Waxman edges Dingell on committee vote to be Oversight and Government Reform Chairman
By John Amato Wednesday Nov 19, 2008 11:45amI wrote earlier that I was supporting Waxman for the Chairmanship of the Energy and Commerce Committee. This is good news.
By a three-vote margin, the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee today recommended that Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Henry Waxman be given the chairmanship of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
UPDATE: Matt adds...
If it's true that the freshmen are breaking heavily for Waxman, and older baron committee chairs are going for Dingell, this adds a lot of firepower to Waxman's case. Dingell is a vindictive guy, so his case rests on the notion that if you don't vote for him you're going to have problems with the person who will naturally be the Chair of Energy and Commerce. Cracking the image of inevitability is key to letting members know it's safe to go against Dingell.
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Sweet. As a former constituent in Waxman's district I was never so proud of any votes as when they were for him. Give 'em heck, Henry!
John Dingell is one HUGE piece of shit! This asshole has been in D.C. forever and hasn't done anything! Fuck him! Go Waxman!
I say it is time for him to go.
A Dingell ate my baby!!!
They actually voted against the vindivtive little Dingellberry? Wow!!
HAW's already the chair of Government Reform. Thanks!
Let's Go Henry!
Oh boy!
Now, go get 'em!
http://www.weeklyworldnews.com/election-08/hi...
Amid the boredom and disappointment created by Obama's hopelessly conventional appointments (so far, at least), this change is very welcome. Legislators like Dingell need to find a bungalow in Sun City -- we can't afford them anymore. This move stands in stark contrast to the spineless Senate's stamp of approval for Lieberman.
The prospect of the House repeatedly passing worthwhile legislation that subsequently disappears in Harry Reid's Senate is troubling.
With twin invertebrate dynamos Tom Daschle and Harry Reid working on health care reform, I'd recommend moving to France if you see a major illness up ahead.
I've been waiting for Dingell to get the boot for most of the past four decades. He's had a death grip on any decisions made regarding Detroit. Nothing was done without his approval.
On a purely spiteful and personal note, I especially like it because I attended a school in DC with his son, a "Chip" off the old block. He was a tool, and I forever painted his father in the son's image...
The next thread (on Limbaugh) has no comment button. Is it a closed thread?
forgets to turn the comments on.
If he wasn't so . . . appearance challenged, he could be at least a VP candidate.
It's sad that both he (cursed by a visage reminiscent of Lon Chaney in "The Phantom of the Opera") and Dennis Kucinich (cursed by dainty size) are the two best politicians in Warshington but will never get further than they are because WE are too shallow as a society.
Get what we deserve I suppose...
If he wasn't so ugly, he might not try so hard.
I'm a fan of trying hard.
... if Waxman ever did anything either. He has brought things to light, but then....? Talking about something only gets you so far and sound bites might get you a few minutes of camera time. I'd like to see Waxman actually move on his bold statements. Like everyone else, all I can do is wait and see if he actually does something with this position.
By giving his "constituents" everything they asked for (no improved fuel standards, no improvements on auto safety, etc.) Dingell has protected the auto industries from having to adapt to the changing market. Now they are going down the tubes and taking all their workers with them. Had Dingell acted with vision and wisdom (and a little "tough love"), he might have helped them adjust to the changes that were needed for Detroit to remain competitive, and the workers in his district wouldn't be out of work.
In 2004 just after GWB's reelection I sat in amazement as the wingnut BASE attacked those within their party who were not conservative enough, who were not rabid enough in their support for base dogma.
Imagine my shock to read most, if not all, of the 'progressives' who have posted above, doing NOW that which the wingnut base did back then.
I submit the following:
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Wed, 11/19/2008 - 11:54 — bigironal
"John Dingell is one HUGE piece of shit! This asshole has been in D.C. forever and hasn't done anything! Fuck him! Go Waxman!"
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Wed, 11/19/2008 - 12:08 — Timroid
They actually voted against the vindivtive little Dingellberry? Wow!!
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Wed, 11/19/2008 - 13:20 — serge
I've been waiting for Dingell to get the boot for most of the past four decades. He's had a death grip on any decisions made regarding Detroit. Nothing was done without his approval.
On a purely spiteful and personal note, I especially like it because I attended a school in DC with his son, a "Chip" off the old block. He was a tool, and I forever painted his father in the son's image...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Is it not refreshing to see "progressives" engaging in the same kind of attacks upon members of OUR OWN CAUCUS in the same idiotic manner as did the wingnuts?
Who doesn't remember how the wingnuts referred to moderate Republican and Vietnam Veteran Senator Hagel as a RINO (republican in name only) simply because he did not agree with the base of his party.
Will progressives suffer the same fate as did the wingnut base in the election that just concluded?
IF we follow the wingnut path of self destruction in victory are we not doomed to follow said path to a future defeat of our own doing?
WE SAY WE ARE PROGRESSIVES....perhaps we should present ourselves as progressives in our time in leadership, and not emulate the wingnut base as we seem to be doing in this thread.
right on middle america! just what has waxman done to deserve our support? when he should have been chasing bush crooks, he was busy talking about the evil steroids! and where was waxman when all these golden paraschutes came sailing out of the bailout? i am sick to death of people bashing the car industry. you know, if we are going to recover and be the great nation we were in the past, someone is going to have to physically MAKE something. unless we manufacture something besides hamburgers we are doomed to third world status. dingell, levin, stabinow, and granholm did not send our manufacturing capability out of the country. and if michigan had a vote in the primary and iowa did not completely own the process maybe we would still have a manufacturring capability and we wouldn't be wasting corn on ''biofuel'', which costs more fuel to produce than it makes, and incidentally starving the rest of the world. gm should go down for killing the electric car, but the damage should be blamed on the managers who made the shortsighted decisions, not the workers.
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