Open Left

Sure there is

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