Senate Democrats are big pussies!

You heard me!

Senate Dems are afraid of holding a vote on the Obama administration's policy of continuing the Bush tax cuts for "middle-class Americans" making less than $250,000 per year because some "conserv-a-dems" are afraid of appearing to raise taxes on small business.

As a recent study suggested, ending the Bush tax cuts altogether at the end of this year WOULD BALANCE THE BUDGET BY 2015!  Let's see if Republicans want to take a bite out of that apple. In any case, a majority of Americans support the middle approach advocated by the Obama administration which advocates tax cuts for the middle class over 10 years.

(Note: Ernie actually supports the compromise advocated by former OMB director, Peter Orszag that all of the Bush tax cuts should be extended for two years in-full and then fully expire.)

However, even though a majority of Americans support the Obama administration's proposal Dems are afraid of taking a tough vote that would appear to raise taxes on some segment of the population.  I have respect for Republicans because at least they play to win!

Dems need to find their plums if they want any chance at holding the House and Senate. They'll get votes if they lead with purpose not if they just seem to cover their ass every chance they get!

Are you kidding me?!?

This afternoon, all 41 Republican Senators and Democratic Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska voted to stop cloture which would have begun the debate on Financial Reform.

This stall tactic is just an excuse to further water down the bill until a suitable "compromise" is reached, which will happen which will then allow Republicans to maneuver politically and say that they really fought to end "Too big to fail," when in reality what they're doing is trying to weaken the independent consumer protection agency and stronger regulations aimed at PayDay loans which charge exorbitant interest rates -- as much as 400% -- for advances on pay.

To be fair, some Republican senators like Bob Corker of Tennessee have been negotiating with Chairman Chris Dodd in good faith and are working on some fair compromises while trying to achieve real reform.

Let me be clear, I do not want a political win here for the Democrats.  If they craft the perfect bill with no compromises it will fail on a party-line vote and there will be NO financial reform which this country so badly needs.  This November Democrats are headed for historically consistent losses, and then some, due to the weak economic environment.  A party-line vote for solid financial reform would give them a strong narrative to paint themselves as fighting the titans of Wall Street and the Republicans who chose to defend them instead of the people they represent (How NYC Dems will vote will be an interesting thing to watch as Wall Street is their constituency!).

However, unlike the John McCain of 2010, I put my Country First and a moderate, bi-partisan financial reform bill passing sooner rather than later is better for the country.

Thank You Senate Staff

To both Democratic and Republican Senate staff members,

The last cloture vote was just announced which enabled an engrossment vote tomorrow and I wanted to take a moment and thank you for all of your hard work.

Unlike all of the political BS, you are the ones that scheduled all of the meetings. You are the ones that actually had to read the whole bill and decipher it. You are the ones that made sure that every measure was legal and you probably crafted much of the bill as well.

I've never seen a legislative body work as hard as I've seen the U.S. Senate this past month and I have to say I'm really impressed. 1AM votes and votes on Christmas Eve must not be fun, but for those of us that believe that at least some attempt must be made to insure more Americans, we are very thankful for your efforts.

The Filibuster

So apparently people on the right and on the left all fight about how wrong the filibuster is when THEY are in power. Here's the thing. Currently the filibuster is being abused and it's been increasing over the past 10 years or so. I still believe the filibuster is an important tool for legislative minorities to stop legislation that they deem really, really bad for the country and in this case, I guess that is health care reform for today's Republican party.

The Republicans are entitled to their filibuster but here's the compromise. You should only get 10 filibusters TOTAL; thats including procedural votes. The filibuster should be available but it really should only be used when the Senate is ready to engross its bill. And I have one final rule, a filibuster should actually be a really annoying process; in order for a filibuster to occur, all senators must be locked within the chamber with only water and basic food available to them (and some slightly cushy chairs for the Senators older than 80), no cots, no sleeping, no breaks.

That's what should be the point of a filibuster. This legislation is soooooooo bad I'm willing to do anything to stop it.

For example, last night the Republican minority did something really classless. They promised to vote en masse against the military funding bill. Yes, you heard me right. Not the healthcare bill, but the Military Appropriations Bill. They threatened a filibuster on legislation THEY SUPPORTED! just so they could delay a final vote on the healthcare bill. They brought 91 year old Senator Robert Byrd out at 1AM for the Military Appropriations Bill. Sure, do that for the healthcare vote but not for stuff you support, that's just not intellectually honest.

Democrats voted for the Iraq War and voted for No Child Left Behind because there were things for them in those bills to support. Trust me, there are things in this bill that will help many small businesses and middle class Republican families obtain affordable healthcare. Republican Senators could have made this a better bill if they had participated fully, but they chose not to even play and it's a crappier bill because of that. As I said previously, I would have rather given up some compromises to Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins from Maine than Joe Lieberman and Ben Nelson, but even they cannot bring up the courage to vote their conscience.

Congress has done its job. The far right doesn't like the bill. The far left (including me on some measures - I would trade major tort reform for a small public option - anyone?) doesn't like the bill. This is a good thing. The political center has been served, and America is better off for it, I just wish Republicans had played a larger role in the debate.