Tweet
Trapped!
D-Day has a suggestion on how to remove one less Republican ego from the stimulus bill equation:
[T]he Senate can help themselves by immediately confirming Judd Gregg for Commerce Secretary. Gregg is now recusing himself from all recovery package votes, which is the same as a no vote under the circumstances. Confirming him would reduce the number of Senators to 98, which would mean only 59 votes would be needed for passage. It reduces the moderates needed to eat the shit sandwich by one. If Bonnie Newman then came to the Senate to be seated, she could be blocked unless Al Franken is seated in a compromise action, which would get us 59 Democratic Senators and again keep the number of moderate squishes needed to one. I have no idea why Harry Reid isn’t doing this. If he’s afraid of Republican bleating he could schedule the Gregg vote immediately before the final vote on recovery and shock doctrine them.
It’s a great idea. Unfortunately, Minnesota law says that until all legal contests are settled there can be no certification of Franken by the Secretary of State. And even though the claim that the Senate has no precedent for seating someone without one is bogus, that’s the principle that Dick Durbin and Harry Reid were clinging to when they didn’t want to seat Roland Burris. In fact, Reid encouraged Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White not to sign Burris’s certification so he could expressly use it as a reason not to seat Burris.
Cornyn instantly concurred, and said that "There will be no way that people on our side of the aisle will agree to seat any Senator provisionally unless a certificate of election has been signed" — and threatened to filibuster any attempt to seat Franken.
Now Cornyn would have done that anyway, but Reid lost his ability fight him on it by ceding Cornyn’s central premise. If he were to try and seat Franken now without certification, not only would he get himself a GOP filibuster for his efforts, the sideshow would be used to derail or stall the stimulus bill itself.
It was a good idea. If somebody had been able to ascertain that Newman would support the bill before appointing her to the seat (I’m assuming if Gregg has the right to demand a Republican replacement, Lynch is entitled to inquire about their political views), we might not be stuck in this bizarre World According To Susan Collins.
56 Comments
Support this site!
Subscribe to the newsletter
Advertise on Firedoglake
Send
us your tips
Make us your homepage
About Firedoglake
That stomach ad on the sidebar is grossing me out.
Isn’t a Cornyn something people used to get on their feet?
use lynx!
Why doesn’t Obama ask Gregg to vote, and in favor of the stimulus. Although Krugman thinks it’s really bad.
I mean, is he going to be on Obama’s team or not? WTF?
What happens if the MN Supreme Court rules that Franken should get his certificate immediately, as they are now deliberating on? I expect the GOP five year-olds to still complain it’s illegitimate, since the GOP is damned and determined to keep Franken out of the Senate as long as possible. Definitely until after they kill any real hope of an economic recovery bill from passing.
hee hee
The idea of Harry Reid “shock-doctrining” anyone except maybe his cat is ludicrous. Has D-Day paid attention to The Olde Boxer the past two years?
No need to rush Judd Gregg. Let’s take this nice and slow. Solis slow, actually.
The mere fact that John Cornyn is in a position of authority in the Republican Party should scare people. I believe he has amply demonstrated his credentials as a radical loudmouth. As an added bonus, the man is a complete moron and it is said that complete morons are somewhat of a rarity. Recent events notwithstanding…
Yeah, the idea of a recusal is really lame. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of it before. New Hampshire citizens ought to get organized against it.
Oh, look:
Doesn’t Cornyn have Abramoff business, like Judd Gregg’s former legislative director does?
Judd Gregg: “I am the law.”
Dugg right here; please join me!
Dugg.
Sometimes I just don’t get Obama.
Digg Is Now Open!
Nope. It’s a company in New York that has just announced a humongous layoff.
And may I add that this Minnesotan apologizes to the nation for having more or less elected six years ago an asshat who now is a total impediment to the legislative process? That’d be you, Normie.
i dunno, schwarzenegger/palin 1212 looks like a hawt ticket to me.
Never mind go with Teddy’s Digg(:>))
here ya go:
http://i16.photobucket.com/alb…..T00035.gif
Jane, this is the piece you were, I am sure reluctantly, waiting to write… The unfortunate but predictable downstream effects of spineless, useless and obtuse “leadership” of the Dems.
You called it.
Perfect! Thanks.
Democratic Leadership has been a self-contradictory term for so long it feels normal.
Republican leadership may be repulsive, hypocritical and downright criminal at times.
But there is leadership.
What kinda maroon gets out-manoeuvered by the likes of Bohner and Cornyn?
Our kinda maroon, that’s what kind.
And here’s one for you.
i needed that. thanks barb
lol!~
And to think, it was elective surgery on Dem. leadership’s part…
Good question. It is my understanding that Franken’s argument to the MN Supreme Court is that he is entitled to be certified based on the Minnesota statute. This statute Minn. Stat. sec. 209.07 states: “When the court decides an election contest for any office other than state senator or state representative, and the time for appeal has expired or, in case of an appeal, if the contestant succeeds in the contest, the court may invalidate and revoke any election certificate which has been issued to the contestee.” Franken is arguing that this implies that he may be certified as the winner pending an election contest. Even though it’s just Franken’s argument, the MN Supreme Court could very well agree with it. I’m puzzled by Jane’s post which asserts Minnesota law to be to the contrary.
Talking Points Memo ran a good piece Thursday about this.
AND they’ve got the belly fat ad as a header!
I was somewhat grossed out by this ad as well !!
To take a slightly different tack at the problem: Has it occurred to the Legislature or the People of Minnesota to consider amending or clarifying their election law in order to get past Norm’s infinite-asshattery plan and actually, y’know, have two Senators sometime in this lifetime? Representation delayed is representation denied.
belly fat ad is, unfortunately, all over the internets. Obscenity!
For this very reason, I am assuming that they don’t, or have yet to finalize a decision, or are stayed from doing so by conflicting case law. Has the time for appeal expired? Can Franken claim that he has “succeeded?”. I am really asking.
And “…the court may…” would seem to leave it to the wind.
Firefox with AdBlock Plus takes care of it nicely.
I’ve been wondering the same thing! But surely they’ve thought of that, so I’m assuming (dangerous) that there’s a compelling reason not to do it. The problem is, if Al is waiting for this to absolutely, undeniably, irrevocably, certifiably correct, the nation suffers on. He’s pressing for certification, though, even if it’s only temporary, as I understand it.
If you are using FF you can add ADblock and you don’t have to see all the ads. excepting KOS who require you to see the ads or you don’t get in the door, but it is very easy to configure Adblock to allow certain sites to show their ads and not the rest.
Well if Gregg can insist that he won’t accept the spot unless a Republican fills his spot to “balance” the caucus in Congress…then can’t the Governor make the same argument with regard to WHEN he appoints NEWMAN? That he will officially issue her appointment letter when the Governor of Minnesota issues the certificate of election to the winner of the election as confirmed by the Minnesota Board of Elections.
Or perhaps he can offer a compromise…both appointments will be made on an “interim” basis.
Hell with “can’t see around corners.” This Senate leadership can’t find… oh, hell, there’s absolutely nothing they can sniff out anywhere except ready cash. Really, we need better Senate Democrats.
Keeping in mind, of course, that FDL gets paid for those ads, and resulting clicks… or so I assume.
Minneapolis Star Tribune re Franken certification et al.
Reid is corrupt; he uses his position to make lots of money, especially on land deals. He devotes a lot of his time to enriching himself and his sons. It does explain a lot of what he does, or doesn’t do.
http://sweetness-light.com/arc…..-didnt-own
http://www.americanthinker.com…..story.html
Maybe DNC or somebody should dump another heaping pile of money on the legal fund there and get ‘er done faster.
Expecting Harry Reid to do anything requiring a spine is like expecting the Rethugs to suddenly begin acting in the best interests of the country – ain’t gonna happen!
Shock doctrine? Dream on…
Re: belly fat images, I click the middle button on the top bar so the window isn’t full-screen, then adjust the window size to cut out the entire right-hand side, including all the ads.
I would agree, but I never click on the ads!! So I use AdBlock!
New post
Right. They wake up every morning 3 weeks behind on narrative, strategy and tactics, and have the most useless messaging possible. If the Dems were an advertising agency, they would have to pay customers to use their products, and satisfied customers would number in the handfuls-
Oh, wait…
Relentless fund-raising going on. Heard yesterday on MPR that both Franken and Coleman have raised a boatload of money since the election. I get phone calls, letters, emails every single day, seeking some portion of my vast fortune. Bwahahahahaha!!
Quite frankly I think that, in this case, the law is an ass. How can one individual, regardless of whom, disenfranchise a whole STATE, by simply filing an electoral challenge? Apparently Minnesota law states that seating cannot occur until ALL CHALLENGES have been completed. Not merely from candidates, not those that could have a substantial effect on the outcome, but ALL challenges. One doesn’t have to be an opposing candidate, or even one that had been locked in a close recount battle. Presumably ANY citizen of Minnesota would have standing.
Even worse, when are ALL challenges RESOLVED? When the State Supreme Court decides them? What if the plaintiff files a Federal complaint and it goes into the Federal system?
Minnesota should realize that this weird interpretation of the law has the potential for utter chaos. What if someone challenges the next Governorship race and carries on the lawsuit, by delay for months. Who runs the State? What if several State positions are challenged?
Yes. Hence: Amend or clarify the law now, Minnesotans!
Thanks!
The stimulus plan was created in a manner that didn’t change the dialogue. “Spending” vs. “tax cuts.” Same old argument. Obama had to honor his middle tax cut promise, but should have done that immediately and separately. It would have been very difficult for republicans to filibuster a tax cut. With this out the way, the Obama team could have focused on a stimulus package aimed at job creation.
The more the clicks the more the moolah!!!
hmmmm – do these ad blockers adversely affect revenues to blogs in general & most especially firedoglake?
The ads help pay for the site, so I click on them every now and then.
Excepting the gross ones that is!
There’s a conflicting statue regarding the recount that clearly states no certificate will be issued until all legal challenges are finished. Considering the MN Supreme Court heard Franken’s plea last Wednesday and are still deliberating would seem to indicate they are looking at this very closely. Hopefully they’ll decide that seating to a federal position takes precedent to an asshat who’s using others’ monies to keep an opponent out of office for petty party politics. Then, if Coleman does prevail in his challenge (ha!) the governor can just issue a new certificate.
Let’s hope. Otherwise it’ll be months before Coleman’s finished dicking around.
Reid walks cause the press is afraid to talk?
Franken just went before the Supreme Court on Thursday (2/5) and made his case. the Court usually does not rule from the bench so it might be right away. As political as it is, the Court might not want to take a position but ordinarily, the courts have only upto 90 days to make a decision.
Franken’s Supreme Court case is technically separate from Coleman’s court case to challenge the recount. I’ve heard the recount case might take 5 months for a decision. Franken spoke today at a Minnesota DFL function and said he was meeting with Reid about getting seated, if I understood him correctly.
Jane it’s way too logical for Harry Reid,I won’t count on it happening.Besides the Repukes just have to say boohoo! & dems will start doing all kinds of cartwheels to appeasethe Repukes.
Done Teddy! I am with ya!