The Ghost of Jack Murtha
By John Batchelor on March 1, 2010 at 3:30 PM in Current Affairs
From the blog for the syndicated nightly John Batchelor Show.
Murtha said that the only way to do healthcare was to fashion a much smaller bill with Republican support. Murtha said the way to work together was to follow the model practiced by Speaker Tip O’Neill and Ronald Reagan thirty years ago.
The ghost of Jack Murtha did not believe in his own leadership or in the path that the Obama administration has chose for reform.
The panels were mixed as to the question if the GOP will tie up the Senate and do no business in protest. Avlon thinks it unwise.
We all wondered if the Jim Bunning temper tantrum last week was a warning shot or a maverick maneuver by a retiring veteran.
Reconciliation is so arduous, arcane (the rule was written by Robert Byrd in order to suit much smaller pieces of legislation in the budget process) and unpredictable a mode when used for partisan advantage that there is much room for mischief.
No one disputed much that Washington will not transform into a bickering battle on one subject.
Also, the polls will be painful.
Salena Zito tells me that and the young and earnest Jason Altmire (below) of 4th Pennsylvania, a first-term Democrat who defeated Melissa Hart near Pittsburgh in 2008, has put out a pamphlet that features his conservative feelings but does not mention that he is a Democrat.
Also, Selena Zito indicates that Murtha’s 12th CD is leaning heavily toward the GOP even as soon as the May Special Election.






















