Posted on 04/09/2005 8:13:30 PM PDT by FairOpinion
Sen. Robert Byrd (W.Va.), the Democrats' point man in the effort to preserve the filibuster, was himself an advocate for replacing supermajority votes with simple majority votes back in the 1970s, when he was the majority leader and Republicans were using the filibuster.
Byrd:
• Originated a proposal in 1975 to reduce the supermajority from two-thirds to three-fifths.
• Broke a filibuster in 1977 with a simple majority vote.
• Threatened in 1979 to change Senate rules to break a filibuster, asserting that "this Congress is not obliged to be bound by the dead hand of the past" and that "rules have been changed from time to time."
• Made other parliamentary maneuvers in 1980 and 1987 to stifle debate.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
IMHO, they already have. I don't think they have the guts or the votes.
Anyone care to take bets on whether the Republicans will grow a pair and stand up to Grand Kleagle Byrd?
I think the Republicans will finally go ahead with this. They really have no other choice. They must either end the filibuster or pack up and go home, because the 2006 election will be a disaster for the party unless they stand up and do what they were elected to do.
This was news like a month ago when RCP and all the republican sites had this news about Byrd but Dana is such a hack that he takes this long to get the news and they wonder why nobody reads papers anymore
The repubs have been behaving like lost little kids, scared of their own shadows. Right now, I would not bank on them at all --- if they let us down, my voter registration will be changing, to a minority party that still cares about America and its Constitution, its borders, its soverignty and its laws.
After watching them cave on PAs my guess is hell no
You won. Now lead.
Moreover, make the democrats filibuster, the way filibusterin' is supposed to be done. Don't let them go home, or do photo-ops at the steps of FDR Statue, or on some other door step. Keep 'em locked in 24/7 and let them blab, blab, and blabber themselves out of their jobs in 2006.
Exactly! They aren't even filibustering! Force them to actually do it, and take it from there!
...What does that say about the "party"? The republican party wants votes, and they'll cut and give up their guts to get and keep their power. I have no use for them...
You're right. 20 years ago the WaPo would have broken a story like this. Now they're left picking up the pieces.
>>>Anyone care to take bets on whether the Republicans will grow a pair and stand up to Grand Kleagle Byrd?
I think I have a better chance of dating Ann Coulter.
What amazes me is November 3rd, 2004...a grand victory...'Four More Years"..etc.
Now the illegal alien issue, "leadership" in the senate and other issues. I'm looking at the Constitution Party now.
Me too. If the GOP can't capitalize on their position, having control of both houses of Congress and the Presidency, then I'm going back to being a third-party stalwart. They control the entire apparatus of lawmaking, and if they can't do some good now they will never do it.
...I agree, three or four or more party candidates. But, it's not about President Bush. Yea, I have disagreed with a lot of his policies, you cite the Big One, migra. Bush has nothing to lose. It's the legislatives that should be worried. I voted libertarian candidates since Hospers in 71, but, I'm a constitutionalist, and looking to see what they say, and, I like the party stance...
Everyone on this thread is right about the Republican Party. They have let us down. But I have one basic question. Do you really think things would be about as good as they are now under John Kerry. With all the US troops out of Iraq, Zaquari, ruling there, suicide bombers blowing up in Israel and Kerry agreeing with the Palestinians, the EU, and the UN that all the Isrealis have to do is agree to the Palestinian Right of Return into Israel and everything woudl be fine, the Chinese getting ready to take over Taiwan and the Japanese looking to make a deal with them, Russia announcing an acceloration of the program to provide "peaceful nuclear energy" and intercontinental ballistic missiels to Iran, Kerry saying OK, but they have to follow strict UN guidelines or face sanctions...
Yep, it's better to be pissed off at the Republicans only 30% of the time, compared to 95% of the time with the Rats.
.....and pass the global test. lol
To Dr. Bill Frist: The patient is on his face on the gurney, with his knees bent and his hips elevated; your extra long rubber glove is well-greased; the giant-size nuclear option suppository is in your hand; though the patient will hurt 8-), YOU MUST INSERT!
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