he's the Number-two Senate Democrat, so he should have been involved. i think you know this, but for some reason are unwilling to admit it, and prefer to push blame off on the republicans.
blame republicans for what? what is the issue here? everyone will see the bill before they get to vote on it. its just a gotcha, ohhh, the number two dem didn't see it, something must be wrong. what?
Why? What does being the #2 in the Senate have to do with a specific policy bill compromise that has yet to be introduced? Durbin hasn't remotely been involved in the day-to-day negotiations of the health care legislation. Why would he be informed of the details? He's a yes vote regardless, just as McCain is a no vote regardless. The people who are involved are the ones that might be yes or no votes depending on the details - the rest on both sides don't really care.
so, Dem leadership is immaterial to the bill? given what's happened to the public option, it's pretty clear there is no dem leadership.
It's not a Senate bill - that's the point. It's one idea that's being scored to see its viability. And as we've seen tonight, it's still fluid and constantly changing. Once it becomes a bill, of course the Dem leadership will be informed. Until then, there's no reason for the Senate to be debating a bunch of potential proposals that aren't even going to be brought up as a realistic possibility.
I was so disappointed to see this wasn't really a Leonard Cohen thread. For all those guys trying to figure out how to pick up chicks even if you're not remotely attractive, you could learn a lot from this guy
The democratic party is on the verge of committing political suicide. This is "groupthink" at it zenith. Every poll shows massive opposition to rushing through a piecemeal, patchwork bill just to meet some imaginary deadline. Saturday night votes, midnight votes, now a Christmas Eve vote; they have truly lost their minds. Somebody needs to come to their senses and quick.
