Max Baucus Again Helps Kill Filibuster Reform

by: Bob Brigham

Thu Jan 24, 2013 at 12:57:12 PM MST

This is not just a major blow to functioning government, it is a major blow to accountability. The filibuster has been a loophole corporate senators like Baucus have used to tell naive constituents that they are on their side, all the while letting savvy lobbyists know that they are with them. Shady senators don't want to be held to account, and nowhere was this more evident than in the debate over filibuster reform:

At Tuesday's closed-door caucus meeting, [Oregon Democrat Jeff] Merkley was upbraided by [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid for breaking unspoken Senate rules and naming specific senators in a conference call with Democratic activists last week, according to sources familiar with the exchange.

And who was named by the sponsor of reform as being one of the problem votes preventing filibuster reform? Max Baucus, of course.

Not only does Senator Baucus not want you to know he again helped kill reform, he doesn't use the filibuster himself. There have been all kinds of opportunities for him to stand up to incredibly awful ideas, like DOMA & Iraq & the Patriot Act & REAL ID & the bailouts & Bush judges. But not only did he not filibuster, he voted in favor of all of those.

Fixing the senate's filibuster problem is first going to require fixing the senate's Max Baucus problem.

Max Baucus: Connoisseur of Revolving Door Corruption

by: Bob Brigham

Mon Jan 14, 2013 at 13:00:06 PM MST

"Baucus' Finance Committee passed a bill in August extending 50 expiring deductions and credits for favored industries. At Obama's insistence, the Baucus bill was cut and pasted word for word into the cliff legislation."
-Timothy P. Carney, The Washington Examiner, January 6, 2013

"Now to be honest, there were a couple in there I was not happy with. One that's come out in the press, quite frankly, I'm not very happy with, and I don't know how it got in there."
-Senator Max Baucus, Great Falls Tribune, January 11, 2013

Major tax cuts were extended for giant corporations -- while the average Montana was stuck with a $900/year in increased taxes -- and the person responsible is claiming he doesn't even know how his staff put it in there for his former staff?

This is why last night Bill Moyers referred to Max Baucus as, "a connoisseur of revolving door corruption."

The Baucus revolving door cabal numbers in the dozens. In fact, his last revolving door scandal was less than a month ago. There was another Baucus revolving door scandal only six weeks ago. And another Baucus revolving door scandal only six months ago. Last year, Baucus had a revolving door scandal on tax policy. In the previous congress, there was his revolving door scandal on climate change. And of course, who could forget the obscene revolving door scandal during health care reform. And these are just some of the highlights from this term, which is only 2/3 of the way done. And Baucus is in his sixth, 6-year term in DC.

Montana voters rightfully retired Conrad Burns for his culture of corruption. Unfortunately, Montanans are still represented by the most corrupt member of the United States Senate.

2012 DNC Convention: Brian Schweitzer Takes Charlotte by Storm

by: Bob Brigham

Tue Sep 04, 2012 at 21:57:44 PM MST

Dave Barry says the very least we could do is elect Schweitzer president:

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- There is an innocent explanation for how I wound up on the floor of a bar with the governor of Montana.
[...]
In addition to being a governor, Schweitzer is a rancher who raises heads of cattle. I asked him if he has ever castrated one.

"Hell yes!" he said. He then proceeded to tell me, in extremely explicit detail, how he did it. The more he talked, the more enthusiastic he got; finally he got down on the bar floor to demonstrate his technique. He was down there for several minutes. I squatted next to him, taking notes and becoming increasingly faint. I was very grateful when he finished. (His conclusion was: "And then you throw them in a bucket.")

After the castration lecture, Gov. Schweitzer presented both Jay and me with official Montana governor belt buckles, which are made of solid metal. This is now the manliest thing I own. Gov. Schweitzer is leaving office in January; if we don't elect this man, at bare minimum, president of the United States, we are even stupider than I think we are.

With the polls showing that Schweitzer would beat Max Baucus by double-digits, this is a week the national press are looking beyond 2014, to 2016.

2014: Brian Schweitzer would "crush" Max Baucus in Democratic Primary

by: Bob Brigham

Wed Jul 06, 2011 at 09:35:01 AM MST

Now, we have the first public poll numbers on how such a race would look. Public Policy Polling conducted a survey of 333 usual Democratic primary voters, with a 5.4% margin of error:

Looking way ahead to the 2014 election Brian Schweitzer would crush Max Baucus in a primary contest if Montana Democrats went to the polls today, 51-34. The general perception is that if this race happened Schweitzer would rely on support from the left to defeat Baucus for being too much of a centrist. That's not actually how the numbers play out though. Schweitzer leads across the ideological spectrum but his biggest advantage is with moderates at 28 points (55-27), followed by a 12 point advantage with 'somewhat liberal' ones at 50-38 and then 11 points leads with 'very liberal' (52-41) and 'somewhat conservative' (44-33) voters.

Schweitzer is also up double-digits over Baucus with women (48-36), even bigger with men (55-32).

Governor Schweitzer started his career in politics wanting to go to DC and serve in the senate. Here's his chance. Also, probably the best/only chance for Democrats to hold the seat as it makes sense for Democrats to vote against Max Baucus, as he does more destruction as Chair of Senate Finance then he adds benefit. Baucus needs to go.

UPDATE: From The Hill:

Franklin Hall, a senior adviser to Schweitzer posted the poll on his Facebook page and flagged it for friends on Facebook as "very interesting".

Very interesting indeed.

MT-Sen: Jon Tester Should Kill The Patriot Act

by: Bob Brigham

Mon Feb 14, 2011 at 17:28:17 PM MST

But instead of just pointing out how awful Rehberg is on yet another issue, Senator Jon Tester should widen the contrast by leading the fight against renewal of The Patriot Act.

He shouldn't vote against it, or try to make it less bad, he should man up and kill the "emergency powers" granted to the president almost a decade ago. He's a senator, he can shut the place down and bring all legislation to a standstill until Patriot Act supporters call uncle and give up their attacks on Americans' civil liberties. He shouldn't settle for Leahy's still awful bill, he should end The Patriot Act once and for all.

Tester would earn a great deal of respect for defending our civil liberties. And every day of the battle would highlight Rehberg's fascist tendency to cave to GOP leadership's attacks on our rights.

Come on Senator Tester, fight to win on this. And realize, the only way to win is to kill it outright.

Update:  Both Senators Jon Tester and Max Baucus joined 7 other Democrats, Independent Bernie Sanders and 2 Republicans in voting against the extension.  ~ Rob Kailey

Mike Lange Blasts the War

by: Matt Singer

Mon Sep 24, 2007 at 06:47:59 AM MST

Wonder how the righty blogs are taking this.

ID-Sen & MT-Sen: Rammell & Lange in the Press: More Bad News for Lange

by: Senate 2008 Guru

Wed Jul 04, 2007 at 13:07:11 PM MST

As many of you know, disgraced Republican Mike Lange entered the Montana Senate race last Friday.  Why on earth did he announce on a Friday?  So he could enjoy all that sexy Saturday press that no one would read, of course.  It's like Lange said, 'Bob Schaffer in Colorado had a stumbling, embarrassing entry into his Senate race. Let's copy that!'

Then, earlier this week, Republican rancher Rex Rammell announced that he would be entering the Idaho Senate race, regardless of primary challengers, and seemingly expecting a Larry Craig retirement and a Jim Risch entry (with which I agree).  Anyway, it appears that, despite Rammell being far less known in Idaho than Lange is in Montana, and despite the fact that Rammell will be a primary underdog while Lange could very well be the Republican nominee-to-be, it seems that Rammell got more positive press for his Senate race entry than Lange did for his.

Makes Lange look pretty bad by comparison and his nascent campaign pretty inept.  Just food for thought.

The Nation: K Street's Favorite Democrat = Max Baucus

by: Headwaters

Thu Mar 01, 2007 at 15:05:24 PM MST

In October 2005 Republican lobbyist Leo Giacometto hosted a NASCAR Fundraiser in Georgia. For $2,500 a pop donors received breakfast at the Ritz-Carlton and a day at Atlanta's famed Motor Speedway. Giacometto, a former chief of staff to Montana GOP Senator Conrad Burns--disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff's favorite senator--has been involved in a number of tawdry political scandals, raising questions about why any elected official would want to be associated with him. But the most interesting thing about his NASCAR party was the identity of the guest of honor: not a fellow Republican but the Democratic senator from his home state, Max Baucus. To Giacometto, Baucus, the ranking Democrat on the powerful Senate Finance Committee, was not a partisan adversary but a useful and valuable ally. "I believe that he's good for what I believe in," the lobbyist told the Billings Gazette.

Today, in the aftermath of the Democratic sweep of Congress, Baucus is still one of corporate America's favorite Democrats. As chair of the Finance Committee, he counts among his friends and political supporters a Who's Who of bankers, oilmen, ranchers, pharmaceutical lobbyists and Wall Street executives. He's particularly close to Montana's sole billionaire, industrialist Dennis Washington, a major donor to the Republican Party whose business interests Baucus has promoted over the years. The business community, in turn, expresses admiration for Baucus in its usual style--by writing big checks.

But this is the kicker:

Calling all bloggers for Jon Tester!

by: PsiFighter37

Sat Jan 06, 2007 at 15:43:17 PM MST

It's great to see citizen journalism in action. A project here at Daily Kos is picking up steam - where we 'adopt' a congressional committee and keep tabs on their progress. It's a great idea, and by all means one that we should encourage; after all, a democracy thrives when its citizens participate actively within it.

Before the election I was thinking of taking a similar principle and applying it to our newly-elected Congresspersons and Senators in the U.S. Congress. Many of our newly-elected representatives come from extremely close races (such as Patrick Murphy in PA-08 or Joe Courtney in CT-02), or they are in areas that will make it a challenge for them to be re-elected every time they are up (Nick Lampson in TX-22 or Nancy Boyda in KS-02). While the Netroots-endorsed list has only included challengers, it's inevitable that we will have to begin defending our incumbents, beginning in 2008.

And that's where we come in.

Did the National GOP Help or Hurt Mr. Burns?

by: Matt Singer

Wed Dec 27, 2006 at 13:33:02 PM MST

The strangest thing about the article, though, is that it begins with Burns saying the NRSC's ads hurt him more than they helped him -- an allegation that says that in the .7% race, Burns thinks Liddy Dole basically cost him the election. But other critics think the NRSC didn't do enough in Montana, failing to get back on the air here quickly enough.

This juxtaposition goes unmentioned by the reporter -- all grouped together simply as the NRSC gets the blame. It reveals a few things, though:

• Politics is still more art than science. There is little agreement among the practitioners of its dark arts over what works, what helps, and what doesn't.


• Campaigns like to blame party committees. Party committees like to blame independent committees. Independent committees like to blame candidates and parties. And voters get damn sick of all of 'em.


• Success has a 1,000 fathers. Defeat is an orphan. No surprise here.

MT-Sen: GOP Ready to Throw in the Towel?

by: Matt Singer

Mon Dec 04, 2006 at 07:06:21 AM MST

In presidential elections, the state of Montana is as red as a ripe tomato. Yet Democrats currently control the governorship, the legislature, and both Senate seats. Sen. Max Baucus is insurmountably popular, but if he were to drop out for some unexpected reason, Republican congressman Denny Rehberg might have a good opportunity to succeed him.

Will Max Baucus Flip-Flop on Support for Bush Appointee

by: Headwaters

Sun Dec 03, 2006 at 11:49:25 AM MST

The cart before the horse circumvention of his duty as a US Senator is all the more remarkable considering that last time Gates was nominated by a president named Bush, Baucus voted no.

Without public hearings to demonstrate that Gates has changed, the question then becomes whether it is in fact Baucus who has changed over the last 15 years. Was Baucus right in 1991 to conclude that the senate wouldn't be able to hold accountable a CIA Director who was a central figure in Iran-Contra? Or is Baucus right now to trust Bush and have such a little focus on accountability that he is signaling support before the first hearing?

Populism and Teamwork Catapult Baucus Poll Numbers

by: Headwaters

Thu Nov 23, 2006 at 16:01:21 PM MST

SurveyUSA released such a new poll and it shows that popularity for Baucus skyrocketed after the senator was seen campaigning with progressive populists Jon Tester and Brian Schweitzer.

Among all voters, Baucus' net approval increased by 18 points. His net support among Democrats increased 29 points and he netted a 20 points gain among Republicans.

Will Baucus stick with Gov. Schweitzer and Jon Tester when it comes to progressive teamwork and economic populism?

MT-Sen: We Won

by: Matt Singer

Sat Nov 11, 2006 at 15:57:20 PM MST

Consider this an open thread.