Posted on 12/09/2013 5:59:09 AM PST by IbJensen
It takes only an inch of snow to shut down Washington, but even the nuclear option cannot get Republicans to shut down the Senate.
Several weeks after Harry Reid changed hundreds of years’ of Senate rules by abolishing the filibuster for all judicial and executive appointments, Republicans have all but forgotten about it. They could have threatened to block every piece of legislation until the rules are restored, but instead they are fully cooperating with a budget bill to fund Obamacare and increase spending, along with a farm bill to grow government intervention in the agriculture sector. They might even help Democrats pass a bill that can be used as a vehicle for more gun restrictions.
Needless to say, without any fear of reprisal, Democrats plan to jam through a number of Obama nominees before the end of the year on a party-line vote.
Democrats will attempt to pack the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the second most important court in the country, with Obama’s radical nominees. On Monday evening, the Senate will vote on Patricia Millett. They might try to push through two other D.C. Circuit nominees, Robert Wilkins and Cornelia Pillard, later in the week. Republicans had been blocking all D.C Circuit nominees because the court is currently split between Republican and Democrat appointees, and unlike other courts, this one actually has a very light caseload burden. The addition of three more liberals would be devastating for conservatives because this court has original jurisdiction over many of the constitutional issues arising from political fights in Washington – both in Congress and with Executive overreach.
The Senate will likely vote on the nomination of Congressman Melvin Watt (D-NC) to be the next Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Conservatives strongly oppose Watt because during his career serving on the House Financial Services Committee, he has been a consistent advocate for expanding the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into the private housing market. He worked hand-in-glove with Barney Frank to push the affordable housing agenda, which forced banks to underwrite risky loans to those who could not pay them back. He helped bring down the housing market, and by extension, the entire economy.
It would be a disaster for Watt to serve as the top regulator of those failed agencies as director of FHFA. It’s akin to appointing the arsonist as the fire chief.
So what should Republicans do?
They could start by suspending all negotiations on end-of-year legislation, such as the budget deal, farm bill, and extension of Medicare doc fix. But more importantly, as we’ve noted before, in order for the Senate to function members must agree to unanimous consent on a variety of procedures. Without a unanimous consent agreement, no standing committee can conduct business after two hours from the time the Senate convenes. With only two weeks left of this session, Republicans can completely shut down the Senate by denying these UC agreements.
Even after the nuclear option, 45 Senators have the ability to wreak havoc on the majority. Just one senator has the ability to slow down the Senate. It’s all up to Mitch McConnell. He can end the year with a bang or a bust.
Thank you Mitch.
The politicians in the GOP are on the same side as the Dems. They’re all Progressive.
The key is winning elections. Just think how much damage was done by not defeating Harry Reid in 2010.
Win elections.
Ditch Mitch.
If Mitch McConnell truly wanted to get re-elected, he would work with Senators Cruz, Paul and Lee to make this happen. In fact, he talked tough right after Dingy Harry went nuclear ....
Mitch McConnell goes nuclear
Sen McConnell issues blunt threat: "You will regret this and you may regret it a lot sooner than you think," ....
Instead, the only ones he really even attempts to go nuclear on are authentic conservatives ....
Ditch Mitch.
The key is not to win elections. The key is to stop fraud. We did not elect Reid to the senate; corruption and fraud put him there. Our hands are tied here in Nevada, we CANNOT rid ourselves of Dingy under the status quo. It is up to all of us to put a stop to election fraud. I don’t know what it is going to take, but we are going to have to do it. Harry Reid is not just a Nevada problem; he is an American problem, and America has to fix this problem!
Sure they don’t have a spine
Guffaw…chortle…snicker.
Yep. Big government types all. And they all view themeselves as elites and see the rest of us as pawns.
D&R’s share common beliefs: spend other peoples money, grow the government, and take on more debt. And most important of all, continue to fool the constituients.
Obviously, that is important. But the author points out a number of other options short of that - none of which the GOP jellyfish are even considering. They real problem is most of them are useless and especially McConnell.
If the shoe were on the other foot, does anybody think for a second the Dims would act like the feckless Gutless Old Party and simply surrender and roll over? Hell no!
I despise Reid, Schumer, and the rest of those Commies, but at least they know how to fight and they would.
Who elected Mitch McConnell to be minority leader?
Who elected John Boehner to be Speaker of the House.?
Am I getting through to anyone.
Let me answer.
REPUBLICANS elected these two sorry scraps of skin to their positions.
Do we really think Republicans will rise up to challenge either of them selling us out?
You certainly did elect Reid to the Senate, you Nevada Republicans, by nominating someone in Angle who obviously could never win that seat.
And the alternative to Angle was a Rino, which makes your Don Quijote elections quote moot in the first place. That would have been electing more of the same crap we have now.
What do you do with a child that disobeys? You punish them. The ONLY thing we can do is to quit voting republican. I know 3rd parties are a “waste” of vote; I know the dems sweep to power; I know it will get “worse”. But, it is the only way to end the republican party, which is what has to be done.
The words "straight party line vote" should give the Dems nightmares.
IMHO, this line alone will bring every Democrat candidate to their knees from now until kingdom come........ "Obamacare is the ONLY legislation in modern American history enacted on a straight party-line Democrat vote.
The Democrat plan was specifically designed to upend the medical delivery system, leave millions of families and children without health coverage, and nationalize 1/6 of the US economy."
POSTER HUMS THEME FROM "JAWS" White House chief of staff Denis McDonough held an unpublicized meeting with Sen. Michael Bennet (DIMWIT-Colo), chairman of the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, amid anger and anxiety that ObamaCare’s botched rollout could cost the party its majority next year.
In the meeting, requested by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), McDonough and Bennet discussed what the White House could do to help vulnerable Senate Democrats and “talked a/bout developing a stronger relationship with the White House.”
Democratic senators fear the White House is not sympathetic enough to their plight. After the government shutdown, they were confident they would retain the Senate, but optimism vanished as problems with the healthcare law mounted.
POSTER HUMS "HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN" “I know these guys are nervous as hell. I mean, all of their jobs are on the line because this is the thing making the biggest waves lately. It’s a nightmare.”
Mitch McConnell. He can end the year with a bang or a bust.
____________________________________________________________
Mitch McConnell is a sissy.
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