That is how money and influence works. The monied interest gets someone on the committe to insert a paragragh or two into an unrelated bill on their behalf. That is how Enron got to own water rights across South America, for example.

Any bill that has been deemed 'sure to pass' gets immense amounts of pork inserted over time. By the time is is voted on, there are dozens of riders that are unrelated to the purpose of the original bill. The beauty of being in Congress is you can support a bill for its good points, or vote against a bill because too much pork was inserted. Either way, you have a good argument to your constituents.

If you want to use it as a cudgel, feel free. Then find me any member of Congress that hasn't voted on a bill that contains some aspect they didn't campaign on.

Some at the top of the party now have a seat at the BIG table. Democratic insiders are able to get rich. Years have been spent ingratiating themselves to the beltway institutions that can make that happen. The problem is the cost of that seat at that table.

It costs selling out the rest of the party. They turned the Democratic Party into a vehicle for their own enrichment. We peons are, as Rahm so eloquently put it, "f*cking retarded" anyway. They got rich by getting us dems to go along with neoliberalism.

The problems are: it isn't 1992, Hillary doesn't have Bill's charisma, and America has seen this movie several times now.

Most of the party insiders haven't collected several years' worth of quarter-million-dollar speaking fees. Their promised payoff is yet to come. Bernie upsets that entire apple cart.

I do believe they'd rather keep the possibilty of a movie sequel alive and sell out the party further than give it up. They've sacrified so much already - they deserve a payoff. Besides, Bernie isn't of their ilk; thus, he is easily put on the chopping block.

If they were smart, they could get some restitution from the other side of the aisle for taking down a common enemy, if they haven't already.

when he began. He was in the political wilderness. Before any vote is cast, he has not only shifted the conversation, he has single-handedly dragged the presumptive nominee toward his policies at virtually every single turn. She is taking positions she never has nor never would have taken if it weren't for him.

That should make him dance. It SHOULD make any Democrat dance who is capable of putting aside the cult of personality.