Evan Bayh Sticks Up for GOP Obstructionism

[marmar]

via AlterNet's PEEK:



Evan Bayh Sticks Up for GOP Obstructionism

Posted by Steve Benen, Washington Monthly at 2:20 PM on July 8, 2009.

It's not enough for Bayh to vote with Republicans on key issues, he wants to help the GOP ensure there is no vote.



BAYH STICKS UP FOR GOP OBSTRUCTIONISM.... Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told his colleagues yesterday, "Don't let the Republicans filibuster us into failure. We want to succeed, and to succeed, we need to stick together."

It sounds like a pretty simple, common sense concept. The electorate has given Democrats a chance to govern, and expect them to deliver. Members of the caucus "may vote against final passage on a bill," Durbin said, but like-minded colleagues should at least reject the idea of "allowing the filibuster to stop the whole Senate." He concluded, "We ought to control our own agenda."

Some "centrist" Dems don't see it that way.

Evan Bayh, a moderate from Indiana, said he would not be inclined to vote to cut off a filibuster on a bill if he opposed the substance of the underlying measure, and he predicted his colleagues would feel the same way.

"Most senators aren't sheep," he said. "They don't just go blindly along without thinking about things, and I don't think we want them to do that."

It's hard to overstate how absurd this is. If legislation Bayh doesn't like comes to the floor, he can vote against it. Before that, he can offer amendments, give speeches, and encourage others to agree with him. Senators, as he noted, aren't sheep. Some bills may enjoy the party's support, but not everyone in the party will see the issue the same way.

But that's not what Bayh is arguing here. He's saying he's inclined to help the failed, discredited minority block the Senate from even giving bills a vote in the first place. It's not enough for Bayh to vote with Republicans on key issues, he wants to help the GOP ensure there is no vote.

I'm reminded once again of remarks by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who noted last week that senators in the Democratic caucus should feel free to vote for or against any bill, but being a member of the caucus should, at a minimum, mean opposition to Republican obstructionism: "I think the strategy should be that every Democrat, no matter whether or not they ultimately end up voting for the final bill, is to say we are going to vote together to stop a Republican filibuster."

The bottom line is, Bayh is arguing that he may occasionally want to help members of the other party abuse procedural tactics to block the agenda of his own party. "No" isn't enough for him. "No vote" is.


http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/141187/evan_bayh_sticks_up_for_gop_obstructionism/

[DJ13]

1. He should become an honest man and switch party's

[Old and In the Way]

4. The healthcare filibuster vote should be a Party litmus test.

Those that won't let this come to a vote ought to be the top prospects for a primary challenge. Truly, nothing worse than an _INO (R or D version).

[babylonsister]

2. I cannot stand this guy. I hope some org. is going after him and

his r/w attitude. :grr:

[redqueen]

11. It's the constituents that matter.

Let's hope his have jumped on the Change Congress bandwagon.

[babylonsister]

13. Yes, but are they even paying attention? I hope so. nt

[PVnRT]

21. The state democratic party would squish anyone trying to primary him

He's firmly entrenched in Indiana politics now, and the state party apparatus is completely inept. He's going to be there for a while, barring finding some liberal who can self-finance a campaign.

[Voltaire]

23. Then we will have to find one and work hard

Because Bayh has got to go. I am quietly asking people to help work for this in Indianapolis because we cannot let him gundeck progressive legislation.

Fucking guy couldn't hold his daddy's jock when it comes to being a liberal.

[PVnRT]

26. Well, I get to deal with Batshit Bunning and Scum McConnel now

At least they're doing what is expected of them.

[redqueen]

25. People can still get organized on this issue and push him. (nt)

[Voltaire]

24. Count me as one constituent who has

nt

[rwheeler31]

3. What is wrong with this man? His Dad was a good guy.

[Warpy]

7. I remember reading a great description of Birch Bayh

in one of the Boston tabloids during the presidential primaries in (I think) 1976, "Establishment type, a little on the conservative side, but greasy enough to get into office and get the job done." He got a tentative thumbs up over the rest of the field. Nobody trusted Carter, a southern conservative who was weak on choice and weak on labor issues, with good reason.

For those who don't remember trivia, Birch Bayh is credited with saving Ted Kennedy's life after a plane crash in 1964, pulling a severely injured Kennedy out of burning wreckage.

He was a good guy, a very good guy given his conservative origins. I can well envision his going upside Evan's head with a folded newspaper frequently at family holiday dinners demanding to know just what his idiot son has been smoking lately.

[Warpy]

5. "BOOT BAYH"

would be a good slogan for a primary opponent. Bayh will be exceptionally vulnerable given his preference for the corporate person over the flesh and blood variety.

He needs to be reminded that those corporate persons don't vote.

In any case, even if he is replaced by a pubbie, a real danger, the loss won't be that great, although I'd hope the party should be able to run a slightly more populist candidate and win.

You can bet your ass the GOP will be playing the populist game against him when he's up for re election. Only another populist can beat them.

[PVnRT]

22. Except that he's not very vulnerable in Indiana

There is virtually no one in that state with the "star power" to take him on that won't be just as "centrist" as he is. As for the state party, the only thing they're good at is sabotaging people they don't want to run; sadly, the people they want to run are either dingbats or massively underfunded.

[DebbieCDC]

6. what a dickhead

[rurallib]

8. While Dems have sometimes been in power, liberals seldom have

To me the one issue that should define the democratic party is health care.
WTF is the problem with this guy??? Birch Bayh was a good man. Does he want to shame his father????

[Jennicut]

9. May I remind some that this man was almost our VP? Actually, it would have gotten him out of the

Senate.

[OHdem10]

10. Inform this publication--BAHY is a Conservative. If he had a moderate

bone in his body he would not continuously vote GOP.

[Cha]

12. Why doesn't bayh start thinking about the people of

Indiana instead of his overinflated pompous a$$?

[fascisthunter]

14. Bayh... you are not a sheep, just a cheap whore for corporate America

[pleah]

15. That says it all.

:thumbsup:

[RufusTFirefly]

16. This just in: Water is wet

He's Mr. DLC. What'd you expect?

[Dr Fate]

17. I can't understand a word he is saying. Must be all those GOP cocks in his mouth. n/t

n/t

[DCKit]

18. You're assuming that's the end all the noise is coming from (pun intended). n/t

[UTUSN]

19. His parents are ashamed. n/t

[sarcasmo]

20. Him and Lieberman really have a lot in common.