A young Bud Fox leaves Washington for Colorado, lands a job with Gordon Gekko, tycoon and corporate raider. Only in this case, young Bud is future United States Senator Michael Bennet, and Gekko, billionaire Phil Anschutz.
The job leaves Bennet wealthy, and allows him to take a giant pay cut and work for Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, then the Denver Public Schools. It gives him financial experience, which in turn leads to a complicated interest rate swap that may leave Denver taxpayers in a billion dollar hole, as the fund for Denver teachers' retirement looks in need of an AIG-style bailout.
Ironically, the details of the source of Bennet's wealth are revealed largely in a lawsuit by Louisiana teachers, whose investment in theater chain Regal Cinemas went south after Bennet and Anshutz gained control of the company through the purchase of debt, forced other debtors and shareholder into taking losses, then sped off with $1.4 billion in cash, while jobs were lost...
An appointed senator who never ran for office before, but instead rose the ranks of corporate raidership under a notoriously anti-union mentor. It makes perfect sense... for a Republican!
The appointment of Bennet was just one of a flurry of such moves by which the Democratic Party moved sharply to the right after the 2008 elections--a move with absolutely no credible foundations.
Today, Bennet's appointment stands out as part of a multi-front assault on public teachers and public education, which is about as inimical to traditonal Democratic Party values as it's possible to be.
Things happened so rapidly after the 2008 election that most folks simply had no idea what to make of it--much less how to react.
That is no longer the case. The battle lines now are clear.
Michael Bennet is having a good couple of weeks. First, he starts a letter on including the public option in the budget reconciliation "fix" to the Senate heath reform bill which 34 Senators have signed. Now, he is proposing both lobbying and filibuster reform:
Joining a growing number of lawmakers angry at Washington, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet today will announce an ambitious set of reforms to change many of the rules under which his colleagues work, including an effort to restrict earmarks and limit the filibuster.(...)
But the kicker is the call to restructure the filibuster, a tool that has been wielded with devastating effect in the past year by Republicans and moderate Democrats.
Bennet, who is up for election this fall and faces a primary challenge from Andrew Romanoff, would reduce the majority required to overcome a filibuster to 55 votes after specific conditions were met.
The 51-vote Senate proposals given by Senators Tom Harkin and Tom Udall are preferred. However, as long as there are 51 Senators in favor of some sort of reform on the first day the Senate is in session in 2011, then there will be some sort of reform. And even some sort of reform is a very good thing.
( - promoted by AdamGreen) Colorado Senator Michael Bennet’s bold stance in favor of using reconciliation to pass the public option has riled some feathers in Colorado conservative editorial pages. The Grand Junction Sentinal published an op-ed asking if he was “standing on principle when it comes to health care reform or is he playing to the political left.” In fact, Michael Bennet's stand in favor of the public option is good politics and good policy. According to a recent Research 2000 Poll, the people of Colorado support the public option 58% - 36%, including 59% of Independents. 18 senators, including members of leadership and committee chairs, have already signed on to the letter at WhipCongress.com calling on Harry Reid to use reconciliation to pass the public option.
From Rachel Maddow's interview tonight with HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius:
Maddow: "The private insurance company writ large hasn't done a great job. That's why we want a public option to compete with them. These 18 Democratic senators want to bring that back into the fold. If that happened, would the administration fight for it?"
Sebelius: "Well, I think if it's...Certainly. If it's part of the decision of the Senate leadership to move forward, absolutely."
Wow. That's news.
What will Reid do? If it's up to Nevada voters, the answer's obvious. From reporter Jon Ralson in today's Las Vegas Sun:
Nevadans overwhelmingly against previous health care reform package, but support reconciliation, public option
Those are the results of a poll conducted for the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which has been pushing for a public option and its pollster, Research 2000, previously has done work in Nevada to pressure Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Research 2000 also polls in the state for the Reno Gazette-Journal. The poll.
Highlights from the Nevada poll (commissioned by PCCC/DFA/Credo):
34% support for current Senate bill (32% of Independents)
58% support for public option (61% of Independents)
55% support "reconciliation" on health care (64% of Independents)
In related news, at WhipCongress.com we've gone from 0 to 4 to 18 senators in two days on Sen. Michael Bennet's letter -- calling on Harry Reid to pass the public option through reconciliation.
Voters are watching. Democratic senators are watching. President Obama is watching. Will Leader Reid lead?
Ask Shannon Hilt, who's seen our broken system for forming unions firsthand, and she'll tell you that there's no question: Workers need the Employee Free Choice Act.
Hilt spent three years as a field examiner for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), overseeing the elections process and investigating unfair practices. She says the system we have now, one in which companies, not workers, have all the power, isn't free, it isn't fair and doesn't protect workers.
Writing in the Boulder, Colo., Daily Camera, Hilt explains how her years of experience as an NLRB field examiner have convinced her that we need fundamental labor law reform that gives workers, not their bosses, the ability to decide how they form a union and bargain.
Officials say the daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy will be the governor's choice to fill the New York Senate seat being vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Two people close to Gov. David Paterson tell The Associated Press they believe Caroline Kennedy will be his choice, but the governor cautions he's still looking.
This report appears solid, now that State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is now willing to back Kennedy. The deal appears to made, which is disappointing. Not only will she have received the position because of the celebrity provided by her family name and a bullying, Wall Street faction in New York politics, but the general negativity surrounding her poorly run "campaign" for the seat over the last month makes her potentially vulnerable in 2010. She has appeared foolish and unqualified, giving Republicans a shot at winning a seat in one of the bluest states in the nation.
While I am glad that Ken Salazar's Blue Dog younger brother did not receive the appointment, Bennet doesn't seem to be an exciting pick. Also, it is a little disappointing that, with Barack Obama becoming President and Ken Salazar becoming Secretary of Interior, the Senate appears to have gone from six minority members to only four. The Senate really is one of the most retrograde institutions in the entire country.
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