Free Republic

The Senate Parliamentarian has ruled that President Barack Obama must sign Congress’ original health care reform bill before the Senate can act on a companion reconciliation package, senior GOP sources said Thursday. The Senate Parliamentarian’s Office was responding to questions posed by the Republican leadership. The answers were provided verbally, sources said.

got this in an email....representative gooberment my butt....this is just more ammo for the We The People vs. Congress law suit.... The United States Senate regularly passes major legislation without even voting on it. That disturbing fact caught my attention when I first arrived in the Senate, and frankly, it still bothers me. The legislative process as it taught in eight grade civics class is logical, consistent, and most of all, transparent. The legislative process as it is practiced in the Senate today is nothing like that ideal. Every week, the Senate routinely passes legislation that is never voted on,...

...Why is the filibuster allowed in the Senate but not in the House of Representatives? The answer is that the filibuster did indeed once have a home in the House. That it doesn't anymore is a tribute to a 19th-century Republican hero: Speaker Thomas Brackett Reed of Maine. If he is recalled at all today, it is because of the memorable nickname his enemies fastened to him in the wake of Reed's successful abolition of the filibuster in the House: "Czar." ... The primary weapon of the minority was the so-called "silent quorum" or "silent filibuster." Under the House rules...

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist reportedly has the votes to enforce the so-called "nuclear option" against judicial filibusters instigated by Democrats, despite claims to the contrary by Minority Leader Harry Reid. After a Thursday meeting with Senate Democrats, Reid boasted he was ready for the coming battle. "It was one of the most pleasant experiences of my entire life," he told reporters. "We walked out of there so united. We talked about what's going to happen after Tuesday," when the filibuster showdown is expected to come to head. But according to New York Times columnist David Brooks, Reid was blowing...

As the battle continues in Washington over President Bush's selections for federal judges, a new poll indicates 57 percent of Americans want Senate rules to be changed so a vote must be taken on every person the president nominates to become a judge. The survey by Rasmussen Reports finds only 26 percent disagree. If the Senate rules are changed, most Americans – 51 percent – say Democrats should not follow through on their threat to use other rules to effectively shut down the Senate. Just 26 percent believe Democrats should retaliate in such a manner. According to the survey, Democrats...

(Note: Majority Leader Frist delivered the following remarks on the floor of the United States Senate today.)Throughout the judicial obstruction debate, emotions have run high on both sides. This should remind all of us, once again, of the need to return civility to our nation’s capital.The American people want their elected leaders to work together to find solutions. To them -- doing what’s Republican or Democrat matters far less than doing what’s right for our country.Let me briefly discuss how we got here.Never in 214 years -- never in the history of the Senate -- had a judicial nominee with...

Bob Dole says that amending the Senate's rules would be unnecessary if only Senate Democrats would forswear use of the filibuster. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Pete Du Pont recounts that many Democratic Senators have had a change of heart when it comes to the propriety of filibusters: "Other Democratic senators have had similar changes in belief: Joe Biden and Robert Byrd, Tom Harkin, Ted Kennedy, Joe Lieberman, Pat Leahy, Chuck Schumer and their erstwhile colleagues Lloyd Bentsen, and Tom Daschle have all vigorously opposed the use of the filibuster against judicial nominations. Mr. Schumer was for voting judicial...

Illustrating the abhorrent yet entirely predictable behavior of those on the left, Rush Limbaugh explains, “A tiger is a tiger. A snake is a snake. And a liberal is a liberal.” To which he should add that a “moderate” is a liberal too. Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, outspoken Republican “moderate” and Judiciary Committee chairman, makes this point painfully obvious once again. Specter recently voiced his concern over the possibility that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R.-TN) may significantly alter Senate rules, invoking the so-called “nuclear option,” to counter Democrat obstruction of President Bush’s judicial nominees. Specter expressed fears that this...

THE WASHINGTON TIMES Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist says he has the 51 votes needed to change Senate rules and make it easier for Republicans to overcome Democratic filibusters against President Bush's judicial nominees, but he hopes such a change won't be necessary. "We need to restore the over 200-year tradition and precedent of allowing every nominee of the president who has majority support an up-or-down vote on the floor of the United States Senate," Mr. Frist told The Washington Times on Thursday. "It's consistent with the Constitution, where we are as a body to give advice and consent, and...

It’s been a while since I’ve inflicted a heavy dose of constitutional law on y’all. Sorry, but it’s necessary, since President Bush will likely make several Supreme Court nominations next term. Therefore, the rules of the Senate are at issue. I can see you nodding off already. Pinch yourself, then let’s have at it. The Constitution says, in Article II, Section 2, clause 2, that the President can establish treaties with the “advice and consent” of the Senate by a two-thirds vote. But for Senate approval of presidential appointments, no supra-majority is required. That means majority vote only. In this...

<p>THE anti-fur folk at PETA may have a new target: Sen. Hillary Clinton.</p> <p>On Dec. 24, the Times' Boldfaced Names column reported that Manhattan furrier Peter Duffy "told us he had just finished a mink coat for Hillary Rodham Clinton."</p>