Someone tell me why I didn't vote for Pete DeFazio when he ran against Ron Wyden to be the Democratic nominee for US Senate back in 1996. What a mistake that turned out to be! If Pete DeFazio were in the US Senate right now, President Obama and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell would be up sh*t creek.
But Pete DeFazio isn't in the Senate. He's in the House. And they don't have a filibuster in the House. So, even though DeFazio led a revolt in the House of Representatives against the Obama-McConnell tax deal, it doesn't make any difference that nearly the entire Democratic caucus joined him. (You can read about it here.)
This was, as DeFazio himself knows, a symbolic vote. The tax deal is destined for passage no matter what DeFazio or Barney Frank (MA) or Anthony Wiener (NY) or Chris Van Hollen (MD) want. Nancy Pelosi, legendary vote-getter that she is, will get the bill through the House.
That's the sad fact of the matter.
But I salute Representative DeFazio. He is, by far, the most respected of Oregon's Congressional delegation among the people I know. And most of the people I hang out with are true-hearted Oregonians.
1 comment:
The Republicans would not have agreed to extend unemployment insurance without the tax cut extensions.
The Republicans would have gained politically by shutting down the government, even though it would have been extremely dangerous to the economy. The Republicans only care about winning. The longer they went in fighting the Obama plan the better their political position and the worse Obama would look.
Of course extending the tax cuts on the wealthy is stupid. But so is deliberately shutting down the government and shutting off unemployment benefits to millions of people.
Complaining because you don't get everything you want seems to be a useless expenditure of effort. Imagine if you had a President who only did what you wanted. Remember, three quarters of the USA disagree with you on most things. Such a President would not only be unelectable, but also would get nothing done and be out on his ear after the first term as an abject failure.
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