“We have 60 votes on paper,” Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, said Wednesday in an interview. “But we cannot bulldoze anybody; it doesn’t work that way. My caucus doesn’t allow it. And we have a very diverse group of senators philosophically. I am not this morning suddenly flexing my muscles.”

Indeed, becoming the first party in 30 years to reach the fabled plateau of 60 could create as many political problems as it solves, raising expectations sky high and potentially causing a backlash should Democrats falter on energy or health care.

“The American people are going to say, ‘Look, we have given you the authority to make changes on health care, go ahead and do it,’ ” said Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent aligned with the Democrats. “No more excuses.”

Such talk no doubt unnerves Democratic leaders, who know how excruciating it can be to assemble the supermajority of 60 votes on relatively routine bills, let alone on the complex and far-reaching measures coming down the Congressional pike.

Thanks, Harry "Sack" Reid, for proving what a useless sack of shit you are, as well as most of the Democratic Party. Oh, since 2006 all we heard was excuse after excuse about why after controlling both houses of Congress that nothing could be down to stop or even slow down the BushCo agenda. What was the mother of all excuses? You need sixty votes.

Now, apparently, they add the caveat—that’s 60 non-cocksucking piece of shit motherfuckers, not 60 Democrats. See, with the Dems, you still have a contingent of cocksucking piece of shit motherfuckers.

Which leads me to my constructive points. First, as progressives, we cannot allow ourselves to become a captive constituency, like those idiot evangelicals. Neither Obama nor our senators or representatives can be allowed to think that they have our support and our votes in their pocket. When they say half a loaf is better than none, the response is: fuck you. Try baking after you lose re-election. You’d better behave like your fucking ass depends on getting us at least one big loaf, because, asshole, it does.

Second, it’s anticipated by people who understand at least basic political science that the problem for progress will always be coming from the Senate and the Supreme Court. That’s how the owners set it up to make sure that us regular folk don’t get all mobby and take their megawealth. Even when that’s exactly what the megawealthy did to us—rob us blind, pillage the Treasury, and leave us to pay the IOU’s.

The problem is that the House lacks all balls. The way it’s supposed to work is that the House represents the progressive elements trying to get a fair shake for working people. They have one power that trumps all the other branches—the power of the purse. No appropriations or taxes can be made without its consent.

So, what should happen is this: the people want a public option or, rather, a single payer program for health insurance. If the Senate doesn’t want to provide it, the Senate doesn’t get one motherfucking dime allocated to any project it wants funded. You want to go fuck up in Afghanistan? You need money for that, so give us health care or go fuck yourselves.

You want money for the IMF and for Gold Sax and the other banksters? Give us healthcare or go fuck yourselves.

You want to fund a trillion dollar a year military budget? Give us health care or go fuck yourselves.

That’s how it was supposed to work. The problem is that there are too many congressional districts controlled by bought and paid for whores who do not do the will of the people but the will of their donors. They reside in too many districts where the voters are either ignorant or completely besotted with bullshit “ideology” that blinds them to common sense.

That’s where the fight is. District by district, representative by representative. Instead of this bullshit 60 vote/filibuster BULLSHIT, the way to get where we need to go is old fashion power politics. No health reform, NO FUCKING MONEY FOR YOU. Elect reps with the balls to caucus together and operate on that basis, and there is no aspect of the progressive agenda that we can’t accomplish.

Agreed. Deep down, Dems are somewhat timid and afraid to have the power of their convictions, whereas Reps have no convictions and will do whatever it takes to keep their power.

Yeah. I am also deeply disappointed in the continuing policies of the old Bush admin in regards to indefinite detention of suspected terrorists, the policies towards gays, the continuing huge defense budgets (though it can be argued that a winding down of entanglements inherited from GWB's admin takes time) and other policies.

But, I guess we will continue hoping....what we have is a great improvement from what we had.

dooda:

When you elect multi-millionaires to the Senate Congress who have their money to fall back on, they really do not need us as a constituency. The same applies to the House. Along the way, they have lost contact with who put them there, for what reasons they arrived their, and for what purpose they kept there.

The days of Gideon are long gone.

Wow Dood now tell me what u really thnk.

I am with u 100%.Especially your characterization of Reid.

It is good to see you back in swinging form.

Leo Harold