Reid installs Baucus to the committee of six. The question is: who leaned on him to do this????

[ooglymoogly]

Its over! your worst nightmare is now realized.

[frazzled]

1. He always appoints Baucus--he's Chairman of the Finance Committee

So nobody had to "push" Reid: he probably figured the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee is supposed to be there.

Stop with the conspiracies. Everything is always somebody else's fault, eh?

[ooglymoogly]

30. Utter nonsense.

Baucus's actions on this committee are totally predictable and a foregone conclusion. There are no laws or Senate rules requiring Reid to appoint any particular member to be on this committee. Pretending there are lofty unwritten rules operating here is disingenuous in the extreme.

[frazzled]

31. Oh, so now you're admitting no one "made" Reid do it.

Reid appointed him. It's pretty normal protocol. And I think Harry Reid's reasoning (beyond Baucus being the chair of the most powerful and relevant-to-the-topic committee) is that something has to pass the Senate. Which means they have to get everyone from Joe Lieberman and Ben Nelson to Sheldon Whitehouse to vote for it. So the Bernie Sanders plan may be what you (and perhaps what I) even want to hear, but it's worth squat if it fails.

[ooglymoogly]

32. Not even close...one does not negate the other.

To believe this is NOT one grand kabuki with many characters with a carefully planned outcome, all anathema to democratic values (the working middle class), is to be childishly naive, skipping through imaginary tulips in a good likeness of Pollyanna.

The actions of Baucus are entirely predictable spelling in no uncertain terms, disaster for safety nets and the new deal and the middle classes it built, the very soul of the Democratic party.

[alcibiades_mystery]

2. Lemme guess...

The black dude, yeah?

Oh, wait. You mean, the people who REALLY control the black dude, right?

:eyes:

[AlabamaLibrul]

4. "The President" or "the people who REALLY control the President"

would suffice - unless there's some hidden point to this post.

[ooglymoogly]

8. Nope no hidden meaning. nt

[AlabamaLibrul]

12. Referring to the repeated "black dude" references on the part of that poster (nt)

[ooglymoogly]

29. sorry I misread. nt

[spanone]

3. so it's four against two.....

[edhopper]

5. You have faith in

Murray and Kerry?

[ooglymoogly]

15. Its two "moderates" (willing and waiting to compromise) and one rabid Dino

who will be pitted against three unyielding teabaggers who will not compromise; guess which way the wind is blowing. If that does not spell 'the fix is in' even on the densest Pollyannas, nothing will.

[mmonk]

6. Max has earned the position unfortunately for us.

The same reason he was heading up the healthcare legislation.

[ooglymoogly]

9. exactly...nt

[ooglymoogly]

24. I mean exactly in the sense that Baucus earned it by selling us down the river

on health care as he is meant to do on this severely important issue. As far as the seniority crap, that is no more than a lame excuse for Reid doing what he is told to do. There is always some lame excuse for shafting the left always amounting to no better than the devil made me do it.

[in_cog_ni_to]

7. It's going to be a Committee of 12. 3 Dems and 3 Rethugs from the Senate AND House.

Can't wait to see which Blue dog Dems Nancy picks in the House. :(

[Skidmore]

10. How long have you been paying attention to the Senate?

Baucus is a senior senator. The senate is a good ole boys club. Baucus has a finger in many pies and he is often the go to guy on committees. No one had to lean on Reid to appoint him.

[ooglymoogly]

11. bullcrap...

This is not about good ol' boys. This is about protecting the soul of the democratic party. Anything else begs extreme criticism and a recognition that that there is no difference between the two parties. This is a fix, pure and simple.

[ooglymoogly]

25. Odds are far longer than you have.

There are no laws stating a senior senator must be chosen for a committee position beyond the wink and nod good ol' boy rocks that crooks hide under.

[Skidmore]

36. There might be no law, but the senate is an organization wedded to

tradition. They tend to do things the way they've been doing them for decades. This has been the perennial complaint about them and now I suppose that conventional wisdom here has disappeared.

[fivepennies]

13. My question is,

who leaned on our representatives to set up such a non-transparent super congress in the first place and why are democrats so passively accepting it as fait accompli?

I don't care who signed this monstrosity into law, we have finally lost our collective minds.

[ooglymoogly]

14. +1 nt

[Ikonoklast]

17. Any recommendation they make still has to be voted on.

Just like proposed legislation coming out of any committee.

[fivepennies]

18. Up or down is all they get

without discussion or debate. This is democracy?

[KharmaTrain]

16. It's Called "Seniority"...

The "protocol" of the Senate gives preference to those with tenure. Baucus has plenty of that as well as being the chair of the Senate Finance committee. Reid had little choice.

[ooglymoogly]

23. thats crap and you know it.

On such a serious issue as this, Reid can appoint anyone he chooses. To talk "good ol' boy" nonsense on this issue that could and probably will take down the Democratic party is just sheer naivete or worse, pretend naivete.

[KharmaTrain]

35. It's Called Being Archaic...

I'm no fan of Baucus and it doesn't matter what I think anyway...the question was why Reid would consider selecting Baucus. Now how does the Democratic party take itself down when its always had a lot of "centrists" and "moderates". Your naivete is to think this party is a "liberal" or "progressive" one...many here are learning this lesson the hard way.

[quiller4]

19. Nobody. It is a logical appointment. It would be a big surprise

if the chair of the Senate Finance Committee were not a part of this group. They need his expertise and that of his staff.

[ooglymoogly]

27. More pretend excuses from the good ol' boy apologists.

On such an important commission, Reid can appoint anyone he chooses and there are no Senate rules that says he can't, but then I guess you know that. Baucus's actions on this committee are totally predictable and may well bring down what is left of the Democratic party.

[shanti]

20. all it takes is one n/t

[mochajava666]

21. Wow. As Bill Paxton would say, "Game over, man! Game over!"

[Rex]

22. They need a corporate suit that will always say yes to them and no

to us.

[0rganism]

26. wait, you think *leaning* was involved?

Reid is more interested in having the "super committee" reach a decision to avoid the triggers than he is in standing up for domestic spending on social programs. The republicans won't compromise, that's for sure, so he has "everything to gain" by appointing a shill like Baucus to do his dirty work.

[ooglymoogly]

28. Yes that is true, but Reid is just a willing pawn with the same motives.

as those leaning on him.

[Major Hogwash]

33. Nobody leaned on him.

How could you even come to that conclusion?

Who would you have preferred, Finestein, Franken, or whatshername who took Hillary's seat in the Senate?

[ooglymoogly]

34. My God I'm stunned...what powers of deduction.

As if the Senators you mentioned are all the Senate has to offer, though I would trust Hillary over Baucus any day.

Reid's first and primary aim in choosing, must be first and foremost, someone we all can trust to protect the soul of the Democratic party, the crown jewels of the Democratic party, the reasons for its existence.

Instead he chose someone who, it is a foregone conclusion, will do just the opposite. It is no secret, Baucus is a raging Dino and sold us down the river once before when he was chosen for just the same Machiavellian task.

[Major Hogwash]

37. My powers of deduction are nothing compared to my powers of extraordinary vision.

I have the power to see through bullshit!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ooglymoogly]

38. It can only be complete delusion and an abject aversion to facts and reality

that would allow one to think in this childish manor. As far as these claimed powers, do not delude further, it is clear there is not even the minutest powers to see through bullshit here, but indeed a power to produce it by the bucketload as the shield to protect and sustain that delusion.

[Major Hogwash]

39. You're not fooling anyone.

Whine, rinse, later, repeat.

Same ol', same ol'.