Republicans Vs. Democrats, Senatorial Smackdown

Ever wonder who owns the Republican Party? Well if you want a clue just pay attention to what happens in Congress every time some legislation is brought up with anything to do with major business interests. Every Republican in Congress, and some of the conservative Democrats are there to support giveaways to business and defeat anything that remotely smells of regulation of business, and they're moving so fast you'd think their asses were on fire.

As soon as the very modest proposal for healthcare reform was out of the Senate Finance Committee the insurance industry mobilized and had a media blitz of anti-healthcare reform propaganda. The Republicans in the Senate, with one notable exception circled the wagons. This was a version of reform without a public option. The conservative Democrats and one lone Republican, who is described as a moderate accepted this wussy version, Healthcare Reform Lite. All the other Republicans treated it like the coming of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

The people spoke. The President spoke. The sensible portion of the Democratic Party spoke. They were all in agreement, "Reform Lite is not good enough. We need a public option." Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid said, "Okay, saddle up boys. Let's do it. We're adding a public option." (Liberal Man was rumored to be proud of the boys in the Senate, for once.)

Then the ownership of the Republican Party cracked the whip. (A minority whip to be sure.) The Republicans went scrambling. Some of the conservative members of the Democratic Party began to scramble. The lone Republican supporter of healthcare reform, rescinded her support. The party that supported Bush and Cheney for the last 8 years in their quest to sell the entire nation to corporate interests and send the world economy down the tubes began fighting the effort to pass this scourge like it was the new holocaust. They rallied around the sound bites that assured Americans everywhere that healthcare reform with a public option is a fast trip to economic ruin. (Didn't the Republican Party already take us on that trip? Talk about your Halloween Horror.) They assured the public that the White House itself is occupied by Satan, leading his minions on this quest to send America to hell in a handcart. (Handcart? Is that like a grocery cart, one of those big ones you get at Costco, or more like one of those things you see in the movies where guys hand pump that cart down the railroad tracks?)

Now you might ask yourself, "Self, what is the big deal? The Democrats have a clear majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Why not just bring the doggone bill to the floor, put it to a vote and get on with the celebrating?" Unfortunately, the U.S. Senate has this thing called filibuster, where anybody can talk and talk and talk without limit. If you're opposed to a bill and you don't want it brought to a vote, you just get the floor and talk ad infinitum, until the other side caves and moves on to other business. In past years Senators have been known to take the Senate floor and read from the Bible, read from the New York Telephone Directory, and engage in all manner of odd behaviors to hold the floor (filibuster). Apparently the only way to defeat a filibuster is to override it with a Super Majority (No, Super Majority is not a close friend of Liberal Man. It is a percentage of the total votes available.) In this case, a simple majority of 51 votes is insufficient. In the U.S. Senate you have to have 60 votes to shut up a filibuster.

So anyway, when the health insurance industry cracked the whip (The Minority Whip) and all of the Republicans fell in line and the lone Republican in favor of healthcare reform changed her mind, the majority fell to 59, one vote short of Super Majority Whup Ass. Then the conservatives from the Democratic Party pulled out support for a reform version that includes a public option. (But that's what the public wants and needs! Who do you think elected you clowns?) Anyway, at this point there is still a clear majority in favor of reform with a public option, but not a Super Majority sufficient to shut up a filibuster.

So where do we stand? Depends on how good the President and the Senate Majority Leader are at twisting arms and getting people to fall in line. This is when you need someone like Lyndon B. Johnson. This was a guy who could get stuff done, a guy from Texas who managed to get Civil Rights legislation passed in an era when the conservatives thought equal rights for African-

Americans would bring about the apocalypse. Let's hope someone out there can channel their inner Lyndon.

But to the original point, "Ever wonder who owns the Republican Party?" I think that is pretty much self-evident, based on obvious behaviors. As for myself, I proudly carry the liberal banner, and I am reminded of what Will Rogers had to say once, "I don't belong to an organized political party. I'm a Democrat."