Presidents Nelson, Collins Upbeat After Saving Bipartisanship (Digby)

[chill_wind]

Presidents Nelson, Collins Upbeat After Saving Bipartisanship
Saturday, February 07, 2009
by dday

Washington (BP) - Presidents Susan Collins, the historic first female President, and Ben Nelson, the historic first Nebraskan President (OK, Ford, but he was only born there), were reported in good spirits after working long into the night to save bipartisanship on the $780 billion dollar stimulus package. Just three weeks after their inauguration, they were able to avert the bipartisanship crisis and come together to restore the faith of everyone working as on-air or print talent in the media industry in the vicinity of Georgetown, Bethesda, MD and Arlongton, VA.

(...)

Making the recovery bill safe for tax cuts and free of wasteful spending like $40 billion in aid to states which will now have to lay off hundreds of thousands of workers was "a very liberating process," Presidents Nelson and Collins said before repairing to separate corners of the White House with their families. "It feels good to have that sense of accomplishment that comes with kicking firefighters and teachers out onto the street and seeing others slip into poverty," Nelson and Collins said in unison. "They said it couldn't be done!" The Presidents offered a list of wasteful nonsense that was excised:


(...)

Collins and Nelson's chief of staff, former Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel, was singled out for praise:

Obama endorsed the moderates' effort and brought its leaders -- Sens. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) -- to the White House to discuss their proposed cuts. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel attended the final meetings in Reid's office last night to work out lingering differences. Before Emanuel arrived, Collins said, Democrats were advocating $63 billion in cuts. "Then Rahm got involved, and a much better proposal came forward," she said.

more: http://www.digbysblog.blogspot.com/


bold emphasis mine

[bluestateguy]

1. Would anybody care to disagree anymore with Grover Norquist's warning

"Bipartisanship is a form of date rape"

There was also much bipartisan consensus for for the fist 80 years of the republic that we should not interfere with slavery in the South. I mean, hey, we may not like slavery, but the issue is so polarizing. It might make some people mad if we overreached on the issue.

[rurallib]

2. could be the end of the world, but I agree with Norquist on something

Goddess forgive me.

[yurbud]

6. dipartisanship is date rape of voters. Give us what we voted for, not what the poobahs want to do

for their Wall Street cronies.

[chill_wind]

3. House Leaders Pelosi & Clyburn quotes:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the proposed reductions "do violence to what we are trying to do for the future," especially on alternative energy and education, two areas Democrats believe were long neglected under President George W. Bush. "The cuts are very damaging," she told reporters at a House Democratic retreat in Williamsburg.

Pelosi also played down the need for Republican input. "Washington seems consumed by this process argument of bipartisanship," she said. The House's $819 billion stimulus package passed without a single Republican vote for it.


Said House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.): "I don't think much of what the Senate is doing."

From the WAPO piece

Bipartisan Deal Eases Way For Stimulus Bill in Senate


By Shailagh Murray and Lori Montgomery
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, February 7, 2009; Page A01

[Tutonic]

4. He should have brought them to the white house and forced their

asses to eat a can of spam. Those assholes have forgotten about the millions of children and female headed households that exist on a diet of Spam. They're busy playing politics and have forgotten about the need to create jobs for those households. Can't wait for 2010 to work against Arlen Spector. Ed Rendell and the Pensylvania crowd are gonna take him out. Isn't Nelson also running in 2010 also?

[chill_wind]

5. He did bring them to the WH and also delivered unto them Rahm.

And that's how we got our bipartisan chopping done. Per WAPO.

I'm with you. I'd have favored serving the spam sandwich for lunch.

[MasonJar]

7. Don't you just love that as soon as Rahm showed up everything went

overboard. I can't stand that man; I knew when Obama chose Rahm that this administration was off to a very bad start.

[chill_wind]

8. What I would give to see Americans take up a collection and mail him some of

his own famed stinking fish. Except that it would probably be poor Rosa DeLauro that would answer the door.


http://gawker.com/5145553/rahm-emanuels-illegal-dc-basement-rental