Reads like a lost Ed Anger column.

I don’t get it. What would it achieve?

This bill is purely Democratic pork to pay back their base and consolidate socialist power for years, if not decades, to come. They are scarcely attempting to conceal this fact and not even the most ignorant among us should be fooled in the slightest. But Senators Specter, Collins, and Snowe – a veritable Three Stooges of politics – appear to lack the wisdom and maturity of their classic movie comedy namesakes. And what they have foisted upon the public will not be a laughing matter. (Though I confess I wouldn’t mind seeing them get poked in the eyes or clonked in the cranium with a big wooden mallet.)…

The only purpose there ever was to allowing liberals like Collins, Snowe and Specter in the party in spite of all their wandering off the reservation was that they would still cast a few keys votes when numbers fell at important dividing points – e.g. a Republican as majority leader when the Senate was divided 50-50; with the party when at or near 60-40 to stop or end filibusters.

Neither one of these reasons exists anymore. Democrats presently have 58 votes, and with this betrayal, these three have proven they can’t even be counted on to uphold filibusters. As such, they have demonstrated themselves to be completely expendable.

What’s a surer way to get them to vote with the GOP on future filibusters, excommunicating them or trying to make nice? If you want them out, which is a distinct possibility in Specter’s case, follow the nutroots example and fund a primary challenger. Otherwise, why bend over backwards to alienate the last few pockets of Republican support in the northeast?