Archive for March 16, 2010

“I deem it 9 a.m. and I can go home”

Posted: March 16, 2010 by datechguy in opinion/news
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…says Joe Scarborough this morning mocking the house for their tactics.

This is still still MSNBC so you have Joe Conason calling it a mistake but overblown, “The public doesn’t care about the tactics”, but when MSNBC is willing to mock this stuff.

Joe Conason is talking about how they “passed” healthcare already and it is close and Joe is reminding him of schoolhouse rock about how bills are actually passed.

Mort reminds them about Obama’s “no politics as usual” and then does this. I have to take exception this is not politics as usual, this makes politics as usual look like a boy scout meeting.

The Campaign Spot makes a good point

Posted: March 16, 2010 by datechguy in opinion/news
Tags: , ,

concerning the vote.

I’m a little wary of some of these “likely nos” we’re hearing a lot about lately. If some of these endangered Democrats are going to flip to Pelosi’s side after voting “no” last fall, the last thing they want to do is hint that they’re flipping and make themselves targets for attack ads, tsunamis of calls from constituents, etc.

In other words, if Obamacare passes, it’s going to pass because a bunch of Democrats who went on and on about how deep their concerns are and how troubled they are suddenly make their peace with the bill.

Later in the piece is a reader e-mail that is exactly right. If it passes it passes by one or two votes (Pelosi giving everyone possible the ability to vote against to try to save their butts) If it fails then it will fail overwhelmingly because there will be no point in making a suicidal vote for no reason.

This might be worth remembering if “swing” democrats who vote against the bill go on about their no votes in a losing cause. Perhaps we should be encouraging them to lobby on the other side to prove that they were not just votes kept in Pelosi’s pocket.

Keep an eye on Fishbait Miller

Posted: March 16, 2010 by datechguy in Uncategorized

As you might have noticed I like to quote Tip O’Neill book Man of the House to explain how politics works. There is a particular passage on page 134 that brings to mind what is going on behind the scenes right now.

The background: In the book was a Congressman Leo O’Brien who had promised a vote to Sam Rayburn on an issue and was getting killed at home over it. Since his word had been given (Yes that makes a difference, I still believe that one’s word is sacrosanct) Tip told him he had no choice but to go to Rayburn and ask to be released. (How hard must that have been) I’ll let Rayburn and O’Neill finish the story:

“…you gave me your word and I expect you to keep it. However I can certainly appreciate your situation, so here’s what I’ll do for you. On the day of the vote I want to see you in the front row. Keep your eye on the doorkeeper. If I don’t need your vote, Fishbait Miller will give you the sign and you’ll be free to vote your district.”…

…when Leo took his seat in the front row, he looked around and saw thirteen other guys that Sam had in his pocket in case he needed them. It wasn’t just Leo. The entire front row was sitting there and waiting for the nod from Fishbait Miller.

This is the real question that we don’t know the answer to. Does Nancy Pelosi have the votes and is just deciding who sits in the front row or is she scrambling for votes? And if the media knows what the truth is will they tell us?

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