Centrist Dem Senators: Sorry, We’ll Help GOP Filibuster If We Want To
Harry Reid and other Dem Senate leaders have quietly begun to try to crack down on centrist Dem Senators. They are asking the Senators to vote their conscience on straight up-or-down votes, but just stick with Dems to give them the 60 votes they need on procedural efforts to get past GOP filibusters.
Centrist Dems Mary Landrieu and Ben Nelson have now given their answer: Stuff it.
Landrieu:
However, she flatly refused to rule out filibustering any bill, including health care and climate change legislation. “I’m going to keep an open mind, but I am not committing to any procedural straitjackets one way or another,” she said.
Nelson:
“I’m not a closed mind on cloture, but if it’s an abuse of procedure, if it’s somebody trying to put a poison pill into a bill, or if it’s something that would be pre-emptive of Nebraska law, or something that rises to extraordinary circumstances, then I’ve always reserved the right to vote against cloture,” Nelson said.
Obviously it would be a bit much for Dems to expect these Senators to rule out any votes in advance. But it’s striking how zealously they are guarding their right to enable a minority of Senators to prevent important initiatives from ever coming to a straight up or down vote. Thus are Senate “kingmakers” made, apparently.
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No surprise here: how about Evan Bayh and Blanche Lincoln?
Why are these people Dems at all? Is there one Democratic principle that they support?
Todd, in their states, this is the liberal perspective.
Meanwhile, it is amazing that they are so steadfast in not accepting the political cover being provided here. They should vote yes on cloture (60) and then vote no on the bill (50+Biden).
Has cloture replaced actual passage of a bill as whether you are for or against it????
Time for Tim Kaine to threaten to turn off the spigots for these idiots. Its also time for Reid to tell them not a single d@mn earmark of their’s makes it into any bill until they get themselves together.
But at least we now have a standard. For Landrieu, it’s procedural straitjacket, which I would interpret as an extreme injustice. For Nelson, it’s poison pill or something that pre-empts Nebraska law. Hold them to that standard, and make them strongly justify each and every vote against cloture against it.
Trouble is that these people have been getting away with this for years. They were reliable Bushista votes in the “interregnum”. The Republicans could always count on them. Nelson is a particularly egregious offender and needs to be given a swift kick up his ***. No earmarks will be a start.
I heard a statement from Evan Bayh along the same lines as Landrieu and Nelson. It should make Democrats furious that 3-4 Senators could possibly make the difference between health care costs going down and the status quo we have been in for some time now.
Howard Dean has it right,reconciliation, it is also the way to deflate some of the massive egos of these conservadems.
Not voting the party line is a bad thing then? The party is always right?
@Bob: Quite right!
“It’s striking how zealously they are guarding their right to enable a minority of Senators to prevent important initiatives . . .”
That’s funny, Greg, because I thought Nelson said he was guarding his right to prevent “an abuse of procedure” or prevent the injection of “a poison pill into a bill.”
These are two things you used to be opposed to – but now for the sake of 60 votes you are willing to jettison principal? “You’re either with us or against us . . .”
Why would you call Nelson and Landrieu “centrist”? They decline to support a public option in health care coverage, a policy supported by more than 70% of Americans, including more than 50% of those few remaining Americans who still call themselves Republicans. What would it take to be called a “conservative” Democrat, or even a “right wing” Democrat. This matter of labels is so central to main stream media’s simplistic view of politics and politicians. If you must use them, please use something that makes sense in light of the reality.
Alice Olson
Deracination, big time and quickly, seems to be an appropriate method of solving the problem of the latter day Ephialtes in the Democratic Party.
I am 100% with Alice Olson. It is a values-laden label, and bad journalism, to call Nelson and Landrieu “centrist.” You can call them Blue Dogs, or Contrarian, or Conservative, but they are not centrist when they oppose what 76% of Americans want.
I think the taking away committee assignments has to be an option.
I also prefer the term “Lieberdem” to the increasingly incorrect “centrist dem”.
Filibusters are an extreme tactic, particularly when used by a few members to block major policy proposals supported by their party PLUS a supermajority of the American public. We should also note that the policies will likely be compromises anyway (Obama is no radical).
Looks like MoveOn is doing the right thing by running ads against theses so called Democrats. Tim for the to be shipped out with the rest of the Republican cabel in 2010. Americans are tired of this BS
Forget labels. Howard Dean said last night this is a battle between the insurance companies and the American people. The people want to have a choice between for-profit plans and a public plan. They are sick of being mistreated by the insurance companies, and having to just take it. So now there should be no concealing which Senators are on the side of the insurance companies and which are on the side of the American people.
I take exception to the characterization of Bayh and Landrieu as “centrist”.
There are several Republican Senators who vote more liberally than these two. And, no, where/who they purportedly represent does NOT count since its the Senate (that’s part of why we have the Senate).
This is literally a once in a lifetime chance, we have been trying to get this done since Truman. If these Senators are going to say it is their way or nothing, with nothing pretty much the end result, then the hell with them. This is it, this is the issue, this is Democratic D-Day, are they with the Germans or us? But if these Senators would say they will likely vote for Cloture, then Republicans will know they have no choice but to deal, and Republicans can get serious, now all the Republicans have to do is stonewall forever. Otherwise 60 votes in meaningless, might as well be 56 real Democrats.
By the way, did Republicans threaten to filibuster Bush during his first year? Bush only had 50 votes and still passed most of what he wanted, in fact his 300 billion compromise on his tax cut from 1.6 to 1.3 was not that different from Obama’s compromise, and Dems had 58 votes in their caucus. RINO’s are far more Republican than DINO’s are Democrat. Enough is enough.