Eyeing midterms, Democrats to push Republicans to go on record against key bills

[babylonsister]

Eyeing midterms, Democrats to push Republicans to go on record against key bills

By Scott Wilson
Saturday, February 13, 2010

President Obama has reached out to Republicans in recent weeks, acknowledging that he needs bipartisan support to effectively govern the country. But the White House and congressional Democrats are also hedging their bets with a plan to make a campaign issue of what they say is Republican intransigence.

The emerging strategy seeks to take advantage of the partisan stalemate in Congress over Obama's nominees and major policy initiatives, and to turn the page on a year when the White House failed to secure passage of complicated health-care and energy legislation.

The idea is to make Republicans either vote for a series of more modest bills identified as popular with the public or explain to constituents this fall why they opposed them.

The decision by Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) to offer a pared-down jobs-creation bill and dare the GOP to oppose it is the most visible sign of the plan so far. White House officials and congressional staff members say it will be followed in coming weeks by a House vote to lift the antitrust exemption for insurance companies, measures to assist small businesses and extend unemployment benefits, and a proposal to levy fees on Wall Street banks that received bailout money.

One senior White House official called the strategy an attempt "to force progress," at a time when polls show that the public wants bipartisan cooperation.

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/12/AR2010021205419.html?hpid=topnews

[blue neen]

1. I look forward to your posts.

:yourock:

[msongs]

2. do-nothing dems with no leadership have no positive strategy = incompetence in governing nt

[NorthCarolina]

3. I am looking for only 1 thing this midterm go-around

I am looking to see who the Liberal/Progressive candidate is...and then supporting/voting for that candidate in the primaries. I'm sick of right-of-center *centrist* DLC/Blue Dog Dems, and I will no longer support them in any form. If there is no Liberal/Progressive choice in any particular race, I will not have a candidate to vote for.

[cmd]

4. Then you are doomed to be the minority party

I'm just as far left in philosophy that one can get, but I recognize that I am a minority in my beliefs. I need those centrists to get even a small piece of my agenda passed.

[NorthCarolina]

5. I don't believe that. For one I think the American public

is far more Liberal than portrayed by the MSM. Numerous polls have shown that to be true when respondents are questions about "issues" without associating those issues with the term "Liberal" or "Conservative". Further, Europe is far more Liberal than the US...even their conservatives would largely be considered left of center as compared to US politics. I believe we'll get there too, but we won't do so as long as we keep supporting right-of-center Democrats simply because we are not offered another option. My goal is to force the Democratic party back to it's roots as an advocate for the people. If their conservative candidates don't garner support, then they will eventually get the message and start running more folks in the ilk of Anthony Weiner, Alan Grayson, Dennis Kucinich, etc. For me personally, it is time to take a stand. I've drawn my line in the sand, and if a candidate is to the left of that line they will have my support. If not, then they will need to look elsewhere for support. It's that simple. If America is so right-of-center as they claim, then conservative Dems will not need my help to get elected.