How are we going to make progress with a Senate majority leader like Harry Reid? We have 59 Democratic senators (and one day, I hope, 60) and yet we often hear from Harry that “we just don’t have the votes”. This is almost as good as it gets for Democrats but “we can’t get the votes.”
We have to have 60 senate votes to pass legislation. No chance of reconciliation. We won’t make the Republicans filibuster. We have presidential appointees who have been blocked by anonymous holds with no outcry and no action from Reid. We have Republicans running roughshod over Democratic initiatives but little pushback from Reid.
What we do have is hand wringing and little action. "We just don't have the votes." He doesn’t seem to understand that WE WON! What’s going on? Follow me below the fold for a little information.
Harry Reid is listed as the biggest recipient of hedge fund donations to politicians and candidates. Since January 1, 2009, Reid has received $49,750 from hedge funds, according to the Center for Progessive Politics cited in this morning’s New York Times. The next highest recipient is Chuck Schumer with $36,200 and of the top 6 recipients, 5 are Democrats. So with Reid and the gang taking donations from hedge funds, I imagine Reid will say “We just don’t have the votes to get regulatory reform passed.” (I didn’t post a link to this because the chart was deleted from the online version of the story, but article is entitled “Hedge Funds Step Up Efforts to Avert Tougher Rules” on page B3 of the Business section).
Harry Reid has taken $78,800 from insurance industry PACs and is listed as “don’t know” on his stance on the public option. Nate Silver writes that
If the model is right, Reid's noncommittal stance on the issue might be better conceived of as tacit, if somewhat soft, opposition.
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/06/special-interest-money-means-longer.html
Again, we can’t pass health reform with a public option because “we just don’t have the votes.”
Where is Harry’s funding coming from in addition to hedge fund operatives and insurance industry PACs? The Western Representation Political Action Committee (conservative) lists Reid’s contributions from January 1, 2009 to March 31, 2009:
Total receipts: $2,234,309 with individual contributions totaling $1,479,933.75. Donors from Texas, Florida, Washington DC and Maryland account for $47% of individual contributions. Donors from Nevada accounted for less than 6% of the individual contributions.
Their report concludes that
“the majority of Senator Reid’s campaign money comes from sources with little interest in Nevada.”
http://74.125.95.132/...
Reid can take action when he wants to. He discouraged Chris Dodd from putting a hold on the telecom immunity legislation in 2007. He went so far as to tell Dodd that the hold might not be honored. He withdrew a debate on the bill when it looked like Dodd might try to filibuster it. See Eric Boehlert’s Bloggers on the Bus, Free Press, 2009, pp. 193-196.
Reid works for some people. How do we get Reid to work for us?
Obviously, he is willing to work for his donors. Do we become donors? That thought makes me feel kind of sick.
Do we track his moves and bombard his mailbox and phone lines?
Do we threaten to and support his opponents in 2010?
I’d like to do something other than complain about Reid. Or perhaps complaining will work if it’s loud enough.