Baucus Up To His Old Tricks

by: Mike Lux

Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 11:30

The single man most responsible for the fiscal wreckage that is our budget, other than Bush himself, is up to his old tricks. I'm talking about Max Baucus.

A little bit about the 2001 tax fight before I get to the main point. In the heat of the fight over the massively irresponsible Bush tax cut, Tom Daschle in a much under-reported and under-appreciated speech to the Senate Democratic caucus told his colleagues that the only way to have power with Bush in the White House and Republicans controlling the House and Senate was to hang together and have each others backs. If we stay together, Daschle said, Bush will be forced to come to the table on this and every other bill.

Baucus, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, promptly went out and cut a deal with the Bush White House, giving them virtually everything they wanted. It ended any chance the Democrats had to stop Bush on his most important single policy, and set a pattern for a lack of Democratic solidarity against Bush that continues to this day.

Now Baucus is screwing his fellow Democrats again. The Hill has a new article by Alexander Bolton describing how Baucus is helping Gordon Smith, using Smith's language and giving Smith lots of credit on an Iranian sanctions bill. Smith is one of the most vulnerable Republicans in the Senate, and Baucus is delightedly helping him out on a highly questionable bill. That is just pathetic.

Baucus has never been a progressive, spending way too much time sucking up to big corporate interests, as David Sirota has documented many times. But, jeez, Max, at least don't screw over your fellow Democrats politically - again.

Mike Lux :: Baucus Up To His Old Tricks

Tags: Max Baucus, Gordon Smith, David Sirota, Oregon, Montana, Budget, George Bush, White House, Tom Daschle, (All Tags)

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Baucus Up To His Old Tricks | 9 comments

I believe Daschle was speaking of Baucus when he said.... (4.00 / 1)

....that guy has been running scared since the day he got here.

Profiles in courage, indeed.

by: Taylor @ Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 10:42:55 AM CDT

Ugh.... (4.00 / 1)

Most of the committee chairs are really good but if there were just one I could replace it'd be him. Oh and Jay Rockefeller. Oh and Joe Lieberman. Sigh......

by: adamterando @ Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 10:44:41 AM CDT

Republicans aren't (politically) stupid. (0.00 / 0)

There'a a reason they took a dive on opposing him this year.

I SO look forward to the day when victorious progressive primary challengers become the norm, as opposed to a once-every-two-years rarity.

by: Cat Servant @ Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 10:54:15 AM CDT

Mike ... (0.00 / 0)

maybe this has been addressed .. but has anyone asked Max why he is a Democrat? ... and I mean that in all sincerity ... does he like have a secret love affair going with Broder or something?

by: Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle @ Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 10:54:42 AM CDT

The irony is (0.00 / 0)

that for a long time it was worried that Baucus might be "too liberal" for Montana. That, of course, was pre-Tester and Sweitzer (spelling?).

That said, while I think we can gain a good number of seats in this election and in 2010, it's definetely time to work on getting better Democrats in office. The Montana model is a great example-a low cost state with fairly strong progressives running aggressive campaigns. With any luck, maybe we can work to build on that model in some key races this year, like Oklahoma and Idaho.

Check out Blue Arkansas:
http://bluearkansas.blogspot.com/

by: ARDem @ Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 11:36:11 AM CDT

It's official (0.00 / 0)

Max Baucus is the right wing candidate in his re-election campaign this year. Quirky "Republican" Kelleher is to the left of corporate Democrat Baucus. Jeez.

by: David Kowalski @ Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 11:57:48 AM CDT

If you're going back to that era (4.00 / 1)

CNN's Inside Politics, February 2, 2001:

JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Bush took his charm offensive into the heart of enemy territory, addressing most of the Senate's 50 Democrats at their annual retreat in Washington.
The charm seems to be working.
SEN. MAX BAUCUS (D), MONTANA: President Bush wants every member of the Senate and House to know him personally; he wants to dispel any myths that some of them may have about him
[...]
KARL: And senators of all stripes are praising Bush's reputation for being punctual, unlike his chronically late predecessor.
BAUCUS: He's not on Clinton time; he's on Bush time. It's important; that's very important. It shows respect; it shows that you're serious.
[..]
KARL: Well they're, you know, trying to out-bipartisan him. It was interesting; I met with Max Baucus earlier today, Democrat from Montana; a very key player in all this because he's the senior on the Finance Committee that will deal with that tax cut. And Baucus said to me that, based on what he's seeing with Bush, he believes he has the potential to be a great president -- this after he's just been in office, what, a couple of weeks?

(emphasis added)

I think this should be remembered by all as it explains so much.

by: Bob Brigham @ Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 12:00:46 PM CDT

God smote him... (0.00 / 0)

...for acting like a Republican. At least that's what my mom in Missoula, Montana said after Baucus crashed his motorcycle a few years back. I remember when he was a young fella with lots of promise. Unfortunately, we kept hoping while he did nothing for such a long time. Then, when he had the power to do something, well, it's not good.

by: Freeranger @ Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 12:42:12 PM CDT

Not sure Iran saber-rattling will help Gordon Smith in Oregon... (0.00 / 0)

Gordon Smith is running as a Democrat in his scrable to keep his seat (see his ad tying himself to Obama and Oregon's Dem governor).

A previous ad had a former Democratic congresswoman declaring that he was "one of the first" to oppose the Iraq war (a statement that has been signficantly back-tracked upon).

If Gordon Smith wants to get noticed as a leader in the run-up to war with Iran, I'm all for it.

Jeff Merkely (Smith's Dem challenger) won't be afraid to run against War-don Smith (I hope). Oregonians don't want another war. We're not exactly happy with the ones we're already bogged down it as it is.

Check out Future Roots for organic rock'n'roll goodness from Oregon...

by: robinozretich @ Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 13:54:18 PM CDT