Since being elected as the junior senator from the state of Minnesota, Senator Al Franken has made a point of limiting his television appearances... until tonight.
Our very own Lawrence O'Donnell caught up with Franken on Wednesday at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte. The senator, a "longtime viewer and first-time caller" on The Last Word, discussed the the importance of bipartisanship after the election is over.
Leave a Comment:
Hey Lawrence, just saw your interview with AL Franken. Was he as drunk or high in person as he seemed on the tv? Did you get a contact high? Looking forward to seeing this footage again on late night tv. Well done Lawrence-
So is this one an echo, or is it the other one on the next clip with this being the original?
A bit of friendly advice: when you say something stupid, don't repeat yourself.
And honest, nobody cares if Al Franken has hoisted a few. These are Democrats, silly...
Now if MItt Romney appeared drunk, that would be another matter. And don't listen to Grandpa Fuzzie accusing me of being drunk; I've been sober longer than he was married.
Seems to me a little overture of bipartisan cooperation with the peoples House of Representatives in 2011 and 2012 after the drumming out of office the Democrats took in the 2010 election after Obama, Reid, and Pelosi pushed through their total Washington DC control (except for the Supreme Court thankfully) with theit one way agenda. They paid for that in 2010, they will pay doubly in 2012 as they really didn't learn their lesson, cause they still had the do nothing President, and the do nothing Senate to block what the House wanted to do.
Fuzzie, have you forgotten that vocabulary word again? I know it's a hard one...
F-I-L-I-B-U-S-T-E-R...
http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2010/03/01/gop-set-to-triple-filibuster-record.html
How bad is GOP obstructionism in the Senate? Republican senators are on pace to more than triple the previous record for uses of a filibuster in a Congress. In 2009, there were a record 112 cloture votes (the number of cloture votes is how you measure the use of filibusters). So far in 2010, there have already been more than 40 cloture votes. The previous record was in 1995-1996, when the Republican-controlled Senate required 50 cloture votes.
Man, I need a bath. I just read a right wingnut's blog where he said it was the Democrat's fault that Teapublicans had to filibuster so many times... I'm guessing that genius went to work for the Romney campaign...
Check out Bob Woodward's new book, focusing on the failures of Obama and his White House to make a bonofide attempt at negotiations with the new Speaker of the House which having come so close to the Big Deal he blew up by coming back to the table for 50% more new revenue and less social spending cuts after he and Bohener had agreed to a plan of cuts, entitlement reforms, and $800 billion in new revenue from tax reform. Having been involved in contract negotiations on the union side of the fence, that is a cardinal sin in negotiations...having come close to a deal, you don't suddenly as for more for your side, you try to come closer in the give and take if further refinement is necessary. That stunt the amateur President tried is called officially Not Bargaining in Good Faith.
But that is characteristic of this White House, that began with their majoriities in both houses of Congress in Jan, 2009 and rammed thru their extreme legislation and deficit spending in two years. As to Obama's 2008 campaign promise to be a bi-partisan initiative Presidebt, his choice for top man in the White House summed it up when he uttered those words about the Republicans in the minority in the Senate and House..."F..k them, we have the votes". And now they don't have the votes, but they still try to play the same game, only now its bluff. Good luck with that approach if you are so lucky to survive into another term as a failed President Barrack Obama, because you will either have to become bi-partisan in a hurry, or go down to infamy. I'm betting that with your baggage, you ain't getting a second chance at the bi-partisan promise, Obama. Franken ahould have spoken up two years ago, if he is serious about seeing the need for bi-partisanship. That commedian might have been nominated for his Party's standard bearer rather than the clown the Dems are about to recrown tonight!
Are you going to claim you've read the book, Grandpa?
Better call your crisis worker, the unemployment figures just arrived... And you're right to be upset with Al Franken... He was an early role model of mine after I was re-baptized as a Democrat...
http://economywatch.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/06/13702961-jobless-claims-tumble-raising-hopes-for-hiring?lite
The unemployment figures just arrived? Are you referring to the ADP survey of households, who self-report new employments for members of the houshold? Yes, they see 200,000 jobs added in August, almost entirely in the service sector. But I'm afraid their numbers differ drastically each month from the Department of Labor statistics, that will provide Employment for August, Unemployment for August, and an Unemployment Rate for August tomorrow AM, 9:00AM and not a day before, Cab Driver.
I would hope that the ADP prediction of 200,000 jobs from their survey for August materializes, but I fear they are counting mostly highschool and college youth in summer month temporary employments. They specified a 8,000 increase in Manufacturing jobs in August for example, whidh flies in the face of the ISM data released just yesterday that showed a slump in manufacturing activity (especially in durable goods) for the month to its lowest level in over 3 years.
You really have to go get a course in Macro and Micro Economics, and for the Employment and Unemployment data, a course in Labor Economics, Cab Driver. I did that in the 60s as part of my Magna Cum Lude Bachelor's degree...and it stood me well in my professional work, and in my Labor Union activities. And dealing with these issues on this blog.
Hey SL, just saw the labor dept. figures and only 365,000 new firs time unemployment filers for the week ended September 1st. Hope they all vote.
How can BO spin this number?????????
The figure represents an unexpected drop, which means things are moving in the right direction in spite of the Republicans and their obstructionist tactics. You have seen the figures that suggest if the House had gone along with White House programs, the figure would be about 7.3%, right? But no, they've got to protect their constituents' rights to pay less tax on their income than working stiffs.
Anyway, it appears you share Grandpa Fuzz's masochistic tendencies in remaining here. I would ask, though, that you not shamelessly steal my material the way he does (as he does with others as well). Try to have a bit of originality, and if you start experiencing some genuine cognitive dissonance, we're here to make a referral for you...
And that slur with the President's initials wasn't very subtle. BHO would be more appropriate. Bo is the White House's first dog, and we all know dogs are above the fray....
SLC
Wondering which we'll see first, Romney's tax returns or an answer from Grandpa on the Woodward book...
SL-
And therein lies the difference- Obama sees 365000 newly unemployed people and says it could have been worse or as you say an improvement over the prior week (by 12,000)
I see 365,000 newly unemployed people and am astonished at the number- this is just for one week. At this pace, there will be more newly unemployed between now and election day than jobs restored during Obama's first term.
1700 plus NEW unemployment insurance claims per month, and that is a sign of progress? Surly you can do better that, Cab Driver. I know Romney/Ryan can.
I still have't seen you refute my Bureau of Labor statistics that show only 200,000 new job added from Jan, 2009 thru July, 2012, and that doesn't even begin to cover 2 months worth of growth in adult age population in the country. Can't do it, Cab Driver, can you? Nor can any of you pack of liberal Obama apologists here.
Whatever happened to the "misery index"?, Remember that from the Reagan-Carter election campaign that gave a quantification to the pain that the citizens of this country were feeling at the time of the election? We need to see that back....believe I will make that suggestion today to the Romney/Ryan folks.
Just listening to the Clinton speech, where he claimed that no president could have ushered in a recovery from this past recession late 2007-2009 in jusst four years, and yet history showed that Ronald Reagan did it in 3 years recovering from a huge recession with 21% interest rates, rampant gas lines, and real business and consumer malaise that looked insurmountable. And Reagan with Paul Volker's steering the fight on inflation cut taxes, cut regulations that were hamstringing our business sector, and unleashed an economic revival in this country that took tax revenues from $500 billion a year in 1981 to over $1 Trillion a year by 1988, and greatly reduced that former high misery index from the high 20s to the low single digits.
We desparately need that kind of approach again.
You neglected to mention that Democrats controlled the Congress during that era, and that Reagan was the beneficiary of a genuine peacetime economy.
And while you're lying about the deficit run up under the Obama Administration, you're ignoring the numbers run up on the Gipper's watch.
And that's just for starters... And we're still waiting to hear whether you read Woodward's book buzzword babbler...
Cold War spending under Reagan that burried and ended the evil empire of the Soviet Union, but you were spending your days in the bars and nights in detox then, so you missed that little piece of critical info, I know.
Hey, Cab Driver! Got your wake up call this morning with the Labor Department statitistics (DISMAL) for August, of only 96,000 estimated new jobs (takes 160,000 a month to cover just the rise in population of work age adults in the nation). Add in the fact that for every 1 new job, 4 individuals dropped out of the labor force, as its easier to get food stamps and work under the table or spend savings or do without than keep searching for jobs that just aren't materializing. That's 368,000 people that dropped out of the labor force in August, our the exact 0.2% measured by the new Unemployment rate of 8.1% from 8.3% (if you're not looking for work, you aren't counted as unemployed). Of course, the true unemployement rate more like 14+%, and the unemployed and underemployed 23+%). Worse yet, the June and July Non Farm payrolls were also revised downward by over 40,000.
As I explained, Cab Driver, you just can't trust those ADP numbers. And again, do I have to teach you everything?
KL - I'd recommend you read up a little more on Reagan and his economic policies before dreaming of returning to that standard:
#.22Reaganomics.22_and_the_economy
I lived the Reagan years and raised a family under those policies, Lane. I'm quite famialar with their success, especially after the stagflation of the failed Jimmy Carter years that were so hard on myself and my young family and so many like me.