How the Senate made it almost impossible to vote down the Iranian nuke agreement

Israel Matzav ^ | 7/14/15 | Carl in Jeruslaem

[Nachum]

The United States constitution provides that treaties may only be adopted with the advice and consent of two thirds of the United States Senate.

Three months ago, the Senate adopted a bill that was negotiated with President Obama that abdicated that right of approval. In essence, under Corker-Menendez, Obama has the right to present his surrender to Iranian nuclear weapons to the Senate not as a treaty, but as an agreement. And if the Senate says no, Obama has the right to veto that no. Unless the Senate comes up with 67 votes to override that veto, the agreement with Iran will stand. That means that 34 votes to sustain Obama's veto are enough for the agreement to go through.

There are 44 Democratic Senators in the current Senate, plus an additional two Independents who caucus with the Democrats. In order to override an Obama veto, 13 of those Democrats and Independents must vote against Obama.

Does anyone really think that's going to happen?

Go back and read this post from three months ago. It's astounding.

Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Bob Corker, Iran Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Iran sanctions regime, Iranian nuclear threat, P 5+1, United Nations, United States Congress, United States Senate, uranium enrichment

[Nachum]

In case you thought it could be stopped...

[Nachum]

The list, Ping

Let me know if you would like to be on or off the ping list

http://www.nachumlist.com/

[onyx]

Carl in Jerusalem =

Bob Grant’s old caller “Carl in Oyster Bay”?

[Nachum]

Bob Grant’s old caller “Carl in Oyster Bay”?

Interesting :)

[Jim Robinson]

I don’t see how this can possibly pass constitutional muster.

[DemforBush]

“In essence, under Corker-Menendez, Obama has the right to present his surrender to Iranian nuclear weapons to the Senate not as a treaty, but as an agreement.”

With apologies to Edwin Starr:

Bob Corker
What is he good for?
Absolutely nothing!
Say it, say it again!

[mmichaels1970]

I don’t see how this can possibly pass constitutional muster.

SCOTUS overlords have ruled that this no longer matters.

[justa-hairyape]

So Israel sits behind an iron dome. What does Europe sit behind ? What does the US sit behind ?

[Praxeologue]

The rationale of conservative Senators was that the Iran pact would be an agreement, based upon extensive precedent, and not a treaty. As such, it does not require any Senate advice and consent. The Corker/Menendez bill was viewed as, practically. as much hand-tying as Obama would accept. After all, that bill needed his signature. He would never have signed a bill that, for example, only required a simply majority in both Houses, effectively turning over the decision to the Republicans.

While an override is very unlikely, sixty votes or so in the Senate, for example, would give a new Republican President a strong case to abrogate the agreement in 2017.

So Sen. Cruz and others voted in favor of Corker/Menendez.

[afraidfortherepublic]

This is a terrible (terrifying) way to start the day! :(

[a fool in paradise]

I don’t see how this can possibly pass constitutional muster.

With this Supreme Court, law and constitution do not matter. They are in Obama's pocket.

[Pollster1]

You cannot waive your right to sue over negligence, but Congress can waive its constitutional responsibility to oversee treaties? It’s no wonder constitutional government is failing under Obama.

[DuncanWaring]

Yep.

On their most recent Øbamacare rubber-stamp, they actually came out and admitted "Yes, the law clearly says 'X', but we don't like 'X', so we decree that the law actually says 'Y'".

[Gen.Blather]

“I don’t see how this can possibly pass constitutional muster.”

The Constitution only matters when certain people want it to matter.

When Hammurabi said, “an eye for an eye,” it was a huge leap forward in the law. What it meant was, let the punishment fit the crime. It removed the accused from the arbitrary punishment of men to the more certain punishment decreed by law. Laws got better and better and when all were included they led, directly, to the incredibly advanced society we have today. People could, with confidence, say, invest their capital with the assurance that any dispute would be handled by laws that applied to all. Obama fired the CEO of GM (against the law) and (against the law) decreed the bond holders would take much less than they should under written law.

I’m reminded of Martin Niemöller’s poem which begins, “First they came for the communists.” First they came for the CEO of GM and I said nothing because I was not the CEO of GM.

The Constitution is no more. I wonder if it even can be reestablished. Obama, after all, has expanded the power of the Presidency for all future presidents. It would take a special man to give up that power. I doubt a man like that exists today.

[DaveA37]

Can a new POTUS squelch the deal all together or does it become cast in stone for eternity?

[DuncanWaring]

That I do not know.

One thing I do know is that if he (or she) tries, they will be impeached and driven from office for being a racist.

[niteowl77]

GOP = stupid party

I used to call them that, but like Obama, they aren't usually literally stupid… venal, dishonest, evil maybe, but generally speaking, at least most of them know what they are doing. I suppose that's a "word game" too, but calling them "stupid" makes them sound like victims of their own ignorance rather than cold-blooded, corrupt assholes.

There may be a GOP - or 'Rat for that matter - senator genuinely far enough down on the IQ curve to have been suckered (though one might expect a staffer to get the gist of things) by Corker-Menendez, but my guess is that they were being collegiate criminals knowing they have a better than 50% chance of deflecting any blame after the deed is already done.

Stupid like a fox. Now, me continuing to vote for the jerks… that is stupid.

Mr. niteowl77

[DH]

The Senate has more important things to do other than to perform as it was originally designed to do. It can’t be bothered with actually abiding by the original rules of Government.

Like our Constitution, the Senate, House and Supreme Court are now liberated from the chains of the Constitution and Bill of Rights and are now flexible and free of those restraints.

They are now at liberty to enrich both their power and financial status at will and by “going along to get along” we have a whole boatload of happy campers.

Just remember, if things turn sour for America they have the financial and political strength to move to another country more to their liking while “the little people” have to live in the pile of excrement they left behind.

[DH]

“I don’t see how this can possibly pass constitutional muster.”

Constitutional Muster???? You can find that in the capital cafe right by the ketchup. It certainly is not on the floor of the House and Senate.