President’s Day Message: Special Comment by my 72-year-old friend

By GottaLaff

My impassioned 72-year-old Twitter pal, who goes by the name 42bkdodgr, would like to share his feelings about Evan Bayh's announcement not to seek re-election. I am more than happy to oblige.

But first, a personal note from 42bkdodgr:

Many of you may wonder why I chose to use the “ 72 year old friend” as the introduction to my Special Comments. I selected the moniker so readers could see that from my age and life experiences I give a different perspective to the issues of today.

Now for his Special Comment:

President’s Day Message

One has to wonder why Sen. Evan Bayh, chose President’s Day to announce that he wouldn’t be seeking re-election in 2010. I believe he is trying to send this country a message. He gives two examples of why he isn’t seeking re-election and they should be of concern for all Americans.

Sen. Bayh cited two instances (1) the failure of the Senate to pass a bill on how to resolve the country’s growing deficit and debt problems (which was co-sponsored by seven Republicans but was eventually defeated when all seven voted no after President Obama came out in favor of the bill), and (2) the inability to pass a meaningful jobs bill which fell apart from complaints by both the left and the right.

Sen. Bayh’s decision not to seek re-election, who didn’t seem to have the problem of getting re-elected, can cut both ways. It can finally awaken all Americans that this mired, partisan, dysfunctional government has to end to get the country moving forward in the 21st century... or it will encourage the Republicans and their far right members to continue their policy of NO and obstructionism.

The partisan politics we are seeing will only drive more moderate legislators away from seeking re-election and will discourage those who maybe thinking about running for Congress.

Should this partisanship continue, I believe this country will move further to the right and toward a Christian Conservative theocracy form of government.

One need only to read this article and my Special Comment to get an idea where this country maybe headed.

Sen. Bayh has sent us a very important President’s Day message, I can only hope America and our Congress are listening to his message and start getting this country moving into the 21st century.

Many thanks again for another thoughtful, relevant piece, 42bkdodgr. You often say what many of us are thinking and feeling, and we thank you for your unique perspective.

Six Republicans Vote Against Bill They Sponsored

Doing things that make no sense just for partisan political gain? Never!

Mike Allen: "Who would co-sponsor a bill, and then vote against it? Six Republican senators would -- almost the exact margin of defeat Tuesday for a plan endorsed by President Barack Obama that would have formed a task force on the deficit to try to force tough choices on Congress."

Marc Ambinder: "Most Republicans opposed the bill on the grounds that it was little more than a way for President Obama to bolster his deficit-fighting resume. Six Republicans who supported an identical measure voted NAY this time, including two Republicans who don't want to give any ammunition their primary opponents. John McCain -- JOHN McCAIN -- voted no. Why? Hard to say."

The most partisan and bipartisan House members

I wrote up this list in the Senate last month, now we have the House determinations. There's alot more detail at the link, but here's the list. I find it interesting that Senator Dodd was the only Senator to make the partisan/bipartisan list in the Senate, and Barney Frank is only one to make both lists in the House.

Most partisan Democrats

1. Nancy Pelosi (Calif.)

2. Henry Waxman (Calif.)

3. John Conyers Jr. (Mich.)

4. Barney Frank (Mass.)

5. Jim McDermott (Wash.)


Most partisan Republicans

1. Tom Price (Ga.)

2. Virginia Foxx (N.C.)

3. Jeb Hensarling (Texas)

4. Patrick McHenry (N.C.)

5. Michele Bachmann (Minn.)


Most bipartisan Democrats (listed alphabetically)

Neil Abercrombie (Hawaii)

Rick Boucher (Va.)

Bill Delahunt (Mass.)

Barney Frank (Mass.)

Steny Hoyer (Md.)

Jim Oberstar (Minn.)

Collin Peterson (Minn.)

Ike Skelton (Mo.)

Gene Taylor (Miss.)

Ed Towns (N.Y.)


Most bipartisan Republicans (listed alphabetically)

Judy Biggert (Ill.)

Bob Inglis (S.C.)

Walter Jones (N.C.)

Steven LaTourette (Ohio)

John McHugh (N.Y.)

John Mica (Fla.)

Ron Paul (Texas)

Lee Terry (Neb.)

Fred Upton (Mich.)

Bill Young (Fla.)

Poll-itics: Independents Not Turned Off By Partisanship

By GottaLaff

Hey, whatever turns you, um, not off...

The poll finds that there’s been a sharp drop in the number of Independents who see the parties as working together. Only one-fourth of Indys say this, a big tumble from the 49% who said this in January.

Despite this, however, approval of Obama among independents has held steady, and approval of Congress among them has jumped substantially. A solid majority of 56% of independents approve of Obama’s performance. And 47% of independents approve of Congress’ performance, up 15 points since January.

I don’t want to conclude too much from this. But it’s pretty hard to reconcile numbers like these with the claim that partisanship is a “turnoff” to those much-discussed Indy voters.

House Repubicans Extend Olive Branch, because, see, Democrats didn't

By GottaLaff

First Orrin Hatch, and now this? What's ... happening...? Does... not... compute:

"House Republicans have invited President-elect Barack Obama to speak before the entire GOP conference, hoping to set a different tone to the partisan wars of the last two years in which congressional Democrats battled President Bush," the Washington Post reports.

Obama is expected to attend the House Democratic retreat in early February.

Oh, but it's the Dems who battled Georgie that caused all that animosity. Nothing the Republicans did was combative, like say, umm, oh, darn...what's that word again? Oh yeah: Filibuster. Yeah, nothing they did, nothing BushCo did, none of that created a toxic atmosphere at all.

And don't even start me on the Clinton years.

Why Republicans want to keep us uneducated

By GottaLaff

Timing is everything. I just mentioned this down thread, and whaddya know, it pops up again. That means it must be important:

The Cook Political Report mines voting and census data and finds that "in the past decade, the most significant predictor of a county's shift in partisan preference has not been existing partisanship, or even income. It is level of educational attainment. Democrats have gained ground in places where those with at least a bachelor's degree comprise high shares of the electorate, and have seen their fortunes fade elsewhere."

The trend line in the nation's 3114 counties: "Each year, the Democratic candidate performed progressively better as shares of degree-holders rose."

No Democrat left behind.