It's hard to escape the impression that Democrats only work the rules when they are taking care of the wealthy and Wall Street, but when it comes to things that help the working and middle class like real health care reform (not welfare for insurance companies), they feign ineptitude and timidity in the face of the scary GOP micro-minority.
I look forward to the DLC explanations for this.
One I can already guess--Bernanke MUST be reconfirmed to keep the market from panicking and dropping. I say, fuck that shit. Wall Street has functioned like a neutron bomb on our economy, killing people and jobs while leaving property standing so they can collect it without resistance. We cannot allow them to hold us hostage, and when they issue their threats through their surrogates in the government, they should be treated like any other terrorists.
When it comes to progressive priorities in the Senate, there's one standard: 60 votes are needed. But for Ben Bernanke, there's a second standard: 50 will be just fine, thank you.
Democratic leaders in the Senate are asking colleagues who are reluctant to support Bernanke's nomination for a second term as Federal Reserve chairman to nevertheless vote with them to end a filibuster and allow a vote on the actual nomination. The reluctant members would then be free to vote no to express their displeasure. Several Democrats have committed to just that and others are considering it.
The public health insurance option was stripped from health care reform because it didn't have 60 votes. An expansion of Medicare took its place but it, too, was dropped for having fewer than 60. Both proposals had at least 50 votes. Dawn Johnsen, a nominee to head the Office of Legal Counsel, has the backing of progressive organizations, but a 60-vote threshold has held her up for a year.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told reporters on Monday afternoon after a meeting with Bernanke that some opponents of the chairman had pledged to support him on the first vote, but not on the second.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/26/double-standard-for-berna_n_436971.html vote up on social bookmarking sites so others see it:
http://buzzflash.net/story.php?id=1072041http://www.jabberwonk.com/flinker.cfm?cliid=27kz2http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/auev5/double_standard_for_bernanke_only_50_votes_needed/?already_submitted=true
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