Open Left

You Need To Re-Read Chris's Diary (4.00 / 1)

You're not responding to his argument.

Plus, there's no there there in the way of a libertarian block to ally with.  Paul is often a party of one.

"Senate passes expanded GI bill despite Bush, McCain opposition"

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by: Paul Rosenberg @ Sun Jun 21, 2009 at 19:24:56 PM CDT

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Sure there is (0.00 / 0)

The bailout bill got a lot of pushback from a certain segment of the right, and between them and enough Dems, they killed the first iteration. But Pelosi didn't need them in the end, as there weren't enough Dems who broke with her to defeat it on the second round. But there's a contingent of Repubs who, with progressives, can get together to block certain bills. They might be the crazies on the right, but you take what you can get.

Broadly speaking, there are basically two kinds of Repubs, the crazies and the crooks, just as there are two kinds of Dems, the progressives and the corporatists (which is a nicer way of saying crook, because if you take money from a corporation and then push bills that help that corporation, you are a crook). The Repub crooks will sometimes side with Dems on certain bills, but if enough progressive Dems and crazy Repubs get together, they could block some of them. Like a bad health care bill. Or, had they tried hard enough, last week's supplemental "emergency" war bill. Such a working block has a certain surreal aspect to it, since we're talking the likes of Barbara Lee voting with the likes of Michelle Bachman. But hey, politics and bedfellows. You take what you can get.

The liberal soul shall be made fat. He who waters shall be watered also himself. (Proverbs 11:25)

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by: kovie @ Sun Jun 21, 2009 at 23:17:04 PM CDT

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That Wasn't A Libertarian Vote (4.00 / 1)

That was grandstanding rightwing populism.  When it happens, and we can take advantage of it, great.  But it's not dependable in any sort of strategic sense.

"Senate passes expanded GI bill despite Bush, McCain opposition"

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by: Paul Rosenberg @ Mon Jun 22, 2009 at 08:41:54 AM CDT

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