President, Vice President Bask in ‘Specter’ of 60-Vote Majority Senate

That why I like our President He likes to Be Challenged and Surrond Himself with People who will Challenge Him and Point out If he is Wrong what a Great Change from a My Way or Highway!

“I don’t expect Arlen to be a rubber stamp,” said the president. “I don’t expect any member of Congress to be a rubber stamp. In fact, I’d like to think that Arlen’s decision reflects a recognition that this administration is open to many different ideas and many different points of view; that we seek cooperation and common ground; and that in these 100 days we’ve begun to move this nation in the right direction.”
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Yeah. This administration is open to many different ideas.
We’ll see if Specter meets a spending program he doesn’t like. This is more of a PR loss than a vote loss for the Republicans, and I’m holding out hope for the Blue Dogs to enforce some fiscal sanity.
This was a nice gift for Specter to give Obama for his 100th day, and I’m sure they were happy they could get him to announce it to break up the swine flue and scare force 1 news.

Mr. Obama approached him and said, “Tell me, Arlen, if a Jewish kid from Kansas can carry Pennsylvania, how can a black kid from Kansas carry Pennsylvania?”
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Who is the black kid from Kansas being discussed here?

“This is a perfect example of lifers in congress who will do anything to stay in.”
This is a perfect example of why the Democratic party is dominating because they are the party of attraction while the GOP is shrinking because they are the party of repulsion.

mad- ha! From Kansas indeed.

GOPers need to quit whining and saying nothing but “NO” and focus on making their party a valid and effective opposition party…
it is not good for anyone to have the GOP in total meltdown. We need an effective oppositon party in this democracy, and the GOP is light years from this at the moment.
Full of Palin/Plumber types….sad really

hey CG, how can you say that a Senator who voted 82% over his career with the GOP was not a real republican…that’s a higher figure than 70% of the current GOP senators.
Please explain your point here.

hey CG, how can you say that a Senator who voted 82% over his career with the GOP was not a real republican…
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One problem is he voted with the Republicans when they overspent. Then people voted Republicans out of office for overspending, and voted in Dems who promised fiscal responsibility. The Republican party shrank and lost power because it spent too much and we are left with a smaller group of fiscal conservatives. Which you would *think* should be a popular stance.
Now the Democrats are the ones spending like crazy, and Specter is right along with them, criticizing the fiscal conservatives for pushing him out of office.
It is a world gone mad.

GOPers need to quit whining and saying nothing but “NO” and focus on making their party a valid and effective opposition party…
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It doesn’t matter what the GOP says or does now. Democrats can now pass any legislation desired.

Hey GOP, you think you are upset now? Just wait until your party grows even smaller in the next election. But don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll retain a few die-hard Confederate flag waiving right-wing nut jobs, but thats the beauty of living in a free country. George Bush and the the GOP have ruined this country. Arlen Specter, good for you. I’m glad to see you have the courage to leave the party of “no”. The Democrats represent the middle and lower class, and not the rich. Trickle-down economics is gone for good.
God bless America!

Mad…I think at one time briefy obamablessed one lived with his grandparents in Kansas..and he identifies with whatever suits the moment.

Obama has flown to Missouri today to tell us Washington needs to learn to only spend what they have.
Oh, this is rich indeed.

If the Democrats get the 60 vote supermajority it is very unlikely that they will come together for any organized agenda, but if they do overreach it would be the best thing that could happen for the Repubicans in 2010.

======When he tried to do his job and represent the views of the Democrats that supported him too he was almost shafted by the right-wing in the last primary. =======
Which is why the GOP went to battle for him and helped him keep the job as senator from Pennsylvania. Can’t wait until the midterms when all those ads of Specter, Bush, Rove, Santorum et al are used by the democratic challenger to Specter. He just spit in the face of all those in his own party that battled for him to hold that position 3 short years ago. Loyalty isn’t his strong suit, which the democrats should keep in mind.

With more than 150,000 Republicans having re-registered as Democrats before the 2008 Pennsylvania Democratic primary.
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The Death Knell Is Imminent. Republicans are about to go the way of the dinosaurs. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving bunch either .

hopesprings52…..”The Dem Party welcome discussion and a healthy variety of viewpoints.” LOL…Please see comments above and below….”GOP’ers need to quit whining.”
“Republicans party of repulsion.”….
.

Obama’s almost 70 percent approval rating and Specter’s bombshell party switch are clearly referendums on the success and popularity of the president’s agenda.
It’s a good 100-day scorecard for POTUS.

Everybody knows he did it because he was down 21% in the polls leading-up to the GOP primary for his seat. And he already admitted as-such. The sad truth is that this hack has spent three decades in the Senate, while accomplishing little.
Actually, I would vote for Phil Spector over Arlen- seems like a more stable and trustworthy individual, lol.
Just a little over a month ago, the Senator said in an interview that he wouldn’t switch parties due to the importance of checks and balances.
And back in 2001, Sen. Arlen Specter, then a Republican, proposed a rule forbidding party switches. Specter was upset when then-Vermont Sen. Jim Jeffords’ left the Republican Party to become an independent.
Who knows what the truth is with this guy, you’ll never get it from him.
With all due respect, Senator- don’t let the door hit your butt on the way out. Nobody on our side’s going to miss you.

=====The party is not really a party anymore, but a far-right mindset and if you waiver from that fundamentalist mold, you are totally ostracized.======
Y’all are kidding and I missed the joke. The democratic party is the party that refuses to allow anyone with opposing viewpoints. The democratic party is full of progressive liberals that run the party, the WH, and both houses of congress.
Specter was going to lose the midterm primary so he switched parties. If that makes y’all think the republican party is done, over, dead, I’ll remind you that the republicans thought the same thing about the democrats when they won in 2002 and 2004. Or maybe I won’t remind you and let you find out for yourself while you think you are safe in your belief that republicans, ie, conservatives, are done, over, dead. Check the newly elected senators and reps. They are mostly blue dogs. If they want to remain senators and reps, they won’t be voting the party line or the done, over and dead conservatives in their districts will vote them right back out.

=====Specter was upset when then-Vermont Sen. Jim Jeffords’ left the Republican Party to become an independent. =====
That was then, this is now. When Jeffords left, he caused Specter to become a member of the minority. Specter leaving the minority to joint the majority explains his objections in 2001.

“Y’all are kidding and I missed the joke. The democratic party is the party that refuses to allow anyone with opposing viewpoints.”
You missed the first joke so you decided to tell one yourself? The Democratic party is the one with the ‘big tent’ remember? Their classic problem is that they fight amongst themselves too much and don’t march in lock-step like the Republicans tend to do.

“Y’all are kidding and I missed the joke. The democratic party is the party that refuses to allow anyone with opposing viewpoints. The democratic party is full of progressive liberals that run the party, the WH, and both houses of congress.”
While the progressive caucus is the single largest caucus in the Democratic Party, the conservative Blue Dog Coalition numbers about 50 in the House and the business friendly New Democrats have about the same in the House as well as a dozen Senators.

Axey, you are right on one count. The Democrats have been pounded much worse and have come back. However, the newly elected aren’t the blue dogs, although it is true there are too many of them.
When the Democratic Party loses this momentum, it will be because they moved too far to the right.
Obama and Reid are to blame if they don’t pass EFCA.
It used to crack me up to hear GOP shills here write about how the democrats could pass whatever they wanted, as if they were going to impose the rigid ideological discipline that the GOP does.
Now, its just depressing, since the GOP shills are right.
The democrats pretend to be for working people, but only vote for EFCA when it has no chance of passing.
One corporate party

“The Death Knell Is Imminent. Republicans are about to go the way of the dinosaurs. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving bunch either .”
The obit is premature, though there are few positive signs for the GOP.

Lefties/Democrats are only tolerant when you agree with them.
They are some of the most intolerant and close-minded people you could ever meet.
Look at the venom spewed toward Hillary until she helped Obama.
And how they turned on Evan Bayh.
Hypocrites.

Now the Democrats get all the credit and all the blame.
Looking at the past 100 days I think they are going to get blamed for a lot.
Good luck Arlen you are going to need it.

tyler, EFCA is more than card check, which by the way is simply returning the law to what it was when it was passed in the 30′s.
The maximum criminal penalty for willfully violating a safety standard or regulation and causing a worker to die is six months in prison, while the maximum sentence for improperly hunting migratory birds is two years.
Killing a worker through willfully lax safety standards is a misdemeanor. OSHA under Bush didn’t even bother to collect half the fines.

Barack Obama is one lucky guy. His acolytes do not question anything he does. They regard hyperactivity as accomplishment. Whatever Obama says passes as gospel. How good is that?

Arlen Specter admits that he switched parties simply to win an election. I am not sure that Obama really wants to celebrate this. I am not sure that this decision is “courageous”. It sounds just about as spineless as could be. Arlen will be sure to throw Obama under the bus when the political winds blow the other way. I would have to say that Obama has asked for it. Who’s kidding who here?

=====When the Democratic Party loses this momentum, it will be because they moved too far to the right. ======
Okey, dokey. Keep up the good work, then, moving your party further left.

The Democratic Party has put all their eggs in one basket.
They have literally bet the bank on Obama.
Without him they are nothing.
And without his popularity he is nothing.
Once that fades the party will tumble.

“Which is why Pelosi says, wink, wink, nod, nod, vote against us, we have the votes anyway. They will continue to vote against her if they want to be re-elected in conservative districts.”
Yes, the Blue Dogs are in an enviable position where they can buck the party line while not jeopardizing the party agenda.
Though they may want to be judicious in their independence as incumbents depend upon the party apparatus to get re-elected.

“The democratic party is the party that refuses to allow anyone with opposing viewpoints. ”
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Not according to your leader..
Conservative host Rush Limbaugh said Tuesday he isn’t sorry to see Arlen Specter leave the GOP — and that many Republicans wish the Pennsylvania senator would take a few others with him when he goes.
“A lot of people say, ‘Well, Specter, take [Sen. John] McCain with you. And his daughter [Meghan]. Take McCain and his daughter with you if you’re gonna…” he told listeners, dissolving in laughter.
“…..It’s ultimately good. You’re weeding out people who aren’t really Republicans,” he said.

All Arlen had to do to get love from Obama/Democrats was to agree to put our country in debt for a few generations.
He got a good deal.
Specter can vote for bills that he doesn’t even have to read.

“‘I don’t expect Arlen to be a rubber stamp,’ said the president,” as he held Specter’s wrinkly manhood in his hand. But I do expect Arlen to see things a little more clearly, um, differently (Sorry, go ahead. Move it up… *waiting for teleprompter*) after Rahm spends a few minutes with him explainin’ what we expect. “‘Tis a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.”

Just wait until Specter finds out what the dems will require of him! But come to think of it, that probably won’t bother him as long as he gets to keep a seat. Arlen, word to the wise, when they start shooting politically, remember to “serpentine”.

I bet Specter is actually a Republican spy sent to infiltrate the Dems and report back to Rush Limbaugh. Very Lost like.
But honestly I would have thought this was a good move until he said he did it because he would get elected as a repub.

I’m not sure what he calls himself now really matters. He has already established a voting record that does not follow party lines. He could possibly enjoy the role of the “spoiler”. I would advise the dems to not count their chickens before they hatch.

lydia – please explain to me how saving and endangered bird in california and a skate park, and condoms to Africa really stimulate the economy???

Scott has a valid point! If Specter could not win as a Republican, why wouldn’t they want him to stay as a Democrat? He’s so old now, there’s not much to gain by just following the Democratic herd. This is going to be interesting!

“I keep hearing about Specter making it a veto-proof Senate – remember, we’re talking about Democrats here.”
While your point about Democratic unit (HA!) is a good one, I must be a stick in the mud and correct you about veto-proof vs fillibuster-proof.

“This is a guy who claimed he would “bring us together” and then about the first words out of his mouth were “I won.”
He has refused ANY kind of compromise with Republicans and then whines that they’re not supporting him.”
Someone is whining alright and its not Obama.

“Not one follower questions any of it. They buy into what he says, and they either will not or cannot analyze what he actually does.”
Well I certainly do. The trouble is that there is an amazing dearth of real alternatives coming from Obama’s right-wing detractors. That budget proposal, for example, was a joke and you know it. We need real alternative ideas not critical calisthenics.

“Someone is whining alright and its not Obama.”
Ryan, Ryan, Ryan. My daughter could do better than this.

“A battle over control of the party’s purse strings has erupted at the troubled Republican National Committee, with defenders of Chairman Michael S. Steele accusing dissident RNC members of trying to “embarrass and neuter” the party’s new leader.
Randy Pullen, the RNC’s elected treasurer, former RNC General Counsel David Norcross and three other former top RNC officers have presented Mr. Steele with a resolution, calling for a new set of checks and balances on the chairman’s power to dole out money.”
Its the Moonie Times so take it with a huge grain of salt.

FACT IS, SPECTOR KNOWS THAT THE CHENEY’S BOYS IN THE GOP AND CIA ARE PLANNING ANOTHER GOP LED JFK STYLE COUP D’ETAT AND HE WANTS OUT, NOW.
HE WAS THERE FOR THE FIRST ONE AND HE KNOWS ANOTHER HORRIBLE PRESIDENTIAL ASSASSINATION WILL KILL OUR GREAT NATION…

The only “change” that has happened is that we are now a democratic society and the democrats will eat the country alive.

Specter? The swine flew.

“WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve said Wednesday it sees signs the recession is easing and that the U.S. economic outlook has “improved modestly” since last month.”
Skip
If this is true, do you know what it means?

Now drjohn will elighten us all on why the glass is half empty.

I can’t figure out why democrats care if republicans eat their own or become the party of no. Enjoy it. And Specter. Really enjoy Specter. He is now your problem, not ours and since both sides are happy about it (for the most part, anyway) let’s all rejoice together! This was a win-win for both sides.
For a party in power, the democrats sure are het up about getting republicans to vote with them. You don’t need us. Remember? Just pass whatever the hell you want and stop with the bipartisan bs. As Obama said, “I won”. To which I say, you sure did. Now pony up to the bar and own it and stop trying to pass the tab around to republicans.

When “clearing” the democratic field for Spector, what do they do with the otherwise loyal democrat man or woman that would have opposed Spector or Toomey?

“When “clearing” the democratic field for Spector, what do they do with the otherwise loyal democrat man or woman that would have opposed Spector or Toomey?”
Chris Matthews was out already.
Torsella was backed by Rendell but that will change.

Some of these old politicians should not only be put out to pasture.. they should reconsider issuing them a driver’s license.

No Angie,
What it would mean (and I am no means sure it’s true yet) is that the economy is healing on its own.
Only $107 billion of the “stimulus” package is being spent this year, and pitifully little on anything that could mean jobs. As the money only started to flow at all on April 1, it means none of the so-called stimulus could have an effect.
It would mean the “stimulus” package was unncessary spending.
Actually, it is unncessary spending. Most of it is simply welfare expenditures.

It begins!
From The Hill:
“Several Democrats are furious with Reid for agreeing to let Specter keep the seniority accrued over more than 28 years as a Republican senator. That could allow him to leap past senior Democrats on powerful panels – including the Appropriations and Judiciary committees.”

“Several Democrats are furious with Reid for agreeing to let Specter keep the seniority accrued over more than 28 years as a Republican senator. That could allow him to leap past senior Democrats on powerful panels – including the Appropriations and Judiciary committees”
What at terrible problem to have….why I much rather have my party run by a talk show host with a figurehead running the RNC.

“What it would mean (and I am no means sure it’s true yet) is that the economy is healing on its own.”
Well if that is true then the deficits may not go as high as you fear, if the Democrats keep their word and start paying them down as soon as we can afford to.

“Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. Now, we really don’t want him back when he doesn’t get those coveted chairs he was after.”
I agree. The glitter will wear off Spector quickly, even for Dem’s.
I almost feel sorry for them.
Almost.

I’m glad he switched, he’s been Democrat all these years anyway.

The GOP core believe they need to be more right wing to attract voters. However, the voters have recognzed the inherent contradictions in their arguments.
Less government…however they promote more government survallince of communications, more government tracking through the Real ID, more govermenet in our reproductive rights.
this is not more freedom and less government. The GOP and their contractions will put them into permanenet minority status. This is from a former rebuplican, college republican, fund raiser and supporter. NNo more!

The die is cast for at least the next 18 months. Fellow Republicans, accept reality and take it. However start NOW to correct the balance of power in the house and Senate, in the up coming elections. Don’t take the bait from the victory drunk democrats, who are acting like the citizen French after the revoluation, hungery for revenge.
PO said it last night, and how right he was – “nothing is ever as bad as it seems, and nothing is as good as it seems”