Open Left

Don't hate on Kucinich and Massa (4.00 / 9)

Mike,

Criticize the Repugs and the Blue Dogs all you want, but please, don't criticize Kucinich and Massa for actually standing up for what they believe in.  I mean come on, do you honestly believe they "were happy to let any hope of health care reform for a generation die because the bill wasn't everything we hoped it would be"?  Are such harsh words really appropriate for progressive champions like Kucinich? The subjects of your scorn ought not to be Kucinich and Massa, but the dozens of other CPC members who broke their promise to you, me, and every other American to vote against any bill that did not include a robust public option.  Further, most of these folks have long been HR 676 supporters, but when it actually came time to stand up for single payer and fight to keep the Kucinich amendment in the bill, they just rolled over, acceded to the administration's wishes, and allowed it to be stripped.  Finally, as Jane Hamsher pointed out yesterday, only about 14 Progressive Dems needed to stand their ground and they could've been in a position to make some real demands,  given the 25 or so blue dogs who'd never vote for the bill anyway.  The administration needed Progressive votes to get this thing passed, they had real leverage, and they did nothing with it.

Don't people realize that unless the progressive movement decisively breaks with its slavish devotion to Saint Obama and the Democratic Party, we'll never get our country out of this mess? Now is not the time to congratulate these hacks, now is the time to get angry!  Thank you, Representatives Kucinich and Massa, for being examples to us all.  You are true patriots.    

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by: jimboz22 @ Tue Nov 10, 2009 at 00:45:32 AM CST

Jimboz, so sorry for the "0" meant to give you a 4 and then some! (0.00 / 0)

Any way to remove the down rate?  Geez...should not sign on when what I really need is sleep.  

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by: lorij @ Tue Nov 10, 2009 at 00:54:08 AM CST

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No worries, (0.00 / 0)

 hope you got some sleep!

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by: jimboz22 @ Tue Nov 10, 2009 at 09:12:35 AM CST

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Some of the CPC should be primaried (0.00 / 0)

And it should be made crystal clear to them (and all of the CPC) why that is a good thing.

Also, considering the final vote, don't you mean that we only needed 3 more members of the CPC to stand their ground, not 11 more?

435 Dem Primaries 2012
Coffee Party Usa
TheRealNews.Com

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by: metamars @ Tue Nov 10, 2009 at 04:48:53 AM CST

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You're exactly right (0.00 / 0)

Somehow I didn't even realize that, very good point!  I suppose that just emphasizes even more how much leverage just a few principled progressives could've had in this debate.  

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by: jimboz22 @ Tue Nov 10, 2009 at 09:15:20 AM CST

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The PDA disagrees (0.00 / 0)

Link. But I respectfully dissent.

I wish there was a proven game theoretic way to go about analyzing the question of who and how many to primary. Doubtless, it'd be a function of volunteer time and money. I have a strong suspicion that lobbying firms pay good money for just this sort of analysis. In their case, however, the goal is to make Congress fit their own agenda. If that agenda is basically selfish and hurts the public - well, too bad for us.

Maybe somebody with time on their hands could give some calls to poly sci professors at universities, and ask them to weigh in on this question? For that matter, maybe somebody with time and acting skills can investigate the question of whether lobbying firms are already using game theory to determine details of who to target in re-election campaigns. This could be accomplished by
1) posing as a business which needs lobbying services, and asking about "scientific" ways that the lobbying firm uses to optimize their cash expenditures
2) posing as a political game theorist, and then trying to sell your services to various lobbying firms. (This option requires some basic knowledge of the field; it also is advisable to have a math degree; or maybe a sympathetic poly sci professor will play the part)

435 Dem Primaries 2012
Coffee Party Usa
TheRealNews.Com

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by: metamars @ Tue Nov 10, 2009 at 09:59:41 AM CST

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