Senate Dems Are Fuming Over Deal That Let Specter Keep His Seniority
By Susie Madrak Thursday Apr 30, 2009 3:00pmI think this is hysterical. I mean, progressive Pennsylvania Democrats were pretty pissed off when the Beltway pols made the deal that put the anti-choice, radical centrist Bob Casey in the Senate, and over Ed Rendell promising Specter he wouldn't face a Democratic primary challenge. These backroom deals are how a state with a large liberal voting bloc keeps ending up with conservative representation:
Senior Senate Democrats are objecting to the deal Majority Leader Harry Reid made with Sen. Arlen Specter, saying they will vote against letting the former Republican shoot to the top of powerful committees after he switches parties.
Several Democrats are furious with Sen. Reid (D-Nev.) for agreeing to let Specter (Pa.) keep his seniority, accrued over more than 28 years as a GOP senator. That agreement would allow Specter to leap past senior Democrats on powerful panels — including the Appropriations and Judiciary committees.
“I won’t be happy if I don’t get to chair something because of Arlen Specter,” said Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), who sits on the Appropriations Committee with Specter and is fifth in seniority among Democrats, behind Chairman Daniel Inouye (Hawaii) and Sens. Robert Byrd (W.Va.), Patrick Leahy (Vt.) and Tom Harkin (Iowa). “I’m happy with the Democratic order, but I don’t want to be displaced because of Arlen Specter,” she said.
Specter’s first full day in Washington after turning the Capitol upside down with his decision to switch parties suggested a lonely future awaits in the upper chamber.
While he received a formal welcome Wednesday to the Democratic Party at the White House from President Obama and Vice President Biden, senior Senate Democrats exchanged phone calls to voice their objections to Reid’s gambit and one lawmaker said Specter should be happy with a committee seat at the “end of the dais.” Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and two other members of the Senate Republican leadership asked Specter to refund campaign donations.
One senior Democratic lawmaker told The Hill that the Democratic Conference will vote against giving the longtime Pennsylvania Republican seniority over lawmakers like Harkin, Mikulski and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) when they hold their organizational meeting after the 2010 election.
Under his deal with Reid, Specter would jump ahead of all but a few Democrats when it comes time to dole out committee chairmanships and assignments.
“That’s his deal and not the caucus’s,” the senior lawmaker said of Reid’s agreement with Specter.
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The Senate is s shit hole. These people are the sorriest jerks on the planet. Did you see where they voted down the foreclosure help deal because the banks have them in their pocket. Maybe Obama can squeeze some necks. What is the deal with Reid? What a dick. Jesus H. Christ.
...how the fuck the senate or DNC thinks they should have ANY right to tell PA voters who their candidates should be. Specter is a Democrat in name only. Not one fucking thing has changed. He will still vote his conscience, not his constituency. If PA voters want a real Democrat, then let them have a primary and see who wins.
TERM LIMITS!
Some type of recall action that can be invoked by the voters with no input from the elected officials should be set in place. With the internet and other technology we have today we do not need the representatives to vote on a lot of issues we can do it ourselves..
In fact we should be voting on the legislation they are passing now , because they are not voting our wishes but that of This Global Empire...
The representatives were created to vote for the citizens of this country because there was no way for citizens scattered all across this nation of voting in a timely fashion and now their is...
So we should bypass the lobbyist controlled representatives and vote as the constitution states that this country should be governor by the people , for the people and not for this Global Empire and the elite...
That was the reason we fought the revolution to get these elitist out of the picture and now they are back..
What the democrats did for Lieberman... They under the table and some democrats openly supported Lieberman..
This seems to be because Ned Lamont was a real liberal and democrat , and the leaders of the democrat party did not want too many liberal or progressive in power , they wanted to move to the center right to draw republicans into our party..
How can our party fund and support the blue dogs. Some of they have even openly supported republicans in previous elections..
If this does not tell you we have a moderal republican control of the democrat party nothing will..
cutting deals when he doesn't have to.
I know he's old..but geez...how small were his testicles before he aged?!?!
along with all his other betrayals.
I hate party-switchers and think giving a 79-year-old obstinate politician a "deal" was dumb in the first place, but if your gonna do it, you gotta give him something.
And if he helps the dems pass a good healthcare bill it may have been worth it.
The alternative is to keep your party "pure" but to shrink your base, as we can see in the GOP implosion.
After Reid's deal with Lieberman, I thought I had seen it all, then we have this.
Spector has voted with the Republicans 90% of the time -- that's NINETY percent of the time. Democrats don't need the other 10%, an unrealiable 10% at that, and Pennsylvania Democrats don't bow to Harry Reid.
Spector may be in the for the shock of his life come primary season.
Rico
from reid, pelosi and any DINO.
close to 70% of the time with repubs...not 90...He also has fought for the people more than for the party.
This will be good if the dems get a decent Healthcare bill through --The rest is SOUR GRAPES by both sides of the aisle!
Call Congress and tell them to get on with it!! 1.800.828.0498.
It's not all that difficult, Harry: Get Specter's pledge to vote for EFCA cloture and he can have one committee seniority of his choice (from among those where he's eligible). Harry, you better have some concrete and IMPORTANT quid-pro-quo from Specter or, guess what, you might find yourself voted out as majority leader next time around.
...demanding that they dump Reid as majority leader. It would be fine with me if Reid decided to join the Republican Party, not because there isn't room for him among Democrats, but because he is so inept and so bad for Democrats and their agenda.
...what material difference is there between Reid and the Reptilicans?
Bernie Sanders on Ed Show: "Dems Have Super-Majority To Demand Single-Payer Universal Health Care"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGYBbFMeFNc&eu...
On The Ed Show, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders talks about the Arlen Specter defection to the Democrats, and how the grassroots now has to rise up and demand single-payer universal health care if they want it. 4/28/09
Single Payer Now
The second magic bullet!
I Don't trust the guy At all, but if his vote allow to get Single Payer.....
masquerading as Democrats. We will need a super-duper majority to offset the Blue Dog Republicans and the Corporatists.
We need to put pressure on our respective house members to sign on to HR-676, in order to give it more momentum. Maybe the senate can be shamed into doing the right thing if the House comes up strongly for universal health care, instead of Universal Fuck-You,-It-Isn't-Covered. Obama has already sold us all out to the insurance
rackets, er, industry, so we'll get no support from him.Democratic Senators: What more will it take for you to understand what a liability Reid is? Convene the damn caucus and throw his arse out of the majority leadership, now!
who own the repigliKKKans.
PA DEMS, unite!
NO DEAL!
Find a better candidate than this "in name only" charlatan.
At least we will have the pleasure of watching Ohama and Biden having to go to Pennsylvania to campaign for this sack of .....
That will give me no pleasure.
On the upside, I'd be willing to let Arlen jump ahead of Feinstein. He's probably more of a Democrat that she is.
of them are democrats.
They just play them on TV.
How many reasons do we need to dump Reid as senate leader? This one should really piss off his fellow senators. Please God, give us a decent progressive to run against this **** so we don't have him in the party. It is time for him to lose. What is wrong with Pennsylvania Dems that they would ever allow this?
its amazing, they should have let him be crushed in the Repub primary and then had a younger real Dem walk with the win in the general. Something savage is going down before 2010 and they need 60 to do it, Obamas Healthcare is shit I hope they didnt do it for that.
Reid screws up big time--AGAIN.
When are the cluless Dems going to realize that he has TO GO.
Maybe too many blows to the head? Nobody could be such an idiot in a natural fashion... I am just sayin'...
yes, he was.
They're just finding more "Democratic" ways of expressing themselves. With Specter they have another power base within the Democratic Party.
The Dems sold out for an addle-brained, pompous Arlen Sphincter and his *possible* vote and - EVEN WORSE - pledged to support him in 2010 EVEN IF a really good, qualified Dem decides to run?
Yep, sounds like typical Dem business as usual - totally effed up.
[sigh]
Joe Sestak to get rid of Specter.
I am a PA resident and we have someone who has been involved in PA politics for the past thirty years - including being a PA congressman and running against Casey for the democratic seat for the US. Senate. His name is JOE HOFFEL and he is one of the most honest politicans and a TRUE progessive. Take a look at his voting records. He is one of the few who stands up for the average American and has never sold out against his principles.
I would also like to comment on one of the other posts here from someone claiming that if you're against Specter then you can't be a real democrat. Are you kidding????? I consider myself a progressive democrat and I am completely angered by Specter's change of parties. Specter may have been a moderate many years ago, but no more. At least in what I consider a "moderate". He is certainly not a democrat. He has stuck fast to Bush and his policies over the past eight years, including voting for some of the most outragious of laws. His "switch" has only made the already right-leaning democratic party that much further right. We don't need that kind of "help". He has already stated that he's not going to change his voting philosophy so what help is he to the democratic party? He should have changed to an Independent... but then he wouldn't have gotten all the perks that Reid promised him. His change is simply about himself and nothing more. We don't need him and I honestly don't want him in the party.
Republican Senator Bunning of Kentucky will not seek re-election.
...it seems to me that letting Specter leapfrog ahead of other Dems seems pretty dickish.
p>
yah think? the dims are owned by the repigs! party ,welcome arlen you will fit in nicely!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
on what is now a pretty dead thread, but you should know that you are on my ignore list. I can't read what you posted here.
Peace and good luck, t.
(sry, Vacuus. Somehow I responded to the yours and not tyree's post)
Harry Reid is the biggest impediment to progress in this country. Nothing will be accomplished while he and Pelosi are in office.
on what is now a pretty dead thread, but you should know that you are on my ignore list. I can't read what you posted here.
Peace and good luck, t.
tell it to somone who gives a fuck !! oh! and you are on my ignore list allso, peace and lol !lets all get together someday and compare ignore lists! should be a hoot!
don't have all the power. The grassroots can put up their own candidate DEM and raise money these days. The people can over-ride any deal Reid and Rennell made.
Reid should be gone - he is horrendous.
First we get Lieberman losing the Connecticut Democratic primary and the Democratic Party basically ignoring the will of Connecticut Democratic voters by failing to support Lamont.
Now we get Specter, in anticipation of losing the Pennsylvania Republican primary, getting support from the Democratic party which is basically crowning Specter the Pennsylvania Democratic nominee and preemptively running roughshod over the will of Pennsylvania Democratic voters.
I'm sick of it.
Someone, the sooner the better, needs to stand up in Pennsylvania and present their candidature to be the Democratic nominee for Senator of Pennsylvania. The people need to take a stand here and send a clear message – U.S. Senators, YOU do not get to chose who will represent us in the U.S. Senate. WE the people get to elect who will represent us.
This is just crazy! If we needed yet another example of how lobbyists and bankers own Congress there it is!
but I'm laying away money now to donate to whoever Blue America decides to support.
come on people, this was a freaking brilliant move.... We now have 60 (or hopefully soon), and our big agenda items are a real possibility. dont let the fake dems on this site (I am not implying that only fake dems oppose this - just there appears to be a lot of fakes on this thread today) fool you into rallying support against this man. Hell, give the old bastard a hug and slowly watch the votes keep a comin'. Reid, I hate your sorry guts, but I have to admit, fucking brilliant (btw Biden made this happen).
NO!
and the dinos back home in Penn are eating it up! but honestly, is doesnt matter because his vote didnt matter on that bill. lets see how he does on the health care issue before we toss him under the bus.
the best RepigliKKKan with the (D) label.
Can somebody please tell me what in the fuck a radical centrist is?
Since the Constitution and the Declatration of Indpendence are the only true centers this Nation has, could a radical( implies evil boogeyman) Centrist be somebody who actually supports and defends the principles and ideas that these documents enumerate and codify? In that case, would Bob Casey qualify for the label(I don't know his record)?
Stupid is as stupid does.And continues to do over and over again. HARRY NEEDS TO GO!!!
He and now with the likes of Menendez and Joe Lieberman have turned the Senate into a perversion of testosterone-less eunuchs.
But thanks to Nancy Pelosi's cajones - Reid has less power in spite of more members.
This may be Harry's final lap.
Since I live near Washington crossing let me explain some history about the ruling class.
The revolutionary war was fought with the common man wearing earth tones type of clothes.
The rich ruling pricks could adorn themselves with bright red outer garments. It wasn't to bright too be wearing bright red clothes in a war in fields and forests.
Any way there were people that played both sides and when the British weren't in town they turned their coats inside out to blend in with the people, giving us the term turncoat. He still wears a red coat.
we does remember him well. Was it not he who helped sell America down the war and the security state river as sure as General Arnold tried to sell West Point?
Nancy Pelosi needs to quickly be replaced as she's embarrasing to woman. History will show the first Female Speaker of the House was a complete failure. I hope the next female who get the chance does a better job. Reid will hopefully not get re elected if the voters are smart.
...the capacity for corruption is gender neutral.
for that progressive campaign to kick Specters ass? I'm the poor(financialy) kind of American but that's a campaign I can kick a few bucks towards!
so many times during the lasst couple of years when he would pay lip service to JUSTICE being done (during the Valorie Plame affair... and the politicization of the Justice Department by Karl Rove and W... then when the shit would hit the fan blades there was Mr. High-and-Mighty... voting TO SUPPORT BUSH AND HIS AGEND EVERY TIME.
Don't expect ANYTHING out of Arlen Specter... except that which will serve the career of Arlen Specter.
The Democrats, once again, gave away the whole FARM... in order to gain another SKINNY CHICKEN.
The Deal was to let Specter keep his Senility
Not that Reid has in say whatsoever in the matter of what the voters of Pennsylvaia decide to do or who they want as their representatives.
Harry Reid needs to retire. He's a national embarrassment.
....Blue America!(cue the Superman theme music).
Finally! Something has caused the Senate democrats to stand-up and take notice. Well holy thundering horseshit batman! About time.
After letting Bush destroy the American people, lie us into wars, steal the taxpayers blind, and leave our country on life support; its nice to see them finally get worked up about something. Their own personal committee seniority.
What useless, self-absorbed, unconscionable sacks of shit these democratic senators are! F*** em' all to hell and back!
To my money, Russ Feingold is the only person in the Senate.with the gravitas born of integrity to deserve Reid's job.
If the Penn dems let Specter steamroll them in the primary, well the old adage that we dems are our own worst enemy is absolutely true.
It is asinine to allow Specter to bump senior dems after serving the Republicans well for the past 29 years (kind of like letting Leibermann have a pass like they did following his being a traitor to the party in 2000, 2007, and 2008)!
These people now in the senate are all owned by the banks and the lobbiests. Many are complicit in much of the crimes committed by the last administration (Pelosi comes to mind ... why else would she take impeachment off the table for Christs sake), and just are trying to cover their worthless asses.
Politics as usual is NOT GOOD FOR US ORDINARY FOLKS! Business likes it though. The politicians like it too!
There should be a mandatory retirement age for these people, and term limits would be beneficial too! It surely couldn't hurt!
The time to get rid of "Give them Hell" Harry as Senate Majority Leader is long past due. Harry's definition of hell is handing his opponents anything they want. He needs to compare his definition of the word with the Exterminator's, Salamander's, and Limp Ball's.
..its time to elect someone else!
Specter will never be a loyal democrat. I think he is moderate but to far right of center to be a real democrat. Reid is fixing to piss me off. This does not help the democrat caucus at all. But Specter does vote democrat on a lot of issues. But I would like a real democrat in his seat.
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