Political Commentary, Space

In Which I Agree With Robert Gibbs

6 Comments

Dick Shelby is being as despicable as any Democrat. If the Republicans were smart, they’d have him stand down. But there’s a reason they’re called the Stupid Party.

[Friday evening update]

For those unfamiliar with his (Democrat) past, it’s useful to know that he was once dinged as “Porker Of The Month.”

Again, if the Republicans are incapable of disciplining this kind of thing, what is the point in even having a party, or principles thereof? Did they learn nothing from Ted Stevens?

6 thoughts on “In Which I Agree With Robert Gibbs”

  1. I liked Jon Chait’s take:

    Many of the changes in American politics over the past three decades have involved the two parties slowly doing away with social norms that preventing them from using every tool at their disposal. The Senate minority could filibuster every single bill the majority proposed, but you just didn’t do that, until you did. You could use a House-Senate conference to introduce completely new provisions into a bill, but you just didn’t do that, until you did.

    …

    Shelby is using his blanket hold to demand pork for his state. It’s a telling sign of the decay of the process, another indication of the power parochial interests have to block rational policymaking. But what’s to keep the minority party form simply blocking all the president’s nominees, from day one? Sure, they might catch some heat. But the president would eventually catch even more heat as his undermanned administration slid into dysfunction. And politics is a zero-sum game.

    That may sound like a crazy scenario. But history shows that you can’t count on social norms to prevent competing parties from trying to maximize their advantage. The only way to change this kind of behavior is to change the rules.

    We need, if not abolition of the Senate, at least Senate rule reform.

  2. Shelby used to be a Democrat, until he switched parties in ’95. If the Stupid Party is successful this November, one of the things they’ve got to do is say to any Dems who want to do a similar switch: “Too late, deal with it.”

  3. Let’s start by saying that yes, Shelby is despicable (or even beyond despicable) for holding 70 or so appointments hostage to his desire for pork.

    With that said, the appropriate solution here is for both the GOP and the Democracts in the Senate to make it clear to him that there WILL be consequences, and then to spell out those consequences publicly to the people of the Alabama. I am no fan of the Obama administration, and while I am quite happy to see many of these appointments not taking place (in an abstract sense), the president has EVERY RIGHT to expect timely action from the Senate here, and EVERY RIGHT to the outrage that I am sure that he feels. Rand is dead on target, if the GOP had an ounce of brains, they would rush as a body to support Obama here…it is good PR, but more importantly, it is the right thing to do.

    With reference to Jim’s comment about the need to change Senate rules, I can only see this as (yet another) attempt by the Dems to do away with those rules (=filibuster) that they find inconvenient at this time. Note that a few years back (when the GOP controlled the Senate), the filibuster was an essential tool to protect us from tyranny, while now it is simply an impediment. Keep he rules in place (they serve useful functions as the last 5 years should have taught BOTH sides of the aisle), but try enforcing some discipline against the miscreants on BOTH sides who abuse them.

  4. the appropriate solution here is for both the GOP and the Democrats in the Senate to make it clear to him that there WILL be consequences

    Never happen. To Senators, “consequences” is a four-letter word.

  5. Sadly, I agree with you McGehee, but this doesn’t invalidate the underlying concept.

    The problem now is that given how close the margins are in the Senate, there is a practical limit to what can be done with/to Shelby. I am not defending this on a philisophical level, but it is a practical consideration.

    Yet another reason that a series of severe Democractic defeats in November will be a good thing for the country…

  6. (1) Shelby is just doing what every good politician does when his party is out of power to bring home money to his constituents so I’m less than outraged by his maneuvering. (2) When Obama is presenting budgets with $1.6 Trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye can see the shenanigans of a minority party Senator pale in comparison. In brief, what Shelby is doing is down in the noise. This is the smoke-and-mirrors part of the smoke and mirrors parlor game the Democrats are playing to make us forget about the freaking beam in their own eye.

    Finally, at this point it no longer matters what Shelby does. The Social Security Trust fund dipped into the red this year, 9 years before it was projected to. It’s NOT COMING BACK UP FOR AIR. They’re not going to admit it for awhile but the United States is bankrupt: The Treasury is empty and the only thing keeping us going is our ability to borrow money from overseas. When that spigot runs dry the country goes belly up. It will take a few years but default on the Debt is inevitable at this point. This is a much bigger problem than pork *thimble* spending.

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