Campaign coffers are not just for getting elected and then re-elected. They also are a sort of "leadership" test. Those that raise the most money and give to their fellow party members get elevated to higher levels. Which is why actual leadership, or I should say: "actual leadership integrity" is not so important in dc.
So you wonder why Bayh is starting that so-call moderate caucus? Maybe it is to garner all those lobbyist campaign donations? Health care and energy not to go under the 50 member rule as budget? Maybe it makes it more difficult to pass legislation not so dear to their clients hearts!
From Opensecrets: Bayh's campaign contributors
Top 2 Contributors for Bayh:
2003-2008
Goldman Sachs $123,750
Eli Lilly & Co $65,722
(My apologies for not knowing how to embed the actual video.)
Rachel Maddow: Conservadems
In the above segment she has Jane Hamsher from Firedoglake.com weighing in on the subject. It seems Bayh has enriched himself with these "conservative views" garnering at least 1 mill from the wall street barons, for example.
Rachel Maddow: Conservadems fight back
In this segment, Rachel has Jean Shaheen who delivers quite a monologue that tries to skirt her involvement with wrenches thrown into the machinery. Her contribution to the argument was that both energy and health care have "regional" interests that need to be considered. Remember Jean Shaheen is very thrilled with her "fixes" to the stimulus package that "allowed" a couple of repubs to vote yes. My own feeling is that Collins and Snowe would not have voted no anyway and the fixes were not that great. But I suppose there is something to be said for face saving.
In one interview, and I can't remember where I saw it, it was said that health care and energy shouldn't be done in the budget because there would be a limit of 5 years that would make for chaos if those programs got started and then were suddenly ended. Also there is a lot of concern about the so-called energy tax that would result from those caps. And it would be true and even NECESSARY that oil, coal and gas should go up because they are none renewable! Gas may not need the carbon caps as much and may not go as high but I don't have that knowledge to say that for sure. But we want to drive our energy decisions toward renewable energy and that requires acknowledging the true costs of all those energy sources. I would say that we also need to work to fix the problem in the gulf where the nitrate run offs from corn growing has caused a huge dead zone. That definitely takes a hit on the environment and that should also hit the bottom line in some way. But that is just my opinion. In my opinion all environmental draws should be in the accounting and affecting the bottom line.
What are the efforts to counteract? Obama has sent out emails asking supporters to call their reps and to return info on those calls. DFA and Dr. Howard Dean former Gov. of Vermont and former presidential candidate is asking for petitions to be signed: standwithdrdean.com. In the first Maddow segment, Jane Hamsher outlines some of the other organizational efforts.
But, bottom line, it is up to us. We are the ones we have been waiting for! We have to step up to the plate. We have to call our reps yes, but we also have to start LTE campaigns. We have to be willing to do things like we did during the 2008 campaigns - canvas, phone, contribute. What we really need is campaign finance reform big time, but we cannot wait for that to happen.