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Daily Kos Staff

Wednesday September 09, 2009 · 12:00 PM PDT

2009/09/09 · 12:00

Wolcott:

There are times when Democrats remind me of the episode of Seinfeld where, after a slapstick chain of mishaps, Kramer finds himself pinned against the wall like a soldier about to be executed as a tennis-ball machine bops one ball after another off of his head, until he groggily collapses and slides out of frame. The history and velocity and modus operandi of conservative attacks on elected Democrats are out there in the screaming daylight open and yet time and again they find themselves in a passive, stationary, unprepared position, getting pounded into mush, going down in--well, it's too early and wimpy to talk about defeat. But stale defeatism is definitely loose in the air.

Read the whole thing. Wolcott is, as usual, brilliant.

Asked by a constituent what his plan to fix health care was, wingnut Rep. Paul Broun curtly responded, "if you have a suggestion, send it to me", and walked away.
Here's a suggestion: vote for the public option. But of course, Broun already knows that and doesn't care.

Wingnut family values California state legislator gets caught bragging, explicitly so, on an open mic about shagging two lobbyists.
He's a hypocrite, of course. And the lobbyists? They're apparently doing their jobs.

Oh noes, did I say something mean about lobbyists? Get the smelling salts!

Sen. Max Baucus sent a copy of his legislation to K Street before he sent it to the White House or Harry Reid's office.
Baucus doesn't respond to the representatives of the people -- the president and Senate leader -- his first and apparently only concern are the corporate lobbyists that butter his bread. The people? They aren't even an afterthought.

All that said, it appears the White House is ignoring the Baucus bill.

Rep. John Murtha's (D) corruption spreads to everyone around him.

Murtha and fellow panel members Peter Visclosky (D-Ind.) and Jim Moran (D-Va.) steered a host of earmarks to PMA clients, and those clients and PMA staffers gave campaign contributions to the lawmakers. Aspects of those relationships are the subject of a Justice Department probe, which is thought to be looking at whether there were explicit quid pro quo exchanges of favors for cash, which would make crimes out of relationships that are otherwise legal. The House ethics committee is also looking at the situation, and the PMA Group closed following an FBI raid late last year.

Now, a computer analysis by the Center for Public Integrity has revealed that fully three-quarters of the subcommittee members have been involved in similar patterns of behavior — in circles of relationships fraught with potential conflicts of interest, involving former congressional staffers-turned lobbyists, earmarks, and campaign cash. In these circles, former staffers became lobbyists for defense contractors; the contractors received earmarks from the representatives; and the representatives received campaign contributions from the lobbyists or the contractors.

How cheaply were these congressmen bought? $1 million in campaign contributions netted $100 million in government earmarks.

Fully 12 of the subcommittee’s 16 members were involved in the controversial practices. Along with Murtha, Visclosky, and Moran, the list includes ranking Republican, C.W. Bill Young of Florida, Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), Norman Dicks (D-Wash.), Dave Hobson (R-Ohio), Steve Rothman (D-N.J.), Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.), Kay Granger (R-Texas), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.). Hobson retired at the end of last year, and Wicker became a senator, but all the others remain members of the subcommittee.

This is so messed up.

The actions of a Kentucky high school football coach have been questioned after he took nearly two dozen players on a field trip to an evangelist church service where nearly half the kids were baptized.

VA-Gov: McDonnell (R) trying to distance himself from his homophobia. He has to. Remember, leadership to him means lying to the voters about his true agenda.

It is also becoming clear in modern culture that the voting American mainstream is not willing to accept a true pro-family ideologue because as then-Representative Trent Lott (R-MS) observed, "Americans think of themselves as conservatives; they want government reduced. But in their hearts they are liberals, they want all the goodies coming in. Leadership, however, does not require giving voters what they want, for whimsical and capricious government would result. Republican legislators must exercise independent professional judgment as statesman, to make decisions that are objectively right, and proved effective."

Any concept of a "trigger" is a joke, an effort by opponents to kill reform without being too obvious about it.

Rep. Anthony Weiner, the hero of this health care fight:

Weiner also suggested that liberals should defy the President and Nancy Pelosi and oppose a bill without a public option. If not, they only have only themselves to blame for their lack of clout relative to, say, Blue Dog Dems, he added.

“All of the protest letters in the world don’t add up to much if you don’t finally stand up and vote No on something the President and Nancy want,” Weiner said. “There is clearly a sense that progressives in Congress are easily rolled.”

“If the Congressional left can’t pass even something as modest as a watered down public option, then frankly I don’t think anyone is going to take the left very seriously later on in this Congress,” Weiner continued. “When Blue Dogs talk, there are fewer of them but they have more influence than when progressives talk.”

Said Weiner: “You can only shake the saber so often before someone expects you to use it.”

The problem is that most of the Progressive Caucus hails from safe districts, and they simply don't give a shit about good policy. They have safe, cushy, prestigious gigs, so why expend any energy going against the grain? Well, if they want a say in the House, and want their viewpoints considered, then they'll have to start flexing their muscles. Right now, they're considered a joke. This is their opportunity to emerge is legitimate power players in Congress. They blow this, they deserve to remain backbenchers, mired in obscurity, and holding zero clout.

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