Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Is Specter Rotting Out The Senate Democratic Caucus From The Inside? Did Master Chess Player Steele Pawn Him Off On Biden Like A Trojan Horse?

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The shitheads at the Senate Democratic policy lunch yesterday gave Benedict Arnold Arlen Specter a strong round of applause, a standing ovation according to Senate Majority shithead Harry Reid (NV). This is all about them-- the Insiders-- and their Insider games that are always so destructive to ordinary working families. (Three senators less given to hyperbole and wishful thinking contradicted Reid and said Specter was applauded but there was no ovation, standing or otherwise.) But even the disgruntlement with the disgraceful deal brokered by Reid and Biden to throw Specter's political corpse a line life and allow him to call himself a Democrat is almost solely based on their own selfish pretensions and not at all on Specter's continued adherence to all things Republican including committing to join the Republican filibuster against Obama's nominees and agenda, from health care to ameliorating foreclosures. He told the NY Times that if there's justice in Minnesota, Republican Norm Coleman will be back in the Senate, not Al Franken.
Specter’s highly publicized switch rankled some in the party over an agreement Reid made with Specter that would allow the Pennsylvania senator to retain the seniority he earned through his five terms as a Republican... Specter claims that Reid has promised to recognize him in the 112th Congress with the same seniority as a Democrat elected in 1980.

In general, Reid seems more enthusiastic about the new Democratic senator from Pennsylvania than several of his colleagues.

Democratic leaders tried to ensure that Specter would feel well taken care of. He sat at the leadership table, which is usually reserved for Reid, Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.), Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), said a Democratic senator in attendance.

This almost sounds like a plot to destroy the Democratic brand-- except anyone who's watched Biden in action over the years knows he's too inept to even do that properly. Oddly enough, new polling in Pennsylvania found that although the state's Republicans absolutely loathe Specter and would have voted overwhelmingly for radical right kook, Pat Toomey-- the admitted reason for Specter's fence jump-- Toomey would be slaughtered if mainstream conservative Tom Ridge, a Maryland resident, and the choice of the GOP Inside the Beltway Establishment, runs against him. And furthermore, most Pennsylvania Republicans actually support Employee Free Choice, which Specter was busy undermining yesterday inside the Democratic caucus.

Let's watch very closely to see which Democrats in the Senate stand with Democratic voters and which ones stand with the putrid and corrupt Specter. We already know where reactionary corporate shill Tom Carper (DE) stands. No doubt he was one of the barking seals applauding loudest and longest for a fellow hack scared to death of offending his big campaign donors-- and not nearly scared enough of working families.

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3 Comments:

At 9:49 AM, Blogger Daro said...

Whaddaya worrying about? I predicted on a post at The Anonymous Liberal that the Democrats would leave Specter twisting in the wind once they found a better Democrat (Sestak) for his seat a la the fickle loyalty of politics and it seems to be coming true:

On Tuesday, the Senate confirmed that the party switch dropped Specter to the bottom of the heap in terms of seniority.

That means when the Judiciary Committee questions President Obama's yet-to-be-named nominee to replace Justice David Souter, Specter will be the very last to speak -- after even Sen. Ted Kaufman of Delaware, who has been a senator for all of four months.

In fact, only two of the 18 other senators on the committee have been in the upper house longer than Specter -- and he has been in the Senate longer than seven other committee members put together.

But there is more at stake than Specter's ego or bragging rights.

The old saw "rank hath its privileges" holds true in the U.S. Senate as in few other places. With seniority comes the ability to influence legislation.

Specter lost his seniority on other committees as well, including the powerful Appropriations Committee -- the one that doles out money. He's now junior to Montana's Sen. Jon Tester, who has been in the Senate since 2007.

Specter has been citing his seniority on the Appropriations Committee as he hits the campaign trail as a Democrat.

"My senior position on Appropriations has enabled me to bring a lot of jobs and a lot of federal funding to this state," Specter said at a town hall meeting on Monday.

Over and over, he made a point of telling an auditorium filled with medical faculty and staff about the hundreds of millions of dollars he delivered to the Keystone State, thanks to the power he's accumulated in his 29 years in the Senate.
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"Pennsylvania has a big interest in my seniority, a big interest," he said.

A day later, the Senate stripped him of that seniority. The resolution, which set out committee assignments for the entire Senate, was approved on a unanimous voice vote.

 
At 12:58 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dude. You are a dufus

 
At 10:24 PM, Blogger Daro said...

Can I put that on my resume..?

 

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