How Many Democrats Does it Take To Screw in a Light Bulb
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How Many Democrats Does it Take To Screw in a Light Bulb - Video
With Democrats acting like this, who needs Republicans?
Chuck Schumer, the No. 3 Senate Democratic leader who would very much like to be No. 1, caused a furor this week when he gave a speech at the National Press Club bashing fellow Democrats and the White House. He said that Democrats focused on the wrong problem when they passed Obamacare and that the way they handled stimulus legislation was a mistake.
As if by way of reply, the White House announced the same day that it would veto a $440 billion tax bill the Senate Democratic leadership had negotiated with Republicans. Meanwhile, former White House officials who serve as surrogate defenders of President Obama went after Schumer on Twitter.
Former Obama aide Tommy Vietor: Shorter Chuck Schumer I wish Obama cared more about helping Democrats than sick people.
Former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau: Funny, I dont remember Chuck Schumer giving that advice when he was privately and publicly championing the Affordable Care Act in 2010. (Actually, Schumer made a similar critique in 2010.)
Just in time for Thanksgiving, Democrats were having an intraparty food fight.
Recriminations are natural after a defeat of the size Democrats suffered in this months midterm elections, but this family feud is a bit excessive and counterproductive at a time when Republicans are preparing to dismantle Obamas presidency and Democrats legislative priorities.
It began immediately after the elections, when David Krone, chief of staff to Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, went on the record with The Post essentially blaming the loss of the Senate on Obamas fundraising decisions and unpopularity.
Six Senate Democrats made a symbolic stand against Reid, voting against him returning as their leader. And House Democrats rebuked their leader, Nancy Pelosi, by voting down her candidate to lead Democrats on the commerce committee. Piling on, Bill Clinton and former Clinton hand Terry McAuliffe, now governor of Virginia, joined in the criticism of the partys election strategy.
The Democrats circular firing squad is all the more puzzling because this is a time when Republicans, now with unified control of Congress, should be the party struggling with internal strife, between hard-liners seeking maximum disruption and those taking seriously their obligation to govern.
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Milbank: The Democrats family feud is counterproductive
President Obama issued a veto threat last week against a corporate tax-cutting orgy that promised the world to many powerful interests but did little for the middle class and nothing for low-income Americans. The presidents move was singularly useful. It should be a sign of things to come.
The widespread pessimism about the next two years in Washington is premised on the view that divided government can work only if both sides are reasonable and engage in amiable bargaining. Obviously, given how profoundly conservative Republicans have become and how deeply many of them loathe Obama, thats not about to happen.
But the coming period could be useful in an entirely different way. There will be a new clarity in the nations political argument. No longer will issues be muddled by a divided Congress in which a Republican House could block a Democratic Senates initiatives, and vice versa. Now, it will be a Republican Congress vs. a Democratic president. Voters will have a much easier time seeing who stands for what.
Moreover, the president still has a great deal of power. There is the negative power to veto bills, and he needs only one-third of the membership of one house to sustain him. In this configuration, Democrats in the House, far weaker in theory than Democrats in the Senate, become more powerful, given their cohesiveness. If Obama and House Democrats find ways of sticking together, they can prevent the next two years from becoming a festival of reaction.
Something like this happened on the corporate tax deal that was being cooked up between House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). The agreement that was in the works would have made a variety of corporate tax breaks permanent while extending others, at an estimated 10-year cost of around $400 billion. Missing from the agreement was any permanence to improvements passed in 2009 to two tax provisions valued by progressives, the earned-income tax credit and the child tax credit. Its also strange that some who claim to care passionately about deficit reduction abandon their inhibitions when corporate tax breaks are on the table.
The emerging accord had already provoked a Democratic revolt led by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.) and Sens. Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Ron Wyden (Ore.) and Elizabeth Warren (Mass). Some of these congressional foes of the package told the White House that a veto threat would make it easier to rally opposition to it. The administration was reluctant to issue one unless it knew its veto could be sustained, but ultimately resolved the chicken-and-egg dilemma by going ahead with the warning. This appears, for now, to have headed off the great tax giveaway.
But if Obama and progressives can cooperate to keep the worst from happening, they and particularly the president can also get things done. Obamas executive actions on immigration squarely challenge congressional Republicans to put up or shut up on their claims that they actually want reform.
Obama could act in other areas as well and in the process send a signal that he wants to do something about stagnating wages. One example: Labor Department regulations could restore overtime pay to most salaried workers by adjusting current limits to account for inflation. This would curb a common practice of reclassifying employees as managers to get out of wage-and-hour rules. Would Congress want to block a pay raise for people who work 60 hours a week?
The Obama administration moved on another front last week to curb ozone emissions linked to asthma and heart disease. Republicans said they would try to block the new anti-pollution regulations. Okay, lets fight it out. Again, conservatives will have to explain why they want to reverse an initiative rather than obstruct action altogether and then blame Obama for being ineffectual.
Yes, such steps will call forth enraged rhetoric about the imperial president. But guess what? Starting in the Reagan era, when Democrats controlled Congress, the Heritage Foundation and other conservative groups put out studies and books attacking the imperial Congress because they didnt like any interference with a president from their own side. It seems that altered political circumstances can lead to neck-snapping changes in convictions that are allegedly rooted in constitutional principle.
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Dionne: EJ Dionne: How Obama and the Democrats can save their agenda
Washington
With Democrats acting like this, who needs Republicans?
Chuck Schumer, the No. 3 Senate Democratic leader who would very much like to be No. 1, caused a furor last week when he gave a speech at the National Press Club bashing fellow Democrats and the White House. He said that Democrats focused on the wrong problem when they passed Obamacare and that the way they handled stimulus legislation was a mistake.
As if by way of reply, the White House announced the same day that it would veto a $440 billion tax bill the Senate Democratic leadership had negotiated with Republicans. Meanwhile, former White House officials who serve as surrogate defenders of President Obama went after Schumer on Twitter.
Former Obama aide Tommy Vietor: Shorter Chuck Schumer I wish Obama cared more about helping Democrats than sick people.
Former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau: Funny, I dont remember Chuck Schumer giving that advice when he was privately and publicly championing the Affordable Care Act in 2010. (Actually, Schumer made a similar critique in 2010.)
Just in time for Thanksgiving, Democrats were having an intraparty food fight.
Recriminations are natural after a defeat of the size Democrats suffered in the midterm elections, but this family feud is a bit excessive and counterproductive at a time when Republicans are preparing to dismantle Obamas presidency and Democrats legislative priorities.
It began immediately after the elections, when David Krone, chief of staff to Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, went on the record with The Washington Post essentially blaming the loss of the Senate on Obamas fundraising decisions and unpopularity.
Six Senate Democrats made a symbolic stand against Reid, voting against him returning as their leader. And House Democrats rebuked their leader, Nancy Pelosi, by voting down her candidate to lead Democrats on the commerce committee. Piling on, Bill Clinton and former Clinton hand Terry McAuliffe, now governor of Virginia, joined in the criticism of the partys election strategy.
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Column: When Democrats Go On the Attack, Against Fellow Democrats
Rand Paul Reacts to House Democrats Vote
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By: News in World
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Rand Paul Reacts to House Democrats Vote - Video