The reason Democrats have shown NO SPINE is very simple: more and more feed at the same trough as the Republicans, i.e. the big corporations, insurance companies, health care providers, banks and investment advisors, etc., etc. I am not talking about campaign contributions and lobbyists, which are a total disgrace, but some of them have big investments in these (above named) entities. They have more damned conflicts of interest than you can shake a stick at - and don't be fooled by having everything in "BLIND TRUSTS." They are about as blind as I am and I am blessed with 20/20 vision!
Here is the good news, though: Here is a website ; you have to register, but it's free. You click on "disclosures", then on "NAME" and on "personal financial disclosure" and you can ascertain the financial holdings of every member of congress. It still needs a lot of work on your part, because some of these holdings are within trusts, etc. however: YOU CAN REQUEST FROM THE MEMBER OF CONGRESS THAT HE/SHE CLARIFY what is not clear to you. Then you write to your local newspaper or call in to your local radio/TV station and tell them: We are not going to vote for you next time around, if you put your personal interest above that of your constituents.
Period. that might do it. It's thought.

matt great piece. only one error- it's bully o'liarly
not bill o'reilly he of the old westbury section of
levitttown. if you red al's book you remember that.
old westbury is one of the richer zip codes in america.
max relax al's got a brain he's probably got the game
figured out already and is ready to have some fun
in a way that only a comedian could! HEY NOT ALLAN
were you a georgy bush supporter? maybe al needs a umbrella
so you don't rain on his parade.

People who conflate having 60 "Ds" with 60 votes for progressive legislation from here on otu should start losing their jobs. A whole lot of freshmen know more about politics than someone who would write that drivel. As if Ds ever vote party line with any discipline. Sheesh. How do these people get these jobs, anyway? Nevermind, I don't wanna know.

Franken's presence won't change any of the big stuff at all. For a few years, he'll just be happy to be there.

If you think that self described "Friend of Israel" Franken is going to change things, then you must have voted for Obama.

The now dead and buried Democratic party needs a contemporary version of Eugene McCarthy. I hope Franken is it.

Franken would be much better off leaving the Democratic Party and joining Bernard Sanders. Minnesota has elected independents before. Come on Franken, don't be a partisan chicken. If you really wanna help, kick those two parties to the curb and go independent !! Look what the Democratic Party is doing to Kucinich and the likes. TEAR DOWN THIS DUOPOLY WALL ! You're either with us or you're against us like the rest of the traitors in Washington !!

Mr. Rothschild: so what?

Nothing in your article is new or informative, mainly just descriptive. Just another narrowly circumscribed piece of discourse that fits well within status quo Duopoly politics. While I prefer Franken over Coleman, it is not going to make much difference in the most corrupt, elitist legislative body in the developed world (the US Senate).

Rothshild does not deserve to be the editor of the "progressive" magazine. Very disappointing indeed.

I enjoy The Progressive and Matt Rothschild (especially his McCarthyism Watch). Al Franken is no Paul Wellstone, anymore than Barack Obama is another Abe Lincoln just because he came from Illinois and was elected President. Like many Common Dreamers, I have looked forward to the day when the Democrats would have a functional fillibuster proof majority in the Senate.

However, when I hear Bernie Sanders babble on about how important it is to get these matters up for debate and a vote regardless of how the vote turns out, I wonder how much of a step forward this is.

How many of that 60 vote super-majority is dependable with Robert Byrd and Ted Kennedy seriously incapacitated by age or illness. How about Senator Johnson from North Dakota--how much has he recovreed from his stroke? Is Joe Liberman considered part of the 60 vote "majority"--how reassuring is that?

With such luminaries as Arlen Spector, Jay Rockefeller, and Max Baucaus as part of the Democratic majority, it can be difficult to tell the Dems from the Repubs. The best thing that can be said for the current Democratic dominance in the House, Senate, and White House, is that they have finally run out of excuses for being psuedo-Republicans.

FDR with such a situation created the New Deal. JFK with such a situation created the New Frontier. LBJ with such a situation passed the Civil Rights bills, Medicare and Medicaid, (that JFK for all his glamorous magnetism couldn't budge) and the Great Society programs in a little less than 2 and a half years!

It's time for Barack Obama and the Democratic Party to step up and do something besides stand around and wring their hands and bitch about what a migraine headache governance is.

Poet

As I commented the other day:

I do wish Franken well, and am willing to believe that he's a sincere and humane man who believes in Good Government. He may be as close as a senator can get to being, or trying to be, a True Friend of the Little Guy.

BUT, especially considering how long Franken was made to twist slowly in the wind, it's doubtful that he's going to start off as a "maverick", or play up the "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" angle.

Even good guys can't avoid the Ruling Class aristocratic culture and clubbiness that comes with the territory. I'm sure the party leaders, like dutiful parents, will school Franken on their expectations. And Franken won't put much daylight between himself and those expectations; it's all part of the Learning Curve.

In short, now that the long seasickness has blown over, the last thing I'd expect Franken to do is rock the boat.

· Yr Obd't Servant

Franken has often said he wants to continue Wellstone's causes. He was truly fond of the late senator. No Republican would ever go near that position. I would trust Al to not sell out as much as most dems.

If Obama doesnt fire Eric Holder, he wont have to worry about 2012. As for Franken at least he is smart enough to shut up O Rielly and garbage mouth Limbaugh and slick hesd Hannity. Perhaps he will introduce a law that will level Fox studio with O Rielly and Hannity in there.
Franken will have a lot to do to combat the repugs in Democrats clothing. Such as Obama, Holder, Palusi, and Reed. Good luck Mr. Franken.

Dump Harry Reid and replace him with someone with balls.

Rothschild sez: "There really is no excuse for not pushing a progressive agenda through ..."

***
There are some fellows over on K Street who can -- and do -- provide several billion reasons for not pushing through a progressive agenda.

There is no such thing as progressive talk radio with the exception of Amy Goodman who is the real deal. (Amy ran off Clinton and numerous others purported to be progressive.)

There is instead, status quo talk radio which Franken represented, and its extreme brother, neo-con radio talking heads like Limppaw.

It is true that Franken, and Hartmann are popular, but not because of progressive advances. But rather for insuring the election of Obama which in turn had led to continued war escalation in Afghanistan, TARP & FISA sellouts, covert air strikes on non combatants, a fantasy called clean coal, criminal investigations being taken off the table of the Bush Admin, single payer being taken off the table, insuring the AIPAC agenda is advanced, a Climate and Energy Bill providing windfall profit for non-sustainable energy sources, and written by the coal and oil industries, mandated for profit coverage for all, which is just another windfall corporate measure for the profit health industry, more corporate appointments like Jackson to the EPA who has authorized 24 of 28 Mountain Top Removal Permits, Summers and Geithner financial deregulators of the past, now born again reformers, assassination general McChrystal, Obama's appointment to head up Afghanistan: apparently the civilian body count too low for his taste, to name a few.

Rothschild's lavish praise of Franken is in dire need of a reality check.

* Franken was not an advocate of Kucinich's proposal to impeach Bush and Cheney.

* Franken wants to leave the states in charge of health care while eschewing a government run single-payer health care plan.

* Franken, like Obama, is against the immediate withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and Iraq.

* Franken, like Norm Coleman, believes in unconditional and loyal support of Israel at the expense of the welfare of the Palestinians.

The bottom line is that there is not a dime's worth of difference between this [alleged] progressive and Norm Coleman.

How many of the 60 senators are truly progressives? Hell, even Obama was called the most liberal senator by the Republicans during the campaign, and he is largely continuing Bush policies? I'm glad Coleman is out and Franken is in, but I don't think he's another Wellstone. Now, if we could 60 Bernie Sanders...