Has Miss McConnell Clamped Down On Some Of The Senate GOP's Obstructionist Excesses?

Supposedly there was an agreement to proceed in the Senate as though what matters is what's good for he American people, not what's best for the narrow partisan strategies for the political parties. The "agreement" was put to a test last week when votes for aid to the victims of Hurricane Irene came up. At first the Republicans blocked it with their use of the pocket filibuster last Friday, followed a day later-- as they came under increasing pressure from the public-- with a grudging acquiescence. Half a dozen Republican joined all the Democrats in shutting down the filibuster, including even one of the Senate's worst obstructionists, David Diapers Vitter, understanding that hurricane aid is something Louisiana voters pay attention to. This Thursday the Senate then rejected Kentucky crackpot Rand Paul's amendment to take the disaster relief money from foreign aid. Only 19 Republicans (+ deranged Nebraska multimillionaire reactionary Ben Nelson) voted for this latest nihilistic spasm. All the regular suspects were on board-- the die-hard extremists McConnell has virtually no sway with: Jim DeMint (SC), Ron Johnson (WI), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Richard Burr (NC), Jeff Sessions (AL), Vitter (LA), Rand Paul, of course, the 2 degenerate Oklahomans, Coburn and Inhofe...

And then came the votes on H.R. 2887, the Surface and Air Transportation extension which the GOP was determined to use as a vehicle for some anti-union action at the FAA. Rand Paul was on a role Thursday so he offered a poison pill amendment which was promptly rejected 36-61, 10 Republicans lining up with every Democrat in a bit of a kabuki show that appeared to turn back the barbarians making a last stand for their lunacy for the bloodthirsty extremists in the base. In the end, though-- like 10 minutes later-- the bill passed, as it had to, with a resounding 92-6. Rubio down in Miami, it was only the 6 worst die-hard extremists who voted NO: Coburn (OK), DeMint (SC), Johnson (WI), Lee (UT), Paul (KY) and Toomey (PA), the Senate teabaggers.

Chuck Schumer pointed out that the extremism of arch-obstructionists like Paul and Coburn was starting to make an impression on the public-- and that Republicans see the danger it poses to themselves.

"The public sent a message after the debt-ceiling debate. They said they didn't want brinksmanship. We're beginning to see that," Schumer said, noting that the House sent the FAA and highway bills over without adding any poison pills or dramatic cuts.

"The American public has said stop fighting all the time," Schumer said before the vote. "This is a classic example of what they don't like."

Although Coburn backed down, Schumer argued that GOP leaders need to do a better job reining in lawmakers like Coburn and Tea Party leaders like Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.).

"If the Republican leader were to say to Tom Coburn, 'I am not giving you the votes, you don't have 40 other colleagues to go with you,' he would stop doing these things," Schumer said. "But every time a Sen. Coburn or a Sen. DeMint wants to hold everything up, they have the tacit backing of his party and his leadership, so they're all holding this up in a certain sense."

"The brinksmanship that they exercised on the debt ceiling and the negative reaction to it seems to have given them second thoughts," he added.

And now, about those dilapidated bridges that connect Ohio to Kentucky-- Boehner's area to Miss McConnell's state. Watch the interview with Rep. John Yarmuth in the clip above. In about a week President Obama will be in Cincinnati and he'll no doubt be talking about these bridges and asking why the Republicans are blocking the funds to repair them-- and hundreds of similar situations around the country. Cincinnati is represented by one of Boehner's unpopular cronies, Steve Chabot. Rather than work on solving the economic and infrastructure problems plaguing his constituents, the GOP solution to Chabot's problems was to add an extreme right-wing county, Warren County, onto his district. The bridge is still shut down, but they hope that their are enough lockstep, clueless Fox listeners in Warren so that Chabot won't be thrown out of office again, the way he was in 2008. Thursday, though, The Hill reported that Obama will be discussing the Brent Spence Bridge when he's in town next week.

The 48-year-old bridge, which spans the Ohio River between Ohio and Kentucky, has been under review by transportation officials in the two states for massive repair or replacement. The double-decker inter-state bridge has been described as “functionally obsolete.”

Obama also used the bridge as an example of necessary infrastructure repair in his jobs speech to Congress, prompting both Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to respond that while the bridge is an important priority for their constituents, they would not support funding repairs through earmarks or another stimulus.

Obama’s trip to this particular bridge will likely serve to put additional pressure on the GOP leaders. According to Carney, the choice is a result of Obama’s focus on jobs, not politics.

“It’s not a coincidence in that the bridge is one we can get to and highlight from the White House on a day trip that absolutely illustrates the problems that we have with infrastructure in this country,” he said in Thursday’s press briefing.

Obama’s campaign to pass his jobs bill has included a strong push for mending bridges. In North Carolina on Wednesday, Obama said his bill needed to be passed before any state faced another tragic bridge collapse. “Why would we wait to act until another bridge falls?” he asked.

Obama promised the bill would provide 19,000 construction jobs that would improve public safety. It is his second trip to Ohio within a two-week span. He was in Columbus on Tuesday to promote his jobs bill.