March 9, 2010 archive

I wrote yesterday about a meeting Obama had scheduled with Chuck Schumer and Lindsey Graham to talk about immigration reform.

Well the meeting was postponed.  According to RollCall:

A meeting between President Barack Obama and Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) scheduled for Monday afternoon on immigration reform has been postponed and will be rescheduled later this week, thanks to flight cancellations in South Carolina.

At a 2008 speech to the  League of United Latin American Citizens, then-Senator Obama said:

“We need a president who isn’t going to walk away from something as important as comprehensive immigration reform when it becomes politically unpopular,” he told the group. “That’s the commitment I’m making to you. I fought with you in the Senate for comprehensive immigration reform. And I will make it a top priority in my first year as president.”

That was in 2008.

Now we have had a taste of how Obama governs and how he promotes legislation.  There is no excuse, therefore, to think that somehow the dynamic of immigration reform legislation will be any different than it was for healthcare, even if Republicans have a more “bipartisan” role.

Massa calls Rahm “son of the devil’s spawn” and more.

“Mine is now the deciding vote on the health care bill,” he said, “and this administration and this House leadership have said, quote-unquote, they will stop at nothing to pass this health care bill, and now they’ve gotten rid of me and it will pass. You connect the dots.”

“I am sitting there showering, naked as a jaybird, and here comes Rahm Emanuel, not even with a towel,” Mr. Massa said, adding that Mr. Emanuel poked “his finger in my chest, yelling at me at me because I wasn’t going to vote for the president’s budget.”

“You know how awkward it is to have a political argument with a naked man?” he continued.

Mr. Massa added: “I didn’t hit him. But we had words. And he hates my guts. He has hated me since Day 1. And now he wins. So he will get rid of me.”

Mr. Massa’s resignation leaves Democrats working to maintain their hold on a hard-won seat. The 29th District extends from Elmira almost to Lake Erie, and from the Pennsylvania border to Rochester. Republicans in the district outnumber Democrats by more than 45,000. Gov. David A. Paterson could call a special election for the seat as soon as next month, although he could also let it remain vacant until the November election.

A Republican who switched to the Democratic Party because of his opposition to the Iraq war, Mr. Massa lost in his first try to win the House seat in 2006. He was successful two years later, defeating the Republican incumbent, John R. Kuhl Jr.

He was a proponent of a single-payer health care system and was among 39 House Democrats to vote against health care legislation, saying it did not do enough to rein in costs.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03…

Original article, by Patrick Martin, via World Socialist Web Site:

The first week of March has seen a number of commentaries in the American media, mainly from liberal pundits, worrying over the declining public standing of President Obama and the growing signs of disarray in the Democratic Party.

Open Thread