StickWithANose

While Ted Kennedy is now being eulogized as the “Liberal Lion” of the Senate, he was in fact a political horse-trader who shepherded through more than a few laws that did not emanate from the political left. The best example of this is No Child Left Behind. Kennedy’s  imprimatur provided a patina of equity to an otherwise blatantly corporatist piece of legislation, and now we find ourselves in the situation where ideas that were once closely associated with the reactionary right are now regarded as being “progressive.” In this context, an important question to ask is: Who is going to replace Kennedy on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee? Right now, it appears as though two senators are in the running.

First in seniority among the Democratic majority is Sen. Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, now the chairman of the Banking Committee, who was one of Sen. Kennedy’s closest colleagues.

The banking panel deals with a range of issues of paramount importance to Sen. Dodd’s home state, said James Thurber, the director of the Center of Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University, in Washington.

But Sen. Dodd has taken considerable heat in Connecticut for his handling of the financial crisis and “is in a bad situation for an incumbent senator,” Mr. Thurber said. That might make it tougher for Mr. Dodd to step away from issues that are key to the Nutmeg State, Mr. Thurber said.

Since Sen. Kennedy’s illness, though, Sen. Dodd also has been a key figure in developing health-care-overhaul legislation, which is partly in the jurisdiction of the education panel. Such a measure is a top priority for congressional Democrats and President Barack Obama. And because it was also a passionate cause for Sen. Kennedy, Mr. Dodd may want to see the current overhaul through, in part to honor his friend, Mr. Thurber said.

Lawmakers are typically not permitted to chair two committees simultaneously, but there is some speculation that the Senate could temporarily suspend those rules so that Sen. Dodd could continue his work on a health-care overhaul.

The next Democratic lawmaker in seniority is Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, who heads the Senate appropriations subcommittee that deals with education spending.

Sen. Harkin would have to give up his chairmanship of the Senate Agriculture Committee, which deals with issues important to the Hawkeye State, to take the top spot on the education committee.

But Mr. Harkin, who has long been a champion of students in special education and of federal funding for school facilities, would likely be interested in the education chairmanship if Sen. Dodd declines to take it, education lobbyists say. That would put Sen. Harkin in charge of both policy and money on education, health, and other issues.

It’s hard to say who would be the best person for the job… Dodd appears to be owned by Wall Street and Harkin is owned by pharmaceutical companies and Monsanto. Considering Harkin spews out crap like this and Dodd at least sounds like he knows what he’s talking about, perphaps it is the case that Dodd’s dependence on the financial industry will shield him from the education lobby and slow down Arne’s “March to Sea”… that is if he can stay in office.