WASHINGTON (AP) - Moderate Democrats in Congress, including Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, are nudging their party's liberal agenda to the center.
They're trying to add a pro-business dose of pragmatism to President Barack Obama's plans to rescue homeowners, overhaul health care and revamp energy policy.
Bayh's group of about 15 centrists in the Senate could be a critical voting bloc.
He says the group won't be obstructionist. But he says most matters need sixty votes in the Senate, and his group will be a key to making that happen.
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Good morning Mr. and Mrs. America and all the ships at sea....
Well, you would think that the Democrats would start to show some profiles in courage now that they are firmly back in power, wouldn't you? Wouldn't you? Think again.
A tip of the hat to that silly party is in order. Once in a blue moon I'll find myself trying to remember why I disengaged myself from that stupid organization over a decade ago. But as soon as the thought crosses my mind, they will cheerfully remind me. At a time when the nation is desperate to take a decided turn to the left, a number of Democrats are in the process of sabotaging that party's traditional progressive agenda
Last week on MSNBC's Morning Joe, the announcement was made that Evan Bayh (pictured above) was going to be providing that program with an exclusive. Sure enough, within an hour, there was the distinguished senator from Indiana telling Joe Scarborough and Mika Brezezinski that he had organized a group of "moderate" Democrats in the senate whose sole purpose was keeping that party's Liberal wing in check.
First of all, let's get honest here. The goal of Bayh and his saboteurs is not to nudge "their party's liberal agenda to the center". Their purpose is to force that party's essentially centrist agenda to the far right. They are also positioning themselves to have their collective butts kissed by the party's rank and file in order to get anything done legislatively. Call it what you will, but my definition is outright political blackmail. It is one of the most disgusting power plays I've seen come from within " the party of FDR" in a long time. Count on it: Bayh is positioning himself to challenge President Obama in the primaries three years from now. This is revenge for not being chosen as number two on the ticket.
To paraphrase the late, great Mr. Fred Rogers: "Can you say 'Contemptible Twit'? Sure you can!"
Treacherous Democrats are hardly a new phenomenon. Remember poor old, crazy Zell Miller challenging Chris Matthews to a duel immediately after addressing the 2004 Republican convention? Or how about "loyal Democrat" Joe Lieberman who refused to accept the verdict of his party when they denied him the nomination three years ago? He ran as an Independent and defeated the Democratic nominee. To show that there were no hard feelings, Joe would endorse John McCain in '08 and even did an award winning reprise of Zell Miller's much heralded role when he made a key note speech at the GOP's convention last summer. Do you remember all of those cowardly Democrats who stupidly voted to give George W. Bush the authority to invade the sovereign nation of Iraq in October of 2002 without the constitutionally mandated Congressional approval? As far as yours truly is concerned, that party has damned near lost all of its much lamented credibility. As Theodore Roosevelt once said of President McKinley, they have "all the backbone of a chocolate eclair".
And while we're on the subject of wayward Democratic politicians, let us not forget the entire eight year reign of Bill Clinton. Clinton could have (and should have) put an end to the era of deregulatory madness that began with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. Instead he ended up merely passively enabling it. For the first two years of his administration he had a majority in both houses of Congress and he blew it. Although he was an able and competent chief executive in many substantial ways, no Democrat since Johnson (Andrew, not Lyndon) was a more bitter disappointment than William Jefferson Clinton.
I quit drugs in 1977. It's days like these when I seriously consider taking up the habit again. Oy, vey!
Show me a "conservative Democrat" and I'll show you just another cheap politician who has been bought and paid for by Corporate America. These so-called moderate Democrats are in the back pockets of the lobbyists who pay for their 'round-the-world "fact finding" jaunts, private jets and free, gourmet meals at five Star Restaurants. Every member of that party should ask him or herself the following questions: "Am I going to be a Joe Lieberman Democrat or a Russ Feingold Democrat? Am I going to be a Franklin Roosevelt Democrat or a Bill Clinton Democrat?" Damned good questions. Any answers?
What in the name of Mitch Miller is going on here? What the hell is the matter with these people? And while we're on the subject, what is the matter with Barack Obama? While it would be wrong to make an etched-in-stone, definitive assessment of his administration after only two months and three days, it's all too apparent that the man is off to a disastrous start. The editorial pages are packed to the margins with opinions as to why this would be so. Would you like to hear mine? The president has made a horrific error by placing within his administration men and women who are so ideologically out of step with the progressive ideas he envisioned during last year's campaign, they have rendered his programs impotent. To put it as simply as I can:
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