While No One Is Likely Able To Fill Ted's Shoes, Someone Has To Fill His Seat
>
Absurd
Barney Frank announced yesterday that he won't be running for Ted Kennedy's House seat. Ed Markey probably won't either. That leaves Mike Capuano as the likely progressive heir to Kennedy's legacy and the candidate of the party's liberal wing. Along with Massachusetts reps John Olver, Jim McGovern and John Tierney, Capuano is among the 20 most progressive members of Congress. The least progressive Massachusetts rep is Stephen Lynch who represents a district stretching from South Boston down through Brockton. It's the second most Irish district in the U.S. (after the neighboring 10th CD). Lynch is an anti-choice Democrat who also opposes same sex marriage. He wants to run and if the field becomes crowded with progressives, he could slip in. Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is also interested in running and, as someone who has already been elected statewide, would probably have to be considered the front runner. She seems to be a solid liberal and made headlines last month when she sued the footdragging Obama Administration on gay equality.
But speaking of politicians who have been elected statewide, Peter Roff at US News has the most preposterous-- if not harebrained-- report I've heard in months-- that Mitt Romney might run for the Senate seat as a platform for his 2012 presidential bid. Romney's first try for elective office was in 1994 when he was trounced by Ted Kennedy, barely managing to draw 40% of the vote. On the heels of his much ballyhooed success of rescuing the Mormon Olympic Games-- which looked like they would collapse because of all the corruption inherent in all things Mormon-- Romney managed to eke out a 50% gubernatorial victory. He ended his governorship with a 34% approval rating and a whopping 65% disapproval. He served one term and since then has done all he could to disown his association with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, disparaging the state and making it a butt of humor in front of conservative voters around the country. When he was in Massachusetts he played the role of a pro-choice, pro-gay moderate. As he has tried to win the presidency he's also disowned that, earning himself the nickname as flip-flop Mitt. He now claims to be anti-choice, anti-gay and anti-Massachusetts. It's not likely Massachusetts voters will get an opportunity to get revenge on Romney for all the unkind things he's said about their state in the past two years as he tried to curry favor with the KKK-fringe of the GOP. Nor does he even live in the state any longer, with his primary residences now in New Hampshire, California and, of course, Mormonland.
It's more likely that Massachusetts Republicans-- yes, almost 15% of Massachusetts voters claim to be Republicans-- will be stuck with some fourth rater like state Senator Scott Brown or Chris Egan, a sleazy real estate developer who was given ambassador rank by Bush to represent the U.S. at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Egan is a major GOP donor and has pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into the party, which explains how got the ambassador's title. His father, another GOP fat-cat rewarded for his donations to the GOP, was briedly Bush's ambassador to Ireland, even though it was revealed he was convicted of being AWOL for 3 months during his military service, something Bush was in no position to hold against him. He committed suicide on August 29, 2009. Son Chris gives widely to extreme right candidates like David Diapers Vitter (R-LA), James Talent (R-MO), Mean Jean Schmidt (R-OH), Larry Craig (R-ID), Phil Gramm (R-TX), Richard Burr (R-NC) and, of course, George W. Bush.
Labels: Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, special election MA
posted by DownWithTyranny @ 6:00 PM
9 comments
|
Reddit
9 Comments:
I read that suggestion about Romney elsewhere. It would make a lot of sense, you know, except, well, that it doesn't. He's pretty much despised for having promised to be a moderate-to-liberal Republican before he was elected, after which he turned into a conservative constantly trying to one-up the legislature and Democrats. Then there's the fact that he periodically dissed the state in his 2008 presidential bid to gain support from the Republican core--the loons, in other words. All this was reported in the newspapers. The idea that Massachusetts would elect Romney could only be conceived by someone completely unfamiliar with the state, or someone who hated it so much that they wanted to insult the intelligence of most of the people living there.
While everybody is lionizing Ted Kennedy, I'm trying to figure out what he has ever done. Actually accomplished, I mean.
He got praise from republicans for working with them. That's an accomplishment? I don't want a politician who will work with republicans, I want a politician who will DESTROY republicans. And Ted Kennedy wasn't it.
Throughout all the years of Nixon, Reagan, Bush, and Bush, Ted Kennedy for the most part kept his mouth shut and did nothing of significance.
In my book, there's something seriously wrong with anyone who gets praise from Orrin Hatch.
PS. Since he got diagnosed, he hasn't been able to fulfill his duties as a senator. So why did he sit and occupy that seat for the last 15 months?
Now it'll be another four months until a special election can be held.
The decent thing to do would have been to resign, so that MA and the country could have had a full-time senator. To do what he did was selfish.
Our hearts and prayers are with the Kennedy family. They and our nation has suffered a great loss.
I have contacted the Waterkeeper Alliance to forward the following policy proposal to Robert F. Kennedy. This policy change could help seal the legacy for both Robert and Ted Kennedy as it could cover the uninsured and also cut the governments carbon footprint by 20% to 50%.
The Government already has the funds to pay for Universal Health Care. It is time to stop the madness and violence at the health care reform meetings.
Using shift work for white collar jobs could cut the cost of the 500 million square feet of office space currently in used by the federal government by up to 50%. This would save enough money to provide universal health care. It could also reduce the carbon footprint by 50%. For details go to:
http://whitecollargreenspace.blogspot.com/
Now featured on http://www.buzzflash.com/ under the heading:
"Using Shift work for white collar jobs to greatly reduce the fiscal and environmental cost of new office space"
I believe that when this policy change is adopted by the federal government and the sates, it could have the greatest impact on our society, the economy, and the environment of any other event of Obama's first term. We are looking for a national spokesperson. If adopted by private industry, it would be like finding vast new reserves of oil and metals in the USA, enough to construct as many buildings as we have in the last 150 years. Almost all buildngs can be retro-fitted for the white collar work of the 21st century. It would also stop the giant sucking sound and make American workers competetive again in the global economy. Outsourcing and the movement of our jobs overseas could be reversed. I am working with the unions and environmental goups in Michigan to arrange a meeting with the governor to push this policy change and end the furloughs of state and local government employees.
-It is time to stop the madness at the town hall meetings. The federal government already has the money to pay for universal health care. I have presented my proposal to Michigan congressman, Senators, and governor. Also the Whitehouse, CBO and several environmental groups, unions, and health care advocate groups. I am trying to put together a consortium as the plan will save jobs, save the environment, save money, and provide health insurance. It could have a greater positive impact on the environment than if we could snap our fingers and instantly change every car in the united States into a hybrid
The fact that 50 million of our friends, neighbors, and relatives do not have health coverage is a human tragedy. See www.whitecollargreenspace.blogspot.com for an immediate solution. The government has the money right now to pay for it.
Please post a comment if you do not think this will work or send me an email @ whitecollargreenspaceguy@hotmail.com, if you have questions. Please share this with everybody.
"The fact that 50 million of our friends, neighbors, and relatives do not have health coverage is a human tragedy."
You won't get anywhere with that argument. Regardless of what's fair/good/right/whatever, most people simply don't give a shit about that.
The only way you'll get to them is to stress the benefits of reform, especially single payer - and there are many - to people who already have insurance. They are the majority after all.
"While everybody is lionizing Ted Kennedy, I'm trying to figure out what he has ever done. Actually accomplished, I mean."
___________________________
A lot of the work was behind the scenes, me. Watering down very conservative legislation. When you're in the minority and most of your party are hacks satisfied with taking tons of soft money, there's not much more you can do than that.
But you do recall the increase to minimum wage, after the Democrats took the Senate last year? Kennedy spearheaded that, both on the floor and in the backrooms. He originally called for a national health care system as far back as 1966, proposing an amendment to the Economic Opportunity Act. And Kennedy sponsored the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act in 1996.
In 1997, he rallied for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) under which uninsured children from low-income families could get insurance; and the Family Opportunity Act of 2006, that permitted states to expand Medicaid coverage to children with special needs. He later supported a bill that required pharmaceutical companies to negotiate prescription drug prices covered under the same plan.
There's only so much that a tiny handful of people can do when surrounded by the incompetent, the cynics, and the shills. But if you check some of the recent laudatory Kennedy eulogies and work past the emotion, I'm sure you'll find some more details about his efforts.
And the compromise business you're hearing...? That's being deliberately twisted by the right wing cynics, right now. Kennedy never compromised on his principles in the Senate. He simply found ways of working with antagonistic majorities that kept progressives in the game, however slightly. That's all.
white collar green space: You work nights. Humans are not nocturnal, they are supposed to sleep nights and work during the day in case you haven't noticed. Most of the so called work is just bull shit anyway. Just close the fucking buildings eliminate all travel back and forth and think of all the energy and time we could save. Then folks could stay home and raise their kids and help each other.
70% of all the jobs are non wealth producing so they could also be eliminated. Be sure to send them their checks so the economy will still work and they can continue to get the things they want and need. In other words stop building F22's and missile defense systems. Stop manipulating paper.
We already have a national insomnia problem let's not add to it.
Do you think Tim Russert will have Ted on "Meet the Past" this Sunday?
So it goes.
Balakirev, I'm sure you're right about that. But frankly, what we didn't and don't need at this point is polite behind-the-scenes maneuvering. What we need is aggressive fighting. For a change!
If you doubt that statement, just look at the results we've been getting. See how the country has been on an almost uninterrupted death spiral since the 1960's. Even earlier, if you look at the damage done by Nixon, Joe McCarthy, Edgar Hoover, and their ilk, along with John Wayne, Ronald Reagan, and others.
And you don't think Kennedy had passion? There wasn't a more passionate fighter on the floor of the Senate. I'm sure Youtube must have the speech he gave, for instance, when a bunch of senators were trying to filibuster the minimum wage increase earlier this year. He had fire, tons of it--but he also had finesse, and persistence.
As for politeness, that's not the same as backstage maneuvering. How do you think Obama got the Afghan supplemental legislation through without hassles? Lots of tough arm-twisting. And why don't you think health care is going anywhere in the Senate? Not because the backstage maneuvering is polite, but because Obama and Harry the Paper Tiger aren't doing it. The interest isn't in there. For throwing more troops onto the ground against the Taliban, in an undefined war: plenty of passion. For health care? Plenty of talk about change you can believe in.
Post a Comment
<< Home