Financial columnist Jim Jubak notes that prospective Democratic replacements for key House Republican committee chairman might not make environmentalists hearts go aflutter:
But Bartons likely replacement [as chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee] would be John Dingell, D-Mich., a fierce advocate for the U.S. automobile industry. In other cases, the effect of the change is easier to extrapolate. Pombos likely replacement as chairman of the House Resources Committee would be Nick Rahall, D-W.Va. Can you say "coal," boys and girls?
P.S. Jubaks stock picks are pretty good, too.
As Ive written elsewhere, the Democrats today resemble in some ways the Republicans of the late 1940s. Theyve been out of power for a long time, and theyre positively foaming at the mouth at the prospect of getting back in. The base and the moderates are temporarily on friendly terms, but it wont be long before the hard Lefties find themselves on the outside. To use the 1940s GOP analogy, they want Taft; theyll be stuck with Willkie, or Dewey, or Eisenhower.