ve got it so right, Hypocrisy and corruption from both parties have fueled both the Tea party and new Coffee party movements. Time for the progressives to start shouting loud and proud!
Another good article, Ms. Arkaway. Like your style.
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Well written and right on the mark! I will look forward to future articles by you.
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To be fair, the majority leader ‘could’ have settled the Bunning mess using cloture. But, it was nice to see the old geezer sit in his flatulence for a few days too.