The Brothers Levin: Liberal without Apology

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http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/03/06/the-brothers-levin-low-key-michigan-lawmakers-cut-wide-swath-on/

Straight shooters, liberal without apology, unpretentious, low profile, and conscientious about public service and their obligations to their constituents and state.

Those are some of the things that colleagues and reporters who have covered them say about Rep. Sander Levin and his younger brother, Sen. Carl Levin. Partisan political opponents and conservative activists are not as kind, especially when it comes to the liberal part. But after this week, all sides must also say that the Levins are among the most powerful brother combinations to ever walk the halls of Congress. And even now, they walk softly.

On Thursday, Sander Levin, 78, was chosen as interim chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, succeeding Rep. Charles Rangel, who was forced to step aside because of an ethics investigation. The committee writes the nation's tax laws and handles international trade, Medicare, Social Security, public assistance, foster care and adoption. Ways and Means is so important and demanding that its members are not permitted to serve on any other major committee in the U.S. House.

Across the Capitol, Carl Levin, 75, leads the Senate Armed Services Committee, which later this year will authorize in the neighborhood of half a trillion dollars for weaponry, boots on the ground, and the R&D that supports two wars and deployments all over the world. Chairman Levin is also promoting legislation that would lift the historic ban on gays serving openly in the U.S. military.

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