Political Bloviation

Ezra Klein – Reid to McConnell: Reconcile this.
Read it yourself, Reid puts the GOP on notice that they will in fact use reconciliation to complete health care reform. Let the screaming from the right begin, now!
I suppose this means that Harry Reid does in fact have balls.

Anyone with an interest in what’s wrong with the Senate should read the whole thing. Here’s what’s wrong in one paragraph.
most strident partisans must learn to occasionally sacrifice short-term tactical political advantage for the sake of the nation. Otherwise, Congress will remain stuck in an endless cycle of recrimination and revenge. The minority seeks to [...]

As a long time supporter of systemic health reform I find this heartening:
Democrats will finish their health reform efforts within the next two months by using a majority-vote maneuver in the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said.
Reid said that congressional Democrats would likely opt for a procedural tactic in the Senate allowing the upper [...]

Kevin Drum takes on the notion that there are Republican votes to be had for a more conservative approach to HCR:
This fantasy that there are Republican votes for a more moderate bill really needs to end. There are no Republican votes for healthcare reform, no matter how moderate or conservative it is. They’re opposed to [...]

Yes, it’s over call it a day…
In honor of “never say quit” Coleman:

Lieberman vs. Lieberman | Media Matters Action Network.
Opposing funding the troops is only bad if your enemies do it, otherwise it’s a bold expression of patriotism!

via Specter’s switch underscores the GOP’s weakness | McClatchy.
Love the Frank Luntz quote here:
With Specter’s defection, it’s all but lost the ability to filibuster legislation in the Senate — it will lose it if Democrat Al Franken is seated from Minnesota, as expected — and with it the power to command attention or influence the [...]

Some Guy With a Website by August J. Pollak – xoverboard.com.
For those who don’t know, here’s what budget reconciliation is: basically, you can’t filibuster bills in the Senate related to the budget. So if you decide that a piece of legislation is relevant to the budget, it only needs 50 votes to pass. Republicans used [...]

Looks like Washington could use a comedian in the Senate:
Franken Looks Like a Winner, but Not Quite a Senator – washingtonpost.com.
He’s good enough, he’s smart enough, and, gosh darn it, he’s a U.S. senator?
Not yet, but recent developments in the unending recount in Minnesota’s Senate race have given entertainer Al Franken (D) a burst of [...]

FiveThirtyEight.com: Politics Done Right: Franken Claims to Have Lead of 35-50 Votes.
I didn’t think that Fraken would be able to do it, but it looks like he might pull out a win in Minnesota.

Rachel gets to the heart of what drives the likes of Senators Kyl and Session (aka Foghorn Leghorn):
GOP’s Platform is Now to Reduce the Wages of American Workers
It appears to me that Senate Republicans are on an ideologically driven union-busting adventure here, that happens to have the prospect of increasing the market share of the [...]

Senate caves, votes to give telecoms retroactive immunity
In an all to common display of craven gutlessness the Senate once again rolled over and gave the White House what it wanted like a prison punk ass bitch. The only hope is that the House finds it’s balls in that other pair of pant in the laundry [...]

Christy over at FDL seems to like it (somewhat):
Firedoglake – Firedoglake weblog » FISA: GOP Blinks (Somewhat)…Let’s Get To Work
The go to guy on all things FISA, Glenn Greenwald isn’t a fan of it:
 The whole agreement seems designed to ensure that the GOP gets everything they want — that they are able to defeat all [...]

TPMmuckraker | Talking Points Memo | Mukasey Tongue-Tied on Administration Law Breaking
MUKASEY: Torture, as you know, is now unlawful under American law. I can’t contemplate any situation in which this president would assert Article II authority to do something that the law forbids.
SPECTER: Well, he did just that in violating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. [...]

Can’t he just say something like, “It’s wrong, illegal and diametrically opposed to American values” and be done with it?
Mukasey Demurs on Waterboarding – New York Times
“Given that waterboarding is not part of the current program and may never be added to the current program, I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to [...]

There’s a good round up of what happened over at C&L:
Crooks and Liars » Jay Rockefeller on FISA: Bush is committing Political terrorism: Cloture vote fails
Short story is that the GOP fell well short of their pathological attempt to play a national security issue for political advantage. The cloture vote in the Senate failed, so [...]

 Could it be? Is it possible? Did a member of the democratic leadership show some evidence of a spine? I’ll steal the graphic AmericaBlog used. I want to believe…
Reid Issues Ultimatum: More Time Or No Wiretaps – Politics on The Huffington Post
At a State of the Union preview speech today at the National Press Club, [...]

Negotiating Our Future in Iraq | The American Prospect
Bush would like to negotiate a long term agreement with Iraq, including security and training assurances without going to the Senate for ratification of a formal treaty between the nations. Why would he want to do that (other than a long standing hatred of anything that smells [...]

First we have this by way of Poltico.com:
Rockefeller predicts win in FISA fight over telecom immunity – The Crypt’s Blog – Politico.com
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) is predicting the Senate will grant retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies as Congress takes up reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and [...]

Firedoglake – Firedoglake weblog » Sunday Late Nite: Thank You, Harry Reid
Or at least spine-like. Maybe he can be upgraded from chordate to vertebrate. After being repeatedly burned congressional democrats finally learn the simple truth, that much like a 6 year old with a pack of matches Mr. Bush simply cannot be trusted. The [...]