I did not think anything positive would come out of Congress, but I let my hope get the best of me for a second or two. I did think the way the democrats caved was embarrassing, but they did put up a fight with only a bare majority in the Senate and a hostile president.

Considering the present political environment the bill is the best in substantive work to be hoped for. It could be an important victory later down the road. The democrats did fold, but only after matching the republicans obstruction with some brinkmanship. By showing some backbone when the democrats are still weak, they are sending a message about what will happen later when they are in a strong position.  

Couldn't the Democrats shut down Congress by just saying to the Republicans... you have a choice... allow us to pass some of the legislation that polls clearly indicate the American people want or nothing -- absolutely NOTHING -- will move out of commitee? The Democrats would, of course, have to have the courage to hold press conferences clearly explaining what Republicans are preventing them from doing. What's the point of ensuring a Democrat gets elected in a given district if they never stand up for legislation they believe in?!

http://ffrf.org/day/

wiscidea wrote...

"What's the point of ensuring a Democrat gets elected in a given district if they never stand up for legislation they believe in?!"

For example, they could end the war in Iraq by simply not including it in any budget. End of story. The President can't propose legislation. The Senate can't propose legislation. Everything passes through a House committee, I think.

Hey Democrats!!! Time to do what the people asked for or get out of the way and let another Democrat take your place in 2008... or whenever you are up for re-election! Why aren't Democrats running against incumbents -- there ARE primaries, even when there is a popular incumbent -- who aren't t doing their job. Time to say to sitting politicians, you're job is not secure. I would really like to see some Greens join the Democratic Party and run against the spineless vermin currently sitting in Washington. Hey Greens... take back the Democratic Party for the American people!

http://ffrf.org/day/

Impatient people have short minds. Maybe we should ask Newt Gingrich how well the "shut down the government" strategy worked.  In the long run, it was a very big mistake. The Congress looked bad and Clinton could complain.

Maybe Kerry is right.

It is the one strategy that could do the impossible... make Bush look Presidential.

Wes Rolley CoChair - EcoAction Committee Green Party US

All this talk about Dems "standing up" and showing "backbone" is a bit ... fuzzy. It's not like if they just held their breath and stomped the floor they could magically force the bill through. They didn't have the votes to get cloture. That left them one option: a filibuster. The procedural stuff around this is arcane and I don't fully understand it, but my understanding is that to sustain an actual filibuster, like you see in the movies, where Senators camp out on the floor and debate for hours, the Dems would need a majority (51 heads) in D.C., for repeated votes. That means Clinton, Obama, Dodd, and Biden would all have to stay in D.C. rather than campaign in Iowa. It also means, in all likelihood, that no budget bill would get passed by the end of the year, and the federal government would shut down.

Now, they could have done that. But it would be all out war, a really huge, huge deal, and there's a very good chance that they would have come out of it looking bad -- and making Bush look presidential. Maybe so, maybe not, but would you bet your political future on it? It quite possibly could have lost them some seats in 2008, which is when most of the stuff people really want actually has a chance of passing.

Anyway, it's a little bit more complicated than "try harder." The thermonuclear war option was the only option on the table, and we shouldn't underestimate the risk it would have involved.

grist.org

I promise to pay it back in 50 years' time.

   As much as I hate to say it, Kerry is almost right.  As long as the Democrats are wedded to the current system, they can't beat the Republican Minority and President Bush.

   But notice, when the Democrats where in the minority, they weren't willing to force the Republicans to give them what they wanted by threatening to filibuster.  

    Oops!!!  Why not??

   That is the real problem.  The right is willing to fight for what it wants, but the center-right mainly wants power, so is not willing to take any risks.

    Alas, this not only makes people angry, it allows the right to go home and chest thump to their constituents, and may actually harm the Democrats chances of making gains.

    This is why they always lose the "toughness" battle.

    The other problem the Democrats have is that they don't push their members to be more supportive of the majority.  The Rethuglicans had no qualms about threatening members who don't tow the line.  The Democrats have nothing but qualms.

    And it is tough to negotiate when the other side knows you will always give in.

patrick in Beijing

As usual, a great (and encapsulating) post.  

Although, I will say, I am disgusted that campaigning on one day is more important than showing up for work and voting a positive bill into law (potentially).

www.NoPunProductions.com ~ AmericaTheGreen.org

The inability of the Democrats to stand up to the Republicans is appalling to me. This is not about backbone, its about survival. If there is one issue that the Dems should filibuster, this is it. If shutting down the government turns out to be the only way to pressure republicans to vote for this bill, then they should be more than ready to do it. What the democrats really need is good PR, to tell the American people the reasons that the federal government is shutting down, why our climate has been heating up unrestrained, and why the war keeps on raging on.

I am so tired of petty politics. This week has deeply radicalized me, between the utter failures at Bali and in the Senate, I am losing faith in our political system. Our current system is a game of patience, and under normal circumstances, I would be happy to work within it and mediate. Unfortunately patience is just another thing that our atmosphere is running out of. If we don't radically change the way we use energy within the next few years the whole world will pay for the inability of the democrats to shake things up for something they supposedly believe in.

Focus the Nation on January 31st 2008

There is nothing that could be passed with this congress or president that would be that much of an aid to lowering fossil fuel usage.

The real possibilities are with the next president and the next congress.  We just have to ready then.

The democrats had a weak hand and played it as strong as they could. They sent a message to the republicans in congress and the president that they are going to aggressively push the pro-environmental agenda.

Things are going slow in the congress and nowhere with the president, but that will change in 2008. Lots of progress is being made in the federal courts which is a big deal because these rulings sidestep the obstructionist republicans.

Julia Bovey's post on NRDC Switchboard brings up a really important thing to remember: the democratic politicians and environmentalists are on the same aide. Lets not hurt our efforts by fighting with our allies.

So the dude who lost an election against the worst president in US history says not to filibuster.  Maybe in bizarro world that kind of approach works, but wake up this isn't friggin kindergarten anymore.  

The difference is that Newt was on the wrong side of the issues.  It makes you wonder if the Senatorial Dems actually believe in the legislation or not.  It's easier to abandon if you don't.  

Make those old crooked Republican farts put on some gdamned Depends (not the lite version they normally wear) and read the f-ing phone book.  Put on the full-court media press.  Show some gdamned backbone.  

The country is in desperate need of a Constitutional Convention and I would like to see Grist establish a "running open" forum on this issue.

Many so-called democrats (who call themselves centrists) are republicans in democratic clothing and do not represent the traditional values (FDR) of the democratic party ..... they are not advocates for the common man.
   They are "plants" financed by the corporations. By supporting willing candidates from both parties, they are hedging their bets and the people are betrayed.
   The interests of the corporations at this time, when corporations see themselves not as americans but as international businesses, are de facto counter to the interests of american workers.
   You can recognize these democratic plants by the large amount of funds they receive by the mega corporations.
   They should be shamed and expunged from the democratic party. Since they are republicans, they should run as such.
   They are traitors to the democratic party and the american people.    

"We Have Found the Enemy and It Is Us" ... Pogo

The problem with politics today is not as much that there is corporate and business money in politics, but that there is not enough `common person' money in it.

Some people blame the problems with Florida's election in 2000 as the reason Bush became president instead of Al Gore.  But a larger factor was that Bush got 190 million dollars in campaign money from his supporters and Gore got 130 million, 60 million less.

If all the adults in my state decided to give 1000 dollars a person to presidential candidates, my state would decide who becomes president.

It's not that businesses invest to much, but that other people don't invest enough.

What are we willing to do if we think that the planet is in trouble of being a hot planet for our children and grandchildren?  Have we done enough?

Truthfully the title was meant to be corporations or business.  Although 'Corpartions of business' would have been more interesting if I could have figured out what that is.