South Dakota Politics

Sen. Feingold: Daschle's reaction to contentious dissent "brutal"

I was having a conversation with a liberal friend of mine this weekend, and he reminded me of Senator Daschle's treatment of Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold during debate over the USA Patriot Act. Senator Feingold was the lone vote in the Senate against the USA Patriot Act, and his contentious dissent incensed Senator Daschle. The story is worth recalling, in light of Daschle playing up his dissenter credentials after John Thune questioned Daschle's judgment in making his divisive comments on the eve of the Iraq war.

Senator Feingold was interviewed by The Progressive and here's what he had to say about the Daschle squeeze:

Q: You were the lone Senator to oppose the USA Patriot Act. How would you describe Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's reaction to you?

Feingold: Fairly brutal. I want to thank Tom Daschle on campaign finance reform. He really came around and helped us move it through. I had a reverse experience on the USA Patriot Act. When the original Ashcroft anti-terrorism bill came in, they wanted us to pass it two days later. I thought this thing was going to be greatly improved. They did get rid of a couple of provisions, like looking into educational records. But there were still twelve or thirteen very disturbing things, and I thought, OK, we'll take care of this. But then something happened in the Senate, and I think the Democratic leadership was complicit in this. Suddenly, the bottom fell out. I was told that a unanimous consent agreement was being offered with no amendments and no debate. They asked me to give unanimous consent. I refused. The Majority Leader came to the floor and spoke very sternly to me, in front of his staff and my staff, saying, you can't do this, the whole thing will fall apart. I said, what do you mean it'll fall apart, they want to pass this, too. I said, I refuse to consent. He was on the belligerent side for Tom Daschle. And everybody said they were surprised at his remarks. Reporters thought it was so unlike him. And it is unlike him....

What happened in the Senate was that even though the Attorney General was going to allow these changes to make it moderately better, the Administration insisted, and Daschle went along with pushing this through. I finally got to offer the amendments late at night, and I got up there and I made my arguments. And a lot of Senators came around to me, who, of course, voted for the bill, and said, you know, I think you're right. Then Daschle comes out and says, I want you to vote against this amendment and all the other Feingold amendments; don't even consider the merits. This was one of the most fundamental pieces of legislation relating to the Bill of Rights in the history of our country! It was a low point for me in terms of being a Democrat and somebody who believes in civil liberties.

Nat Hentoff wrote a column about this headlined "Sen. Tom Daschle, the enforcer." Excerpt:

In the May issue of The Progressive -- a national monthly magazine based in Wisconsin -- Feingold reveals an intriguing similarity between Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's attitude toward contentious dissent and Ashcroft's assertion that those who criticize the USA Patriot Act are providing immunity to the enemy.

While that bill was being rushed through Congress by the administration, Daschle asked his troops to unanimously agree to it without debating or amending the bill. Feingold refused because the bill, he said, had some "very disturbing things."

At that point in The Progressive interview, Feingold revealed that "the majority leader came to the floor and spoke very sternly to me, in front of his staff and my staff saying, 'you can't do this, the whole thing will fall apart.'"

Feingold would not be intimidated by his leader. According to Feingold, Ashcroft -- whom Feingold voted for in the Senate Judiciary Committee -- said on the phone that Feingold might be right about some of the changes the senator wanted. But, Feingold said, "the White House overruled him."

Late that night, Feingold, defying Daschle, rose to offer an amendment to the USA Patriot Act. Feingold recalls: "A lot of senators came around to me who, of course, voted for the bill, and said, 'you know, I think you're right.'

"Then Daschle comes out and says to them, 'I want you to vote against this amendment and all other Feingold amendments; don't even consider the merits.' This was one of the most fundamental pieces of legislation relating to the Bill of Rights in the history of our country! It was a low point for me in terms of being a Democrat and somebody who believes in civil liberties."

Amy Sullivan circumspectly discusses Daschle in Commonweal

Amy Sullivan is a liberal writer/blogger/policy wonk who seems to have taken it upon herself to make John Kerry (and the Democrats generally) get some religion. She also is a former staffer for Tom Daschle, and she worked primarily on the partial-birth abortion issue during her tenure with Daschle in the mid-1990s. It is in that context that her recent piece in Commonweal, headlined "Kerry & Religion" sheds light on the relationship between Tom Daschle and his home diocese in South Dakota. Relevant excerpt from Sullivan's Commonweal piece:

For me, the prospect of a Kerry candidacy brought forth memories of lessons learned from working on abortion policy for a Catholic Democratic senator in the mid-1990s. My eighteen years of Baptist Sunday school were, unsurprisingly, no match for the bishop with whom I exchanged letters on behalf of the senator. With great conviction, I sought to assure the bishop that the senator formed his political judgments only after searching his conscience—I had never heard of the possibility of an “erroneous conscience.” As a good Baptist, I believed “the church” was the building where I attended worship services and potluck suppers, not an institutional authority with a doctrinal tradition that was not optional for adherents. The idea that a church leader could withhold the Eucharist from a parishioner because of political differences offended my religious sensibilities, making me outraged on the senator’s behalf.

My efforts were, to say the least, not very effective. But my frustration led me to enter divinity school, where I spent several years thinking and writing about how church leaders can and should deal with religious matters in the political sphere and, yes, where I took several classes on Catholic social teaching in order to be better prepared for the next go-round.

It's interesting how circumspectly Sullivan discusses Daschle. She never mentions his name. Normally, it's rare to read a piece where Sullivan doesn't explicitly mention her experience as a staffer for Tom Daschle.

As veteran SDP readers know, I happened upon Sullivan's blog a few months ago and extracted some very interesting pieces of information, which I in turn posted to my blog.

In an intriguing turn of events, all of the links in my above-mentioned post to the interesting things Sullivan had to say on her blog about Daschle are now dead. If you click on the "March 2003-March 2004" archives link on Amy Sullivan's blog, that too is a dead link.

I noted this development of Sullivan attempting to erase the things she had written about Daschle in a post a few months ago. It turned out that I had jumped to conclusions at the time, and that her archives still existed, it just required an extra step of searching in order to find them. I apologized for this mistake, and regret making it.

Now, though, it actually is the case that the archives are gone, never to be seen again, unless Amy Sullivan gives the say-so. I noted that her archives had disappeared a few weeks ago, and sent an e-mail to her, dated June 8, informing her of this fact. To her credit, she responded the next day as follows:

Yeah, I know...thanks for reminding me. I've been a bit swamped and haven't had time to figure out what's going on. Hopefully soon. But I can't promise anything. Maybe if I had an intern I could assign them the project of figuring this out. Hmm.

best,

amy

Given the circumspect nature of Sullivan's discussion of Tom Daschle in her Commonweal article, coupled with the disappearance of her blog archives, I think it's safe to say that Sullivan's archives will miraculously re-appear sometime around November 3. Hopefully, she'll prove me wrong.

UPDATE: Note too, that Sullivan has been semi-shunned by the Kerry campaign because of an interview she gave to the Washington Times about Kerry and religion. These Dems really want her to keep quiet.

Via Drudge: Daschle decries "startling meanness" in politics

The AP has a report on a speech Senator Tom Daschle gave in Manhattan, Kansas today. You can hear Daschle's entire speech HERE.

Tom Daschle has frequently engaged in "Sopranos-style intimidation tactics" here in South Dakota, as Jeff Gannon, resident DC expert on South Dakota politics, has reported.

Daschle curries favor with Buzzflash

Tom Daschle sent Buzzflash a copy of the statement he made on the floor of the Senate yesterday, blasting the Bush administration for "attacking good people for telling the truth." He also e-mailed the statement to those on his DASHPAC e-mail list, and the DSCC's blog has the statement. The "Buzzflash Note" is a priceless backhanded compliment:

BuzzFlash readers know that we have been highly critical of Tom Daschle's performance as Minority Leader in the Senate. In fact, we have repeatedly called for his resignation in editorials and headlines. However, his Senate office sent us the following statement that Daschle made on the Senate floor this week, and we want to say, finally, "Good job Senator Daschle!"

We hope that this indicates a new trend in Daschle's stance, and that we will see fewer comments that end up being used on the Bush/Cheney weblog to indicate that Daschle supports many of Bush's policies, including his conduct of the Iraq War.

But we are open minded and glad to give credit where credit is due.

As far as the following statement by Senator Daschle, BuzzFlash says, "Keep it up, Senator! Nicely said, indeed."

(Emphasis added.) Could this be an indication that Daschle's people are frequently reading the Dakota Alliance of blogs?

Of course, Daschle has his own problems with attacking good people for telling the truth.

Daschle blasts Bush's "abuse of power"

Senator Tom Daschle was on the Senate floor this morning blasting the Bush administration for its "abuse of power" in countering the allegations of Richard Clarke, according to a Reuters story headlined "Clarke Denies Playing Election-Year Politics." Excerpt:

On Capitol Hill, Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota took to the Senate floor to accuse the White House of "abuses of power."

He equated the effort to discredit Clarke to a similar move against former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill over a tell-all book in January and the leaking of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame when her husband, former diplomat Joseph Wilson, accused Bush of hyping pre-war intelligence on Iraq.

"I think the people around the president crossed into dangerous territory. We are seeing abuses of power that cannot be tolerated. The president needs to put a stop to it right now. We need to get to the truth and the president needs to help us do that," Daschle said.

Of course, Daschle has his own problems with "abuse of power" back home, as Jeff Gannon, resident DC expert on South Dakota politics, has detailed.

The Daschle Squeeze

[Note: Correction Appended.]

In 1995, Senator Tom Daschle got into some hot water after some of his Sopranos-like intimidation tactics came to light. The 5/7/1995 edition of the New York Times sets the scene:

Senator Daschle began working to remove the Forest Service’s authority over air safety after its inspectors had consistently complained that a carrier in Rapid City, S.D., B&L Aviation, was shoddily run and should be barred from obtaining government contracts. B&L is owned by Murl Bellew, a friend of the Daschles who taught the senator how to fly.

According to a February 13, 1995 AP report:

Daschle started pressuring the Forest Service in 1992 to end its inspection program and leave the job to the Federal Aviation Administration. Daschle’s wife, Linda, is the FAA’s deputy administrator.

A Forest Service memo refers to Tom Daschle’s effort as the "Daschle squeeze."

Earlier that February, Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes first reported the existence of the Forest Service memo describing Daschle’s tactics as the “Daschle squeeze,” and discussed it with Bill Dickson, an aviation inspector with the Forest Service. Excerpt from a transcript of the February 5, 1995 segment of 60 Minutes:

WALLACE: (Voiceover) [Daschle] then took his case directly to then Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy, whose department oversees the Forest Service, and persuaded him to reduce the role of the Forest Service inspections. And that wasn't the first time Senator Daschle came to the aid of Bellew. In 1993, he personally met with federal officials to complain about what he called the 'dictatorial attitude' of Forest Service inspectors. On one occasion, an internal Forest Service memo referred to the senator's efforts as the 'Daschle Squeeze.'

What was the Daschle Squeeze?

Mr. DICKSON: Well, the effort was to--to close down the inspections that we did.

WALLACE: And you've said that you'd never seen political influence as strong as this ever before in your career?

Mr. DICKSON: No, I haven't.

(Footage of B&L Aviation)

WALLACE: (Voiceover) Now if Forest Service inspectors were so concerned about using B&L, why didn't they advise the agency to stop using the company? Well, Bill Dickson says he tried to warn his Forest Service superiors against hiring B&L, but he says that he received a warning in return.

Mr. DICKSON: It was a telephone conversation with a person who's since retired...

WALLACE: Who said?

Mr. DICKSON: ...who said that if you fight the senator, you'll lose.

WALLACE: Don't fight the senator.

Mr. DICKSON: Don't fight the senator.

(Emphasis added.)
Another occasion of the application of the "Daschle Squeeze" is reported in a piece headlined "Senator Blasted for Abusing Office, Seeks IRS Probe of Conservative Group." Excerpt:

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, has asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate the tax-exempt status of the Rushmore Policy Council. The South Dakota-based organization has run advertisements that publicized the voting record of Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD) on abortion and other family values issues.

What makes Daschle's activities in trying to crush dissent in his home state more ironic is his quote in a story headlined "Kennedy fuels Senate furor over Iraq." Relevant graf:

"Any time somebody speaks out criticizing this administration or its policies, there is this orchestrated concerted effort to attack those who criticize," said Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle. "Criticizing those who are vocal in their personal criticism, their approach, their concerns, is McCarthyesque."

On another issue that seems relevant to the "Daschle Squeeze" recall my post a month ago regarding former Daschle staffer Amy Sullivan. Subsequent to that post, I received the following e-mail from Sullivan:

Hi,

While strolling around on the web I noticed this post of yours -- http://southdakotapolitics.blogs.com/south_dakota_politics/2004/week8/index.html#a0000938544 -- and wanted to give you a little more background. I'm a bit embarrassed, actually, that the post I wrote about the Daschle office has gotten picked up by a number of people as evidence of supposed "shady" tactics of Daschle and/or his staff. In fact, I wrote that piece in a fit of pique (of which I am not proud) after a long discussion with one of his senior aides. His advisors simply wanted to streamline his message during the campaign (a perfectly reasonable goal for any political office) and I disagreed with their assessment that my attempt to cheerlead for Daschle on my own might inadvertently hurt the effort when people like some bloggers (ahem) assume that I am working in cahoots with the Daschle office. That's all. I got miffed, wrote about it, and wish I hadn't.

I'd be much obliged if you'd correct the record -- I still adore everyone in his office and strongly believe that there's no one in politics I'd rather work for than Tom Daschle. One of the many dangers of the internet is that if you throw a written hissy-fit, it can get picked up and spread around, and I'd like to take this particular hissy-fit back if I could.

many thanks,

Amy Sullivan

I never responded to her e-mail, believing that "correcting the record" was her responsibility, as all I did was link to what she said. But she can't "correct the record" because the post she wrote has completely disappeared from her website. In fact, the entire archive of her posts over the past year has disappeared. You'll note that all of my links to her blog in the post of mine she complains about lead HERE. I'm not at all surprised that everything she has written about Tom Daschle has disappeared. I think it's clear that the Daschle people applied the "Daschle Squeeze" to her. To my mind, "streamlining the message" in this context is a euphemism for making damned sure South Dakotans don't know how liberal Tom Daschle truly is.

CORRECTION: I guess the archive CAN be found by clicking HERE and which I would have found, had I bothered to read the error page. My sincere apologies for my mistake. I made a cocky statement at the end of the post above which I've deleted, and which I regret.

Investigate Daschle's crushing of dissent

DVT says the Aberdeen American News editorial today, headlined "Investigation into drug bill numbers needed" is a move in the right direction for the newspaper's investigation of intimidation tactics on both sides of the political spectrum, including those a little closer to home.