Today in Washington D. C. - August 5, 2009 - The Democrat vs. Democrat Dynamic

House is in recess. Senate resumed consideration of the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor of New York to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Negotiations on an extension of the “cash for clunkers” program are ongoing.

Yesterday the Senate voted 80-17 to pass the fiscal year 2010 Agriculture appropriations bill, H.R. 2997. The bill provides $124.5 billion for the USDA, the FDA, and farm programs. Prior to final passage, the Senate rejected another amendment from Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) which would have eliminated $24 million for a watershed and flood prevention program that several presidents had proposed to eliminate. Also rejected were an amendments from Sen. Tom Coburn to removed $5 million in educational television grants to rural broadcasters, and to return the bill to the Appropriations Committee and have it increase spending 2% over last year’s level instead of its current increase of 11%. However, the Senate adopted an amendment from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to increase salaries and expenses for the Farm Service Agency by $350 million. The end result more spending and controls authorized by the USDA and other farm agencies. Again a 11% increase while the U.S. is in recession and has a a rapid growing National debt.

In a must-read editorial today, The Wall Street Journal points out, “The real political news this month isn’t Republicans vs. Democrats, and certainly not insurance companies vs. Democrats. . . . The news is how the political left and its lobbies are roughing up fellow Democrats who won’t get with President Obama’s government-run program.”

The Journal notes attack ads being run by self-described “progressive” groups against Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, and Montana Sen. Max Baucus. Their sins, respectively, are apparently skepticism of a government-run insurance plan and daring to negotiate with Republicans. In addition, the WSJ writes, “Over in the House, the Blue Dogs have received similar treatment since they raised doubts last months about the 5.4% surtax, among other problems in the House bill. The DNC immediately targeted the districts of 12 Democratic Members of Henry Waxman’s Energy and Commerce Committee with a ‘It’s time for reform’ television ad.”

Further, according to The Journal, “Even the Democratic National Committee is trashing Democrats, presumably with a green light from Mr. Obama and Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. Mr. Obama’s political arm, Organizing for America, which is officially a wing of the DNC, is running ads to press Democratic Senators in Arkansas, Indiana, Florida, Louisiana, North Dakota, Nebraska and Ohio. The outfit has also staged demonstrations outside Senator Bill Nelson’s Florida offices. The campaign is heavy-handed enough that even Majority Leader Harry Reid denounced it as ‘a waste of money.’”

Apparently Sen. Ben Nelson got so fed up with the ads being run against him by left-wing groups in Nebraska that he called the Omaha businessman who appeared in one of the ads attacking him, The Huffington Post reports. According to the businessman, “[Nelson] said if we went with a full public option -- which he called a government plan -- it would drive the price down and hurt private companies. . . . But he didn’t offer to do the one thing [businessman Michael] Snider wanted to hear: support the public option. And that, in the end, might end up affecting how Snider votes the next time Nelson is up for reelection.”

The Democrat vs. Democrat dynamic is just as evident in Washington, as Democrats in Congress still can’t get on the same page in their health care messaging. The New York Times reports, “[Max] Baucus [D-MT] said he did not share the view, expressed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and some White House officials, that private insurance companies were a major obstacle. ‘There are no enemies and villains here,” Mr. Baucus said. “Most Americans want to reform our system. Most companies, industries, want to reform the system because they know we have a lousy system.’” Ye,t Pelosi said last week of insurance companies, “They are the villains in this. . . . They have been part of the problem in a major way. They are doing everything in their power to stop a public option from happening.” Meanwhile, according to Politico, there’s a split among Democrats elected in 2006 with those elected in 2008 over how enthusiastic they are for a government-run insurance plan and whether they’d prefer to steamroll Republicans in pushing through such a plan.

It’s little surprise, then, that Roll Call notes that Senate Democrats are huddling for the second time in as many days on health care in an attempt to get on the same page. In fact, according to Roll Call, Democrats will have another health care meeting tomorrow to hear from White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod in a session that “is expected to focus on political messaging.”

Perhaps instead of spending their time attacking insurance companies and citizens attending town hall meetings, Democrats would be better served by getting their act together and represent their constituents on health care instead of Washington power brokers.

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