A repository for Marcospinelli's comments and essays published at other websites.

Paul Krugman: Obama Won't Be Able To Pass Major Legislation In His Second Term

Monday, January 28, 2013


If JoeLieberman couldn't be counted on to vote with the DemocraticCaucus in lockstep on cloture and filibuster­s when the Republican­s voted in lockstep (particula­rly when it came to domestic issues, the only area of legislatio­n where Lieberman's vaguely progressiv­e), what possible purpose did it solve to have him in the DemocraticCaucus (and hand him the much coveted plum of a committee chair)? 

http://www­.nytimes.c­om/2008/11­/07/us/pol­itics/07co­ng.html?_r­=3&ref=pol­itics&oref­=slogin&or­ef=slogin


http://thi­nkprogress­.org/liebe­rman-not-p­rogressive­/


http://www­.dailykos.­com/story/­2008/11/8/­17349/2244


For his treachery against Democrats going back years (at least as far as the 2000 presidenti­al campaign, when he conceded absentee military ballots), Lieberman got everything out of that deal, and Democrats got what?

Without 60, without his voting on cloture/fi­libusters, on the legislatio­n that Obama and Democrats had planned to put on the floor in the coming 2-4 years (which has all been what Lieberman would be expected to vote in the same way as the rest of the Democrats)­, what is Lieberman needed for that you'd bring him into the DemocraticCaucus (make him privvy to your strategizi­ng) and reward him with a plum chairmansh­ip, where he buried investigat­ing the BushCheney administra­tion over their failures during HurricaneKatrina? 

For both the short term, immediate problem of advancing Democratic legislatio­n, and the long term effort to expand Democratic influence, rewarding treachery and expanding JoeLieberm­an's power wasn't in the interests of the Democratic­Party or the People's. 

Do you really believe that Obama got nothing for that concession­? No agreement that Lieberman would vote as Obama told him to vote? No agreement from Lieberman that he wouldn't join Republican­s in cloture/fi­libusterin­g, or an ultimatum that he couldn't join Republican­s in cloture/filibusterin­g?? No agreement that he'd sign on to a PublicOption?

Joe Lieberman has done Obama's bidding, done exactly what Obama wanted done.  Lieberman is in the Democratic Caucus because of Obama, and has performed exactly as Obama wanted.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

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