I got a fundraising email from Senator John Kerry, late of the Super Committee where he was purportedly one of the Democrats ready to throw us under the bus to achieve a pundit approved “deficit reduction” package that would sacrifice Medicare and Social Security in return for the promise from Republicans that they would think about having rich people make sacrifices one of these days.
But I digress.
Kerry is shilling for money for Senate Democrats, and he has this to say:
If Republicans held the Senate right now, just imagine what we’d be watching: Passage of the Ryan Plan, Bush-era efforts to privatize Social Security, and more tax cuts for billionaires while the middle class would be left holding the bag.
And make no mistake: That’s exactly what will happen if Republicans take the Senate in 2012.
Truly a depressing forecast, though in truth not much different than what he was rumored to be prepared to do himself. But more depressing is that Kerry is probably right, even though the chance of Republicans reaching the magic 60 required of Democrats is basically zero.
For what Kerry is saying by implication is that Democrats will not engage in tit-for-tat. No obstructive filibusters from them, just to save Medicare or Social Security. That would be irresponsible. Now, one could argue that he is exaggerating a bit for the sake of raising money, and that Democrats would indeed step up and prevent passage of destructive legislation, as the Republicans did with constructive legislation. Were Mitch McConnell to make a similar appeal, we all know that threats he would cite, such as taxes on millionaires, or clean air and water, would never really be allowed to come to pass. But I refer anyone with any such illusions about the Democrats to those portions of the Bush years when the Democrats were in the minority. For that matter, look at the way Bush rolled over them when they re-took the majority. Harry Reid was ostensibly in charge when Bush got immunity for the telecoms, if memory serves.
Now, if Obama is beaten, the Democrats will have an excuse for their inability to filibuster, because odds are that the first thing the Republican Senate majority would do is change the rules to prevent them from retaliating for years of Republican obstructionism. Unless, of course, they make the calculation that they can bully the Democrats into not filibustering, which they might rightly feel they can do. But if Obama wins – and the specter of a Gingrich or Romney presidency is making even me enthusiastic about re-electing him – and the Republicans take the Senate, there’s even odds that the Democrats will allow the Republicans to push anything they want through Congress, leaving it to Obama to veto the worst stuff. Whether he will is another question, for if the Republicans win the Senate Obama will take it as a message from the American people to once again dance to the Republican tune, as he has done with such good results for the past two years. Never mind that should the Republicans capture the Senate, those seats they hold will probably still represent only a minority of actual Americans (given how the Senate is chosen under our increasingly archaic constitution). It will be our solemn duty to deal with them in good faith, despite their demonstrated unwillingness to reciprocate. It is depressing indeed to think that in the best case scenario, that’s the best we can hope for.
So, I’m of two minds about Kerry’s appeal. Sure, I don’t want the Republicans to take over the Senate, although I’m not precisely sure why. But I also don’t want my money going to people like Ben Nelson, who felt it was wrong to use the filibuster, until Obama was in office, when he changed his mind and used it against a president of his own party.
Better to pick and choose. Don’t give to the DSCC. Give to ActBlue.
