Ted Kennedy and his Senate seat
Ted is looking for the Commonwealth of Mass to change a law, allowing Deval to pick an interim Senator if Ted were to pass on or not be able to work. The law was changed by a few years ago, preventing then Mitt Romney to pick as successor to John Kerry if he had been elected president. The rub here is that the person appointed to Ted's seat would NOT run for his seat.
This all boils down to the Health Care Reform that Ted has pushed for years and could go down to one or two votes in the Senate in the coming weeks or months. The one party ruling elite will do their best to keep their choke hold on our State.
Let's see how Deval, DeLeo, Murray handles this.
posted by Jim Pillsbury @ 11:59 AM
12 Comments
12 Comments:
Not allowing the appointed person to run I think makes this a sensible solution. It is not just the health care bill. MA would be down one vote in ANY bill that comes before the Senate for several months. WIth the state of the economy, and the wars we are waging, I don't want to be the only state with just one vote.
Not related to this topic at all, but what are your thoughts on that terrorist who blew up the plan over Scotland being released? We are sending our kids off to war to fight these guys, and the Scottish let them out of jail after serving 8 yrs for over 200 dead. That's less then 2 weeks per person who died. Seems that life is getting pretty cheap, at least to the Scottish authorities.
Good point Anon.
Brian,
I knew someone who dies in prison over a growing marijuana sentence. There are 2,000 people in prison in Mass with mandatory drug sentences.
Seems like little justice for the families of those lost over Scotland. Perhaps the terrorist will pass on when he gets to Libya.
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Seems your justice system is a bit skewed, don't you think? Jail for 10 years to a kid who has an ounce of pot on him and gets caught 3-4 times, but 8 yrs when you kill a plan full of innocent people. Exactly where is the justice in that?
Kennedy is going to die and we are going to be left with only one voice in the Senate at one of the most difficult periods in our history. We need to think and plan ahead here. Why would anyone want to leave the voice of MA completely and solely up to John Kerry? Come on now. You can not really think that is a viable choice.
James,
I agree.... but we (Beacon Hill) has to change the rules.. again, just to make sure a Dem gets the temp job.
Will we change again the rules if a Republican Governor gets in?
Curious what you all think now that the man is gone. The state now has only 1 vote in the Senate, where every other state has 2 votes, twice as many as us. And that will be the case for the next 4-5 months. The people of MA are at a disadvantage here. Whether you liked Kennedy’s ideas or not, he was a force to be reckoned with, and a strong advocate for the state of MA. Even with someone temporarily in his place, we have lost much. Leaving his seat open for 5 months in these economic times seems absolutely ludicrous to me, but then, much of MA politics falls into that category.
A vote is a vote is a vote. I do not understand the people who opposed Kennedy’s suggestion that we change the state law to allow us to have equal representation in the Senate. You idiots are saying MA should be the only state with just one voice instead of 2. Can someone explain to me the logic of that decision? I did not agree with Kennedy’s stand on almost all issues, I am a republican in a democratic state, and use to not understanding the ideas of many of my neighbors. But on this one, I think you are all idiots.
Martha Coakley a front runner to replace Kennedy? You have got to be kidding me. I say we follow Kennedy’s suggestion, and appoint Coakley to the vacant seat until an election can be held. That way, she can not run for the seat because that is part of the deal if you take the appointment, and she will no longer be the AG for the state. We would win on all fronts if that scenario played out.
He knew he was dying, and yet he still was looking out for his constituents here in MA. Say what you want about the man. He was good for this state and good for this country in so many ways you must have agreed with him on at least one of them.
There's no question in my mind... or any other aware human being that has lived in this world for the past 50 plus years, that Ted was good for the country, state and world, in so many ways.
Since the man has thought of everything on his way out, one would think he would have named a successor and maybe he has and we don't know it yet.
Only now do we hear from the Senate, that if Ted were actively involved all this year, a compromise would have already been a done deal... maybe or maybe not.
The forces that are trying to stop or game health care reform are bigger than Ted and a simple majority in the Senate.
For now, we are down to one vote in the Senate representing Mass. Beacon Hill will serve up hearings and little debate in the next month and I'll bet, they will change the law again to allow Deval to appoint, Joe Kennedy? Mike Dukasis? or whomever by late September.
But I'll bet, Health Care reform will not make it this year.
We have no say in who represent us.. temporarily and who among any of them on the short list, could ever be any more than a follower in the Senate?
Changing the rules for political reasons can only hurt us down the road, but we don't have a say in it at all. Beacon Hill could care less about what we think... on any subject.
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