Franken Amendment

I get it. Believe me, I get it. Every day I talk to people - especially progressives - who are deeply disappointed with the leaders they worked so hard to elect. The litany of letdowns seems endless: Guantanamo. The public option. Don't ask, don't tell. Too big to fail. And, looming over all of it, the battered economy and a sense that the case for more government action wasn't made when it should have been.

Many of the hard-working activists I've met, people who can usually be counted on to encourage others to vote, aren't even sure they'll go to the polls themselves this year. They're saying that we've learned in the last two years just how corrupt the system has become. They're asking, what's the use? Even I, Mr. Glass Half-Empty, have been a little surprised at the level of pain and disillusionment.

The disaffection among core voters is there, and it's real. more »

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It was a fight to the finish between two heavyweight contenders. In this corner, representing the big Wall Street interests and wearing green trunks the color of money, Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts. And in this corner, representing common sense and the American people, wearing red, white, and blue trunks, Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota. The gentleman from Massachusetts had the refs were on his side, thanks to the bout's corporate sponsors, so the outcome was a foregone conclusion. It was impressive that the fight got as far as it did, and in the end it was a split decision, but it's as they say in the boxing world: In a split decision the reigning contender always wins.

And when it comes to Capitol Hill, banks are always the reigning contender. more »

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