RADIO TIDBITS

Jeff Kuhner, a wack job at the Washington Times, subbed for Michale Savage yesterday and accused Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) of using "thug" threats to intimidate Republicans on the health care reform vote. As I recall, this is the sound bite Kuhner played to make his point:

We—if they‘re going to—if they‘re going to try to filibuster in the traditional sense or in the more modern obstructionist sense that they do, they‘re going to have to—they‘re going to have—they‘re going to pain too.

To a rube, this would sound ominous and you can be sure the rube would never bother to look up the MSNBC transcript to get the real meaning, which is nothing more than telling the GOPers that the Dems will make full use of existing Senate procedures:

MADDOW: Yes. It seems to me like in terms of political calculus for the Republicans, the worst situation is if the bill passes and they all vote no for it. In the -- with the expectation that health reform is going to actually improve things for average Americans and improve the overall economic situation with regard to health care. But Senator McConnell today started talking about not wanting to tip his hand as to what he had in mind for stopping health reform. I understand they`re desperation to stop it.

Do you know what they`re going to pull out their hat to try to kill it?

BROWN: I think they`re going to -- with reconciliation, they`re going to try to do amendments, as many as they can get away with. And I think we keep them all here tonight, the next night, the night after, the night after. We -- if they`re going to -- if they`re going to try to filibuster in the traditional sense or in the more modern obstructionist sense that they do, they`re going to have to -- they`re going to have -- they`re going to pain too. They`re going to have to stay all night and we`re going to have quorum calls and we`re going to do whatever we need to do to get this passed within the Senate rules and within fair play.

But that`s the way we`ve done it all along. And I just -- you know, this whole thing when they say, we`re going to -- reconciliation, we`re going to turn over 1/7 of the American economy, reconciliation, for one thing, it`s a majority vote, as you point, which every other country in the world runs their parliamentary or their congress by. But more than that, the reconciliation part of the bill is small, at the edges, fixing, making positive changes in the big bill that both houses have already passed and the Senate with the supermajority of 60 and in the House.

So, this whole thing that we`re turning to reconciliation -- one more point, when I hear them say they only did little things with reconciliation. When I was in the House, the Senate did reconciliation -- when they did reconciliation on tax bills, they took a surplus that was going to be trillions of dollars and turned it into a deficit -- a debt, which was going to be trillions of dollars. And they say that was a minor thing they did with reconciliation? Nice try on that one, my friends