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   Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Gnter Grass still thinks reunification was a bad idea.
 Forty years of writing from Taylor Branch, James Fallows, Katherine Boo, Marjorie Williams, Joshua Micah Marshall, and more.
 With help from Washington, the for-profit college industry is loading up millions of low-income students with debt they'll never pay off.
 The best recent memoir from republican Washington is a hoax. That should tell you something.
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October 30, 2009
SLAYING THE 'DINOSAUR'.... Now there's a senator I can agree with -- a young New England Democrat who realizes that the filibuster is an institutional menace. He not only calls the parliamentary maneuver "a dinosaur" that had become "a symbol of a lot that ails Washington today," he actually took steps to kill the filibuster once and for all. The senator is Joe Lieberman ... in 1994. At the time, Lieberman, part of a Democratic minority, believed Senate obstructionism had gone too far. Even though Republicans had the majority, he and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) decided to take the bold step of pushing for majority rule in the Senate -- even if it made it easier for the new GOP-led chamber to pass legislation. At a press conference 15 years ago next month, Lieberman argued:
In 1994, when Lieberman thought filibusters had become an outrageous abuse worthy of elimination, there were 39 cloture motions filed. Last year, there were 139. This year, Senate Republicans will likely break their own record. And Lieberman this week threatened to help them, by opposing a vote on a once-in-a-generation opportunity at health care reform if it includes a provision to let some consumer choose between competing public and private health plans. One wonders what Lieberman '94 would think of Lieberman '09. —Steve Benen 4:30 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (27)Comments
I think Joe, like the Republicans, would say that he prefers to look forward not back. It solves the hypocracy problem for him. Posted by: sparrow on October 30, 2009 at 4:38 PM | PERMALINKUmm, not sure, Steve, but I don't think the GOP had the Senate until Jan. '95, after the tidal wave of '94's elections. Posted by: Dan on October 30, 2009 at 4:39 PM | PERMALINKIt's even better now the Lieberman has promised he's going to campaign for Republicans in 2010. I'm soooooooooo glad that Reid and Obama decided to not strip Holy Joe of his chairmanship. After all, he's with us on everything except the war. And everything else. Posted by: Domage on October 30, 2009 at 4:48 PM | PERMALINKActually, Steve, I am long past giving a shit what Joe Lieberman thinks. Posted by: Chocolate Thunder on October 30, 2009 at 4:51 PM | PERMALINKI get the impression that Lieberman is doing a reverse Specter. He is priming himself to run as Republican when his term is up. He doesn't stand a chance of the Democratic nomination and he won't win as an Independant soo... Posted by: Meady on October 30, 2009 at 4:57 PM | PERMALINKForce them to carry out the filibuster - the whole thing. Until now, the filibuster threat has been enough to stall or kill legislation. But the public spectacle of Lieberman et al, reading from War & Peace (and of course, the Bible) while 40 million Americans wait for health insurance would be quite a sight to behold. There would be no clearer demonstration of their obstruction and bankruptcy than that - and not even Fox News could ignore it. Posted by: Tom on October 30, 2009 at 4:58 PM | PERMALINKLieberman isn't going to remember what he said in '94 because sometime in the last 15 years there was humongous seed pod placed in his office and he's been a putz ever since. Dan, You are correct. It was back when Joe was pertty much a Democrat. Posted by: buggy ding dong on October 30, 2009 at 4:58 PM | PERMALINKsomeone needs to run that as an ad on national cable news shows, on D.C. local TV, and on Connecticut local TV. Nail this SOB, make him a radioactive laughingstock. Posted by: zeitgeist on October 30, 2009 at 5:01 PM | PERMALINKI think he'd say: Joe! what's up with the retirement fund? I'm glad your positioning yourself for future earning potential. Posted by: jhm on October 30, 2009 at 5:06 PM | PERMALINKDan is correct, the Dems had the Senate w/George Mitchell as Majority Leader until Dec 1994. Bob Dole (R-Kansas) took over as Majority Leader after the 1994 elections. Although look at the date: the presser was November 22nd, 1994 which is after the election. Posted by: VOR on October 30, 2009 at 5:14 PM | PERMALINKI prefer to think of "Lieberman retired." Posted by: Algernon on October 30, 2009 at 5:14 PM | PERMALINKI want to move to CT just to vote against Joe Lieberman (and avail myself of the excellent health care in that state). Posted by: Dr. U on October 30, 2009 at 5:17 PM | PERMALINKIn addition to this issue, Steve, I think Lieberman needs to be pressed on his previous positions on health care. I think he was for something like the public option before he was against it. It also occurs to me to wonder about health care in his favorite foreign nation, namely Israel. Just to start the investigation (from Wikipedia): "Health care in Israel is both universal and compulsory, and is administered by a small number of organizations with funding from the government. All Israeli citizens are entitled to the same Uniform Benefits Package, regardless of which organization they are a member of, and treatment under this package is funded for all citizens regardless of their financial means." Damn. Hey, Holy Joe, why isn't a system such as this good enough for Americans? Posted by: CMcC on October 30, 2009 at 5:41 PM | PERMALINKLieberthen: you're the best secret Republican operative ever! aaaaaaaaand scene! Posted by: slappy magoo on October 30, 2009 at 5:55 PM | PERMALINKHe's being consistent, Steve. He was sticking it to the Dems back in '94, and he's still doing it today. He's always been a putz. Posted by: Owa Tagoo Siam on October 30, 2009 at 6:04 PM | PERMALINKIn '94 Joe was a starry eyed, wet behind the ears newbie. Now he's a seasoned veteran, knows how the game is played. Do what you will with THAT info. . . Posted by: DAY on October 30, 2009 at 6:09 PM | PERMALINKJust promise Joe 10 years of guaranteed war and he'll do anything you want. Posted by: MsJoanne on October 30, 2009 at 6:14 PM | PERMALINKOne wonders what Lieberman '94 would think of Lieberman '09. Smart! Handsome too! Posted by: Quaker in a Basement on October 30, 2009 at 6:45 PM | PERMALINKI am not sure I know how we address this, but it has become painfully obvious since the GOP went off the ideological deep end that our rickety old constitutional system (and Senate rules and traditions) is inadequate to an age of such striking polarization as we have today. The origonal system of checks and balances and divided powers created by the founders, envisioned that the different "factions" would at least engage in some level of good faith cooperation. That seems totally lost today, and so this absurd rule in which we now need 60 votes to enact even the the most routine legislation has, in effect, created a situation where without knowing it we have adopted a new amendment to the Constitution -- call it the Minority Rights Amendment, or better yet, the Minority Rule Amendment. There are good reasons to have a filibuster to protect the minority when it feels its basic rights are under assault from the majority -- as the South did to protect its distinct "way of life" against civil rights legislation, however much the rest of us may find that way of life grotesque. But to have a rule that basically vetoes the results of democratic elections by giving to the side that lost the power to time and time again stiffle the will of the majority is, I fear, to invite growing impatience by the public for democracy itself (as happened in Germany and elsehwere), resulting in calls for government that is less representatiave and democratic, but which can actually get things done. That is always the danger for democratic republics when they find themselves stalemated by their own desire for fairness and openness. And in a perverse way I sometimes think that promoting stronger but less democratic government may be exactly what the right wing hopes to accomplish with its hyper-partisanship and obstruction. Posted by: Ted Frier on October 30, 2009 at 7:20 PM | PERMALINKOne wonders what Lieberman '94 would think of Lieberman '09. Probably he would think, "what a douchebag!!!" just like everyone else thinks of Lieberman '09. Posted by: Jennifer on October 30, 2009 at 9:59 PM | PERMALINKI have a question that has been nagging at me for the last few years. Can a truly honest ethical person get elected? After reading this article it raises another question. If by chance one did, would they remain honest or be corrupted by the Washington mentality? Not sure it even matters anymore. Posted by: Averal on November 1, 2009 at 10:52 AM | PERMALINKPost a comment
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