There Is No "We" In "House of Representatives"

There is no "we" in "House of Representatives" but it is easy to find an "I" - 435 of them, in fact.  So when Democratic leaders say that "we" need to pass health care reform, about whom do they speak?  Nancy Pelosi may need a bill to justify her leadership role, but she comes from a safe seat in San Francisco.  Meanwhile, there are more than 50 Democrats who were first elected to the House in either 2006 or 2008.  If these people were smart enough to get elected they are smart enough to notice that Martha Coakley didn't. They are not going to quietly pass the Senate bill so that Nancy can keep her job and they can lose theirs.

And if health reform crashes and burns?  These people go back to their districts and tell their supporters that they understand voters are unhappy, they understand they were sent to help change Washington, but right now about the only thing that is bipartisan in Washington is the dysfunction.

After flipping the keys to Harry and Nancy and putting them in charge of both the stimulus bill and health reform Obama may or may not try to triangulate against a Democratic Congress but I bet plenty of swing-seat Dems will do exactly that.

ADS I DON'T WANT TO SEE:  I have a vision of an ad touting a remedy for "Congressional dysfunction".  I sorta see Nancy and Harry (and Mitch!) gazing moonily at each other while the voice over explains that the pill lasts for 36 hours, so "when the bipartisan moment is right, you'll be ready".

But if the voting lasts more than four hours, call your doctor.

DEATH KNELL?  Barney Frank exhorts Dems to respect the process and the voters of his home state.

THERE'S STILL PLENTY OF KOOL-AID FOR THE REST OF THEM:  Jon Chait explains that since voters are really unhappy about the economy, Dems should ignore the polls, ignore Massachusetts, continue to ignore the economy, and resume their focus on healthcare. 

This passage is especially unplugged:

Abandoning health care reform after they’ve already paid whatever political cost that comes from voting for it in both houses would be suicide. Even if Coakley loses, the House could pass the Senate bill as is, avoiding the need to break a filibuster, and tinker with it in a reconciliation bill that can’t be filibustered. The only thing preventing the Democrats from following through would be sheer panic.

Well, House members have not yet voted for the Senate bill; they voted for a notably different House bill, so the political price they pay for abandoning a failed process and blaming the Senate (or the House liberals, or the House moderates) may be quite small.

Comments

[clarice]

Love the coda,TM.

[Cecil Turner]

. . . but right now about the only thing that is bipartisan in Washington is the dysfunction.

If that keeps them from spending another trillion this week, I'd consider it a feature, not a bug.

[BB Key]

I want to see a map of yesterday's results overlayed on a map of MA Congressional Districts.
This would be a good place to start getting the pronouns right in the MA delegation.

[Jack is Back!]

Frank">http://dailycaller.com/2010/01/19/pollster-frank-luntz-having-difficulting-finding-coakley-supporters-for-focus-group-on-the-eve-of-massachusetts-senate-race/'>Frank Luntz couldn't find any Coakley supporters for his focus group. He says the ones he did find, backed out. They were embarrassed to admit that they were Democrats. In Massachusetts, for God's sake.

Next, they will be like the old 'Aints fans and start wearing paper bags over their heads.

[Jack is Back!]

Can someone from Massachusetts explain to me how Coakley won the western part and Brown the eastern part including the big cities? I thought western Mass was more conservative than eastern Mass.

[Jane]

I want to see a map of yesterday's results overlayed on a map of MA Congressional Districts.

Let me know if you find one. All districts are currently represented by democrats - which you probably know. I am interviewing the two republican contenders for Richard Neal's seat on the radio over the next 2 weeks.

JIB, Coakley is from N.Adams which is the western part of the state. In addition the Berkshires are very hippy dippy. Central MA is more conservative.

I don't know if she won Suffolk county but she lost Middlesex which is a shocker as she used to be Middlesex County DA.

[bgates]

If these people were smart enough to get elected
then we're in big, big trouble, but we knew that already.

[clarice]

Hotline quoting Barney Frank:

“I think the measure that would have passed, that is, some compromise between the House and Senate bill, which I would have voted for, although there were some aspects of both bills I would have liked to see change, I think that’s dead,” Frank said in an interview Wednesday morning on Sirius-XM Radio. “It is certainly the case that the bill that would have passed, a compromise between the House and Senate bills, isn’t going to pass, in my judgment, and certainly shouldn’t. … I know some of my Democratic colleagues had been thinking about ways to, in effect, get around the results by working in various parliamentary ways, looking at the rules, trying to get a health care bill passed that would have been the same bill that would have passed if [MA AG] Martha Coakley [D] had won, and I think that’s a mistake,” Frank said. “I will not support an effort to push through a House-Senate compromise bill despite an election. I’m disappointed in how it came out, but I think electoral results have to be respected.”

[Rob Crawford]

Translation of Barney Frank's statement: "I want to stay on the gravy train."

[Jane]

Barney Frank is next to be followed by John Kerry. This is not the time to rest on our laurels.

[Steve]

"... I want to see a map of yesterday's results overlayed on a map of MA Congressional Districts. ..."

I noticed Coakley carried the western fifth of the state. I can see taking Springfield, but what is to the west of it that has so many voters for the democrats?

[DebinNC]

MA has 10 congressional districts...all represented by Dems. Eight of them went for Brown: map at LUN

[NK]

It's Dead Jim....

[Jane]

Scott is doing a good job in this press conference. He actually believes his job is to look out for MA. Hear that John Kerry?

[The Three C's, Climate, Capital, and China loom.]

So now Obama's gonna get tough? Ah, hah, hah, hah.
=========================================

[clarice]

Jane, I was thinking we should get someone to put together a kick Kerry out website which documents all his lies and arrogance.

Frank is harder..voters in his district seem to know all about him and don't care apparentl.

The Globe has a preposterous piece you can have fun with on your show--a male writer posits he's been date raed by Brown. It's the Globe in its most ridiculous idiocy.

[clarice]

**date rapd***

[Jane]

Clarice - we can put it all on You Too. I'll send you the links this afternoon.

[Cecil Turner]

It's Dead Jim....

"I'm a doctor not a miracle worker!” It's a bit early to play "Beer Trek" . . . which is too bad.

[NK]

well played Cecil...

[Data]

I do not think it is too early.

**Hic** 'Scuse me.

[clarice]

Good. Maybe we should call it pretty in Spandex of the French looking guy..

[Jean-Luc Picard]

My finest work. With Ricky Gervais.

[Porchlight]

If that keeps them from spending another trillion this week, I'd consider it a feature, not a bug.

Me, too. I heart government gridlock.

[BB Key]

Deb,
It was the map on Redstate that peaked my interest in seeing an overlay showing the Cong. Districts.
I know the Dems have probably gerrymandered the districts but with the results in central MA ,north burbs, and down toward the cape, Somebody has to be scared after yesterday . An overlay would point them out.

[Stephanie]

Interesting take on the state of the polity one year in...

Note the bio details at the bottom

LUN

[Show me the Birth Certificate.]

Heh, Mort Zuckerman is hot.
==========================

[Porchlight]

That was indeed very interesting, Stephanie. Thanks so much for the link.

I joined the author's Facebook group!

[Porchlight]

p.s. Stephanie's LUN above is great reading for those who miss GWB...

[PD]

**date rapd***

Thanks for that clearing that up. :-)

[Thomas Collins]

Obama's people are most likely sweating up a storm today. Coakley won solid victories or did well in the big city Dem strongholds (such as Boston, Worcester and Brockton), lawyer/banker/doctor/big wheel business exec/small wheel business exec who thinks he or she is a big wheel type suburbs (for example, Needham, Newton and Wellesley) and hippie Massachusetts (much of the western part of the state). Brown did best in small and medium sized business/non-lawyerdoctorbanker/high skilled blue collar parts of Massachusetts. In other words, Brown won those parts of the state that, if translated to the nation as a whole, would spell doom for Obapeloreid Government.

[Old Lurker]

...and rich, Kim, very very rich.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Durbin the Turban says that they won't take up the Bill until Brown is seated. Which sounded to these Chicago ears like he said that the SENATE won't take up the Bill, but keep your eyes on the House.

We'll see.

[centralcal]

For those of you who may remember the great blogger Dean Barnett (a true Bostonian), Noemie Emery has a piece that will bring a tear to your eye and a wide grin to your mouth.

LUN

[Melinda Romanoff]

Oh, LUN.

[Thomas Collins]

I just can't believe that Obama's folks are so stupid as to think this disaster was primarily a problem of having a poor candidate. That drivel is purely for public consumption. For example, see LUN for a description of East Bridgewater, which went 3849-1583 for Brown. Folks in East Bridgewater didn't go for Brown because he was smoother than Coakley, they went for Brown becasue they know that Obapeloreid Government means the end of the middle class.

[Porchlight]

I just don't see the House having the votes. And if they make changes and it goes back to the Senate, I don't think the Senate has the votes either, esp. by the time Brown is seated. No matter what the changes are.

The election really did shake them up - it's not the same ram-it-through environment of November and December. I am as optimistic as I've ever been at this point.

[centralcal]

Oh, and Stephanie, very cool link! I joined the group too.

[clarice]

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) has joined Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) in warning leaders not to try to push a revised health care reform bill through the Senate before newly elected Republican Scott Brown arrives. McCaskill said Wednesday morning that the agenda is "going too far, too fast" and that it would be a "huge mistake" for Democrats to force a vote on a new bill in the Senate before the new senator from
Massachusetts is seated.

(I am sorry I captured this a while ago, got called away and forget the wource. I think it is politico.)

[Melinda Romanoff]

Another keeper!

"wource"

Thanks. clarice!

[Porchlight]

clarice,

They are secretly really really relieved Brown was elected. As predicted he will be their escape hatch from this debacle.

[Rick Ballard]

"they went for Brown becasue they know that Obapeloreid Government means the end of the middle class."

TC,

I'd say 'in part'. Another very large part has to do with the Kendonesian Marxianist's promise of openness and seeking bipartisan consensus. The fact that he is as inept a liar as he is an executive has become glaringly apparent. He's obviously a hostage to Ayers/Axelrod and his future is no brighter than Deval Patrick's.

Happy Anniversary, Mr. President.

[Janet]

Yeah thanks Stephanie for the link. I have great admiration for W.

[clarice]

Mel,pd..just wait till my new MAC is here and set up!!
I wonder how long it will take me to screw upmaster that format.

[Porchlight]

Happy Anniversary, Mr. President.

Isn't it glorious how thanks to Scott Brown and the people of MA, we are spared all the anniversary drivel today? Just think what it would have been if HCR had passed and the SOTU was imminent. Pukebox.

[Thomas Collins]

Rick, I agree that's another part of it. And national security is also a crucial part. In Needham, Wellesley and Newton, it's fine with many folks to treat terrorists under the regular criminal justice system. In East Bridgewater, Abington, Braintree and Weymouth, for lots of folks, the problem with the KSM interrogation method was that a litle water around the nostrils was too tame an approach.

[sbw]

Our representative in New York announced today that he could not vote for the Senate health care bill as it stands.

[Janet]

So now the Dems. are all concerned that the far left has seized their party? Where have they been? Van Jones...ACORN...Kevin Jennings...Obama!

Really, the Dems. have the sickest cast of characters I have ever seen.

[PD]

I wonder how long it will take me

We have full confidence in you.

[narciso]

And I'd suggest Southie, anyone know what were
the returns from there. Probably what Renee
did on '24, to the Russian gangster is more their style. Yes it's over the top, and excessively brutal

[Rob Crawford]

Isn't it glorious how thanks to Scott Brown and the people of MA, we are spared all the anniversary drivel today?

Did you hear what Obama got for the first anniversary of his presidency?

A Republican senator from Massachusetts!

[centralcal]

LOL, Rob.

[clarice]

Thanks,pd. Fellow badgers and all......
Stealing that, Rob..

[fdcol63]

I think Americans are telling Obama this:

We wanted change, but not "transformational change". Just improve what we have, incrementally.

[fdcol63]

What did Obama get for his 1st anniversary?

Neutered.

[Porchlight]

That's great, Rob.

The people at my morning work meeting were NOT in a good mood. They said Brown just bought the election with all the money he raised. So that's how to elect Republicans in deep blue states, just spend lots of money! Why didn't we think of it before?

[caro]

A Mac for Clarice! Cool.
Your lovable typos are due to your mind working faster than your fingers. And that is a good thing.

Rob, LOL me,too.

[clarice]

That's exceedingly kind, Caro.

[glasater]

Ezra Klein is tweeting the D's to watch this video...twice:

Animal House - Bluto's Inspiration Speech

[pagar]

"the Dems. have the sickest cast of characters I have ever seen."

Obama has lost another of the sickest of his nominees,thanks almost single handedly to Sen DeMint
who also played a role in Sen Brown's win.

"TSA Nominee, Nutjob Erroll Southers, Ranting about Christian Identity Terrorist Groups"

[glasater]

A very lovely rendition of our National Anthem by the Boston Pops and:

Ayla Brown

[maryrose]

Porchlight, I agree with you 100% I believe every Dem wants a way out of this debacle they call healthcare. Except for Pelosi-she's deranged on the subject.

[clarice]

Is Ezra looking for another "futile and stupid gesture"?

[caro]

glasater, thanks. I was sorry that they didn't go to Ayla performing on stage last night. I could see her rocking in the background.

Priceless Reagan,too.

[Jane]

She sang R_E_S_P_E_C_T at the rally I went to.

She has a great set of pipes.

[narciso]

It would seem so, Clarice, then again it just
begs to be a title for a book about this administration, or subtitle

[Jack is Back!]

A Mac for Clarice! Cool.

Welcome to the "dark side". I have been a Mac user since I was able to get away from corporate life which is chained to PC. Being a right-wing religious gun nut living outside the meglomaniatropilis of BostonNewYorkDC using a Mac is like wearing brown shoes with a white dinner jacket.

Watch as your usual spam just disappears overnight. You do get spam but the Mac spam filter is a much tighter sieve than a PC.

Enjoy!

[Jack is Back!]

glasater,

She is one big (tall) girl. The long shot of her in the shell reminded me of the blue-heroine in Avatar.

[bio mom]

Obama just told George Steph. in an interview taped today that Congress should NOT have any votes until Brown is seated and that health care should not be rammed down, or something to that effect. Guess he got the message and will now triangulate.

[Dave (in MA)]

On a local sports station the main topic this morning was the election, not sports. One of the hosts pointed out that it was only about 2 months ago that Scott Brown was the 3rd most famous person in his household.

[Porchlight]

Guess he got the message and will now triangulate.

I'm not sure, bio mom. The first part of his statement about Brown was unequivocal - he knows it's too risky to vote something through before Brown is seated (and probably not possible anyway).

But right after that, he said this:

"I think point number two is that it is very important to look at the substance of this package and for the American people to understand that a lot of the fear mongering around this bill isn't true," Obama said.

That suggests to me that he thinks it's just a "packaging" problem. I think he wants to forge ahead just as planned, he's just trying to give the *appearance* of slowing down so people will relax and stop paying attention. Axelrod-think.

We'll see if Congress will go along with him.

[Sue]

bio mom,

In the same interview he said this:

"Here's my assessment of not just the vote in Massachusetts, but the mood around the country: the same thing that swept Scott Brown into office swept me into office," the president said in an exclusive interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos. "People are angry and they are frustrated. Not just because of what's happened in the last year or two years, but what's happened over the last eight years."

It's Bush's fault that Brown was elected. Who said that would be the headline last night? You are the winner!

[Jane]

Guess he got the message and will now triangulate.

I think he is going to splatter. He couldn't bear to triangulate. He'd be afraid people might forget he is God.

[clarice]

IsraelNN.com) Munich airport was closed after a passenger's personal computer was found to contain explosive material. After the explosives were discovered, the passenger managed to escape. All flights have been canceled and the airport closed.

and speaking of terrorism Blair and Mueller both testified today that the agents on the ground decided on their own to treat the underpants bomber as a criminal suspect rather than an enemy combatant--and this right after the Fort Hood massacre.Get that? There's no protocol in place to deal with these matters.
There's no "we" in Congress and no intelligence in our intelligence operations.

[Dave (in MA)]

Can someone from Massachusetts explain to me how Coakley won the western part and Brown the eastern part including the big cities? I thought western Mass was more conservative than eastern Mass.

It's not that simple. The Berkshires area and the northwest part of the state are extremely lefty. Amherst is where flying the American flag is considered a terrorist act and a hate crime, remember. Coakley won with a pretty good margin in all of the larger cities, but the turnout in the suburbs was high and the turnout in the cities was low. Brown took most of the suburbs, but the MetroWest moonbat belt (where I work) went for Coakley.

[glasater]

On the map of the western part of the state there is one lonely patch of red surrounded by a massive amount of blue.
Did I miss an explanation here?

So glad folks enjoyed Ayla with the Boston Pops. What a combo:)

[I Won]

Let me be frank here. I may have been less than successful in getting my message out to the American people. My second year will feature twice as many health insurance speeches.

[Jack is Back!]

Dave,

I forgot how close Bennington is to northwest Mass. Once you understand Vermont I guess its easier to understand western Mass. Thanks for the lesson.

[Dave (in MA)]

glasater, if you look at the final results on the NYT site, that town (Hawley, pop. 336) is no longer shaded either red or blue. Brown and Coakley each recieved 63 votes.

[Dave (in MA)]

Currently circulating among the despondent Coakley voters:

Towns that voted for Brown closely correlate to towns that NetFlixed Paul Blart: Mall Cop. http://yfrog.com/33n2twj http://yfrog.com/1egilaj

Elitist much?

[Dave (in MA)]

I would reword that to: Towns that surround the Burlington Mall where Paul Blart: Mall Cop was filmed want to see their shopping center in the movies.

[glasater]

Thanks Dave. I've never been to the NE part of the country and have no knowledge of the lay of the land:)

[MikeS]

Republican's should press the advantage on health care while they have it. I would like to see Repubs amplify their claim to "incremental" health reform by offering some bills.

A bill to make health the cost of insurance deductible when purchased by individuals would be the first on my list. I'd like to see another to permit interstate competition of insurance companies and another to reduce malpractice awards.

Those might not go anywhere still, but it would make the public aware of all the reasonable proposals that were ignored by the Dem controlled Congress.

[anduril]

Iowahawk: Do No Blame Me.

[MarkJ]

"Jon Chait explains that since voters are really unhappy about the economy, Dems should ignore the polls, ignore Massachusetts, continue to ignore the economy, and resume their focus on healthcare."

Question of the Day: Who do you think Jonathan Chait resembles most?

Thelma? Or Louise?

"Ramming speed, damn yer eyes!" bellowed Cap'n Jonathan as the U.S.S. Chait hurtled off the edge of Niagra Falls into the foamy maelstrom below....

[cathyf]

Ok, this is not really on topic, but given the post title I had to share a slogan from a sign near my sister-in-law's house:

THERE IS NO I IN TEAM
BUT THERE ARE 4 IN
PLATITUDE SPOUTING IDIOT

[JM Hanes]

JiB:

"Can someone from Massachusetts explain to me how Coakley won the western part and Brown the eastern part including the big cities? I thought western Mass was more conservative than eastern Mass."

Actually, Coakley did win the urban east, taking Boston and the deep blue burbs. I was a little surprised that Brown took Weston though.

Out west, you've not only got the NY/CT/VT corridor, you've got all the eastern libs who retire to the Berkshires. There's Northamption, which is a bigtime college town, and on Dave's map, that blue island in a sea of red is Springfield -- which you'll note is practically in Connecticut.

I'm not as surprised as some that Brown took the Cape. I had a great aunt in East Sandwich, and I suspect what old guard remains (both blue & white collar) still despises the Kennedy clan as much as she did.

[Porchlight]

Tee hee cathyf. That plus Iowahawk makes a nice end to the work day.

Or should I say "work" day. Pretty soon I am going to have to get back to all the stuff I started blowing off a week ago when Scott Brown started to surge in the polls.

[cathyf]

Watch as your usual spam just disappears overnight. You do get spam but the Mac spam filter is a much tighter sieve than a PC.

You have to train the macmail spam filter, though. Every time a piece of spam comes in you have to highlight it and hit the "Junk" button. I had a problem where my teachers were just deleting the spam without marking it as junk and so they were still getting lots of it.

[Ignatz]

--There Is No "We" In "House of Representatives"--

No, but I bet there's plenty of wee wee in the White House today.

[clarice]

Thnx for the tip, cathy

[JM Hanes]

cathyf:

It's also a good idea to turn off the filter when starting out, or just have it indicate suspected spam without deleting it. At the beginning, Mail was assuming that messages from people that I hadn't written first, and who weren't yet in my address book, were spam. Took awhile to catch up.

[clarice]

Apparently, that Thelma & Louise notion resides largely in the heads of the leftward pundits. Most of the people in Congress seem for some peculiar notions not to be listening to them.

[clarice]

Hmmjmh, I'll see if I can figure out how o do that.

[JM Hanes]

I just noticed that John King is slated for a 7:00 PM slot at CNN, which is welcome news. Back during the elections, he was about the only real pro worth listening to on Blitzer's "Best Political Team Evah." I just wish he were taking over for Campbell Brown.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

She has a great set of...

I'll say!

... pipes.

Oh.

That too.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Let me be frank here. I may have been less than successful in getting my message out to the American people. My second year will feature twice as many health insurance speeches.

In other words, the beatings will continue.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Yep, good pipes. Not an amazing range — she had to dig pretty deep in the bucket to be able to have the money notes in her strong range. But nice rich dark voice.

[JM Hanes]

clarice:

You can do that in your Junk Mail preferences. Something else that a lot of people don't realize the wisdom of doing in your Viewing prefs, is to deselect "Display Remote Images in HTML messages." Whenever an image stored on a server somewhere else is uploaded for viewing in your email, it's a signal to the sender that they've hit an active email account. There's a button you can click at the top of a message you're looking at that will "load images" after you decide you trust the source. Declining remote images doesn't affect other images, like photos that people actually send you in a message or attachments.

[Extraneus]

Will the Republicans be dumb enough to start making deals with Obama to pass legislation?

If they stick together, like they did on the stimulus and health care, they'll be rewarded in November, but are they truly smart enough to understand this?

41 votes aren't much better than 40 with senators like Collins, Snowe, etc. This game isn't over by a long shot.