Suzanimal
12-16-2014, 11:51 AM
Too long to cut-n-paste.
The last-minute vote to approve a long-term spending package cast a bright light on unusual splits in an otherwise unified Democratic congressional caucus. Following the lead of Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), House and Senate Democrats voted against a bill that President Obama was personally advocating. It was similar to the insurgency faced by the Republican establishment last year, as many, many pundits pointed out, only with "no bank bailouts" replacing "no Obamacare" as a rallying cry.
At ABC, Rick Klein, presumably with his tongue in his cheek, suggested that there are now "four parties that need to be taken into account in the Senate: two party establishments, and two wings that are arguably more in touch with the vocal grassroots." But, that's not only in the Senate. The House was actually somewhat more polarized on the vote than the Senate, following the lead of Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) who actively opposed the CRommnibus deal.
But what if Klein is right? What if the Congress actually completely fragments, along the lines that were sketched in the sand on the spending vote? What then?
The short answer is: Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) are still the most powerful members of Congress. It's just that they have a much smaller base from which to operate.
If we assign members of Congress to political parties based on the spending votes, we end up with four parties. The Liberals bucked the Democratic president to oppose the spending package. The Democrats voted for it. The Republicans followed Boehner and McConnell's lead. The Conservatives didn't. It gives us maps of the House and Senate that look like this, with the actual party composition underneath. (Note that this is only based on 1) people who voted on the spending package and 2) are returning to the 114th Congress.)
...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/12/15/welcome-to-the-four-party-congress/
The last-minute vote to approve a long-term spending package cast a bright light on unusual splits in an otherwise unified Democratic congressional caucus. Following the lead of Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), House and Senate Democrats voted against a bill that President Obama was personally advocating. It was similar to the insurgency faced by the Republican establishment last year, as many, many pundits pointed out, only with "no bank bailouts" replacing "no Obamacare" as a rallying cry.
At ABC, Rick Klein, presumably with his tongue in his cheek, suggested that there are now "four parties that need to be taken into account in the Senate: two party establishments, and two wings that are arguably more in touch with the vocal grassroots." But, that's not only in the Senate. The House was actually somewhat more polarized on the vote than the Senate, following the lead of Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) who actively opposed the CRommnibus deal.
But what if Klein is right? What if the Congress actually completely fragments, along the lines that were sketched in the sand on the spending vote? What then?
The short answer is: Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) are still the most powerful members of Congress. It's just that they have a much smaller base from which to operate.
If we assign members of Congress to political parties based on the spending votes, we end up with four parties. The Liberals bucked the Democratic president to oppose the spending package. The Democrats voted for it. The Republicans followed Boehner and McConnell's lead. The Conservatives didn't. It gives us maps of the House and Senate that look like this, with the actual party composition underneath. (Note that this is only based on 1) people who voted on the spending package and 2) are returning to the 114th Congress.)
...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/12/15/welcome-to-the-four-party-congress/