Go Get ‘Em, Evan Bayh
Chris Cillizza tosses a spotlight on Sen. Evan Bayh, whose centrist instincts are making the once-rumored VP contender a fly in the soup of Obama’s administration:
Bayh’s actions have caused some grumbling — privately, of course — among some in the White House who view his freelancing as less than helpful in seeking to push Obama’s legislative agenda through Congress.
A friendly suggestion for these anonymous grumblers: Re-read the frickin’ Constitution. Neither Sen. Bayh nor any other member of Congress is there to be “helpful” to the President’s “legislative agenda.” To the contrary, Congress was designed by our long-dead founding fathers to stop individuals — even those as meritorious as Obama — from getting everything they want. Job #1 for Bayh and his colleagues is to challenge and question, to check and balance. Hence Bayh’s retort to his veiled detractors:
“One hundred percent agreement is an unrealistic standard,” Bayh said of his critics, adding that anyone who marches lockstep with someone else “has abdicated either his brain or his backbone or both.”
Abdicating brain and/or backbone was precisely what Bush’s Republican-controlled Congress did — and we know how well that turned out. And no, I’m not suggesting Obama is Bush. What I am suggesting is that, regardless of the person, worshiping blindly at his or her altar is a thoroughly dangerous proposition; American government is predicated on accounting for the flaws and risks of human nature; and for those reasons, we should applaud those who, like Evan Bayh, understand and act on their Constitutional obligation to serve as ballasts to individual power.
5 Responses to “Go Get ‘Em, Evan Bayh”
Rather than cheering Bayh for generic obstructionism, I'd like to know exactly what he opposes and why.
For instance, Byah opposes returning the top marginal tax rates to the levels they were under Clinton, and instead would rather cut government spending. Do you agree with that? I sure don't.
Are people just used to having something to snark about every day for the last 8 years and can't break the habit?
This story seems to be basically, someone said something and someone else said, “You're not being helpful.”
This is news how? This relates to the constitution how?
Looks like you're just helping Bayh pander.
I read about this yesterday. It seems not everyone in this group wants to be publicly identified. So I'm not sure this is a sign of backbone.
I'm not opposed to it. But I have to wonder.
Another moderate who wasn't heard of when Bush was using the constitution to wipe his ass or to start a pointless war in the ME that has cost 100's of Billions and has killed thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, but now has an issue because Liberals may be in ascendance and may force some of the people who have profited the most of the last thirty years of class war against the working and middle classes to pay their fair share.
Evan Bayh is one democratic congressman who would not make me cringe if elected President, I'd love to see him on a Centrist party ticket either at the top or the number 2 spot.