Stick a fork in it. Brown's victory has the Dems knees shaking. Even Barney Frank is rattled...
Barney Frank Deals Potential Death Blow to Obamacare
By Philip Klein on 1.19.10 @ 11:39PM
Rep. Barney Frank is not a wobbly moderate in a marginal district, but a liberal Democrat who has been supportive of the health care push. And that's why this statement below, which essentially rules out all of the options being discussed for pushing through Obamacare, deals a potentially fatal blow to the legislation.
The following was read on MSNBC by Rachel Maddow, and I transcribed it off the screen:
UPDATE: Frank's comments rule out delaying the seating of Brown and ramming a bill through in the meantime, rule out simply passing the Senate bill as is, and rule out passing it through the Senate using the reconciliation process. The only "hope" Frank holds is a compromise in the Senate with Republicans, but I'm not sure how much appe e there would be for dragging on the process for what could be months, even if there were some magical accord that could be reached between the two parties. And if President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid try to ignore Frank and push ahead anyway, the comments he made are a political goldmine to Republicans. Plus, the fact that Frank felt emboldened to jump out with this statement so soon after the results suggets he's probably expressing the private views of other members. Simply put, it will be difficult for Democrats to revive Obamacare after tonight.“I have two reactions to the election in Massachusetts. One, I am disappointed. Two, I feel strongly that the Democratic majority in Congress must respect the process and make no effort to bypass the electoral results. If Martha Coakley had won, I believe we could have worked out a reasonable compromise between the House and Senate health care bills. But since Scott Brown has won and the Republicans now have 41 votes in the Senate, that approach is no longer appropriate. I am hopeful that some Republican Senators will be willing to discuss a revised version of health care reform because I do not think that the country would be well-served by the health care status quo. But our respect for democratic procedures must rule out any effort to pass a health care bill as if the Massachusetts election had not happened. Going forward, I hope there will be a serious effort to change the Senate rule which means that 59 votes are not enough to pass major legislation, but those are the rules by which the health care bill was considered, and it would be wrong to change them in the middle of the process.”
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Meh, some watered down version of the bill that is not much better than this one will just come down the pike. We lose!!! I don't get all the excitment over this guy's victory in Mass. The way some of you guys are acting one would think that he is some great reformer or something.
I don't know a damn thing about him other than he's a republican who just won in Massachusets. You don't know a damn thing about American politics.
Ugh this is why I don't post here very often. Peace out.
Suit yourself. You posting here seldom suits me just fine.
He's a very liberal Republican who voted for universal health care in MA. According to University of Chicago professor Boris Shor, Scott Brown is more liberal than 2/3 of the Republicans in his own state, and distinctly more liberal than Dede Scozzafava in NY-23.
In any other context board conservatives would probably denounce him as a RINO, but since it's Ted Kennedy's Senate seat and gives the GOP 41 seats in the Senate, the mood is celebratory. For the time being Scott Brown's pro-choice, pro-environment (even briefly pro-cap and trade), pro-union record will not dampen the party pom-poms.
Hopefully, conservatives will realize that to win in liberal and very liberal states like MA, and to have any realistic chance of thwarting the Dems Congressional majorities -- or even of taking those majorities away -- they can't really do without very liberal Republicans like Scott Brown. The GOP purges the likes of him at their own peril.
He won't pass the right wing litmus test so he's doomed to a single term...
The right wing isn't voting. The folks of Massachusettes are....unless you're suggestimg they are the nefarious "right wing". That'll probably get you a smack on da nose in Mass.
I'm speaking of when he shows that he is a liberal republican ,ala Snowe, and the right wingers take notice. You have heard that they are trying purge anyone who is not far right enough haven't you? I think in this case the convictions that certain posters claim to have will fall by the wayside as long as he votes against anything Obama..and when they do they will just reinforce that they really don't have any convictions after all..The right wing isn't voting. The folks of Massachusettes are....unless you're suggestimg they are the nefarious "right wing". That'll probably get you a smack on da nose in Mass.
LOL that people think Scott Brown is a liberal.
However, his marriage is a walking disaster and he tried to auction off his daughters in the middle of his acceptance speech - that's what's gonna doom him in 2 years. He's a few months away from being the next big Republican sex scandal.
cool. that will give jack another place to cruise.
is dead.
The last starfighter is dead.
Wow. All that dirt on him and he still won Teddy's seat -- even after the messiah came to help out.
what are you going to do when he agrees with the dems more than not?
Yeah, I hear ya. I think the purge is good...it's a way of driving the nutbars to the far right and hopefully setting the stage for a meaningful conservative party. I aint holding my breath tho.
Who cares as long as whatever the dems are proposing is sensible?
Darrins cares.
Are you always this pleasant and intelligent?
True. Of course, the results of the 2006 & 2008 federal elections should demonstrate sufficiently to the GOP base the value of a broad party and being able to field compe ive candidates for federal office in all regions of the country. The problem is that the social "conservatives" have gotten their way such that the party has purged itself of compe iveness in the Northeast, save for the Maine Twins & Judd Gregg...and now Brown. Maybe also a stray GOP House member or two.
Notice the general lack of 'social issues' in the Brown win. Instead the focus was on big government, bailouts, taxes, and national security. Core GOP philosophy. The GOP has become the minority party as it has made it hard for fiscal conservatives who otherwise share the party's view on the proper role of government in economic affairs & would prefer that the government be limited in personal affairs to vote GOP. The 2006 & 2008 election results should diminish the clout of the social cons in the party. Perhaps seeing the Great Society II attempted will awake the party to its senses.
Obama's already said he's going to now bow to the Republicans like he did the blue dogs. What a worthless president and sellout.
And another thing that should be clear is that the "Tea Party" is not exactly a social con movement. If the GOP can maintain party discipline in the federal elections this year and keep the focus on economic and fiscal matters, it should make substantial gains in the House and Senate. I think that message has been received as the GOP doesn't score a blowout win in the governor's race in Virginia and solid statewide wins in New Jersey and Massachusetts without that strategy. Maybe the Dems can try to push some hot button social issues (ie immigration) to stave off an outright debacle.
Last edited by Marcus Bryant; 01-20-2010 at 04:49 PM.
In other words Holy Rollers..keep your moths shut until after November of 2010..
Then again, having the Senate seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy switch to the GOP is a fairly significant debacle.
You're right, that's exactly what the gop needs to do. But I'm very, very skeptical about whether the republicans can spend the next 9+ months resiting the urge to poison the economy/fiscal policy message by playing the "family values" and the "he's a muslim" cards. Obama and the dems, with a lot of help from a slow economic recovery, have given the republicans a huge opportunity here. But the republicans are entirely capable of ing it up.
He has to please MA voters, not the RNC. You could easily be wrong about this.
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