Posted on 04/05/2019 6:55:29 AM PDT by Olog-hai
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is escalating her call for Democrats to end the 60-vote requirement for many major bills to clear the Senate if her party wins the White House and Republicans try to block their agenda.
The 2020 Democratic presidential candidate is set to speak Friday at the National Action Network convention in New York.
According to her prepared remarks, she will say that “the filibuster was used as a tool to block progress on racial justice.” …
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
It’s beyond comprehension WHY McConnell hasn’t gone nuclear on this already.
He’s got this pie in the sky, idealistic attitude about the Senate, where it’s clear that if the Democrats had their way, they’d reduce all legislation to a majority.
Just think, the first two years, we would have passed everything, every thing Trump wanted if we had a majority vote.
NOW YOU HAVE WARREN BASICALLY ADMITTING THAT THE DEMOCRATS WILL DO THIS IF IN POWER.
So, Mitch, why wait. Institute this now.
Exactly. Use it or lose it............................
The Senate long ago ceased being the “greatest deliberative body on Earth.” The 60 vote thingy was the perfect excuse for Republicans to not deliver on the legislation they promised.
Yep, and pack the courts to the brim and undo every damned thing they can so IF the dems regain control they will have to spend ten years just gettign back to where they were 30 years ago.
Fake injun squaw grabs another meaningless headline — it will be fun if pdjt can find a good solid constitutional court nominee from Taxachusetts
It’s amazing that Trump got anything done the first two years, when you realize, he had no support the first 6 months, and then Ryan and Associates were trying to undercut him every way but loose.
It seems fairly clear, that nothing will get done until 2020.
We need to sweep the elections, and have clear majority in both chambers.
The so-called “filibuster” rule is technically “cloture.”
“Cloture” is intended to give the minority a chance to argue their point to the body.
The US Senate is a dysfunctional body, and abuses the cloture mechanism so the body works on a minority veto principle.
Individual senators like this dysfunction, they like minority veto, in fact, they’d like to each have a personal veto, like judges do. They used to have individual/personal veto against judicial confirmations, the “blue slip” rule.
The stupid but patient and roughly gutless public puts up with the US government stepping all over the constitution. Senate dysfunction is merely an amusing sideline.
Of course they’re going to do it. We knew it was going to happen, because that’s what they do. Then squeal about it when Republicans play by the new rules with them.
The Senate, the House, the judiciary, the Presidency, it’s the same everywhere.
Tyranny of the majority is a (correct) cry against DEMOCRACY.
Democracy is bad. Really bad. Universal suffrage is awful. It is amazing to me that universal suffrage is held up as a great thing, something to be valued and protected. Straight out of the Communist Manifesto.
Sad. But, the human condition is such that countries and even entire civilizations rise and fall.
That’s the lay of the land so our side may as well deal.
What the left has in store for America when President Trump is gone will be horrific. Our side does not seem to be worried.
I have never understood why McConnell didn’t get more criticism for sticking by the filibuster rule. He singlehandedly stopped the GOP Congress from implementing its agenda after Trump was elected. Singlehandedly, yet with little criticism, or even with praise due to his approval of Trump’s judicial appointments (even though he allowed those to be slow-walked through even up to today.)
I’ve also argued that doing away with the filibuster rule would actually cause an increase bipartisan legislation. Why? Because it would only take one or two Democrat senators to cross over and help pass legislation if a couple of GOP senators (Murkowski, Collins, Flake in his day, etc.) defected. They’d probably even be allowed to attach their names to a bill in recognition of their support.
But right now, if Manchin wants to cross over and support a GOP bill, it doesn’t matter because McConnell needs six to ten Manchins to get past the filibuster rule. So none dare cross the aisle at all. And once a bill popular with a senator’s constituency was deemed as bound to pass, other red state Democrats would cross over as well, and a slim 51-49 majority might even become 55-45, giving it a true bi-partisan flavor.
I’ve also stated every time I bring this up that the Democrats will do it as soon as they control both Houses of Congress and the Presidency. Now Warren makes the case for me. But now it’s too late. The House will never send the Senate a bill worth passing until the GOP regains control once again. Hopefully, that’s coming soon, but I’m not optimistic.
Change the rules from day to day-—the Liberal way!!
FR: Never Accept the Premise of Your Opponent’s Argument
Forget the filibuster.
The Constitution is actually what blocks federal government involvement in most racial justice issues, corrupt, post-17th Amendment ratification career lawmakers making unconstitutional federal civil rights laws to get themselves reelected by low-information voters. Affirmative action comes to mind.
More specifically, the only race-related protection that the states have amended the Constitution to expressly protect deals only with voting rights issues, evidenced by the 15th Amendment (15A).
15th Amendment:
"Section 1: The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.Section 2: The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation [emphasis added].”
Note that 15A expressly give Congress the express power to resolve race issues, but only in the context of voting rights problems.
Otherwise …
”From the accepted doctrine that the United States is a government of delegated powers, it follows that those not expressly granted, or reasonably to be implied from such as are conferred, are reserved to the states, or to the people. To forestall any suggestion to the contrary, the Tenth Amendment was adopted. The same proposition, otherwise stated, is that powers not granted are prohibited [emphasis added].” —United States v. Butler, 1936.
So any race issues outside the scope of voting rights are 10th Amendment-protected state power issues imo, not the business of the feds.
In fact, the constitutional record shows that Rep. John Bingham, a constitutional lawmaker, had clarified that the Founding States had left the care of the people to the states, not the feds.
”... the care of the property, the liberty, and the life of the citizen, under the solemn sanction of an oath imposed by your Federal Constitution, is in the States, and not in the Federal Government [emphases added].” —Rep. John Bingham, Congressional Globe, 1866. (See about middle of 3rd column.)
Corrections, insights welcome.
It should have been done away with long ago on spending bills to run the government.
you’re right!
I’m probably in the minority here, but tempting as it is to do away with the filibuster when your side is in power, the wise thing to do is to keep it.
It makes it harder to pass more laws and that is a good thing for anyone who favors smaller government and personal freedom.
Everytime a law is passed government grows and your freedom diminishes.
What I would favor is a simple majority to get rid of existing laws and a supermajority to enact new laws.
“Then she won’t object if we end the 60-vote rule now?”
exactly!
let’s hope the Dems make a really big deal out of this which essentially should give Mitch the go ahead to do this BEFORE 2020!
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