Posted on 04/22/2010 2:31:27 PM PDT by American Dream 246
The radicals in Washington are giving the Marxists in Venezuela a run for their money.
Senate Democrats have gathered in the Rules Committee to eliminate the filibuster.
Republican.Senate.Gov reported:
THEN-SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL): “What [The American People] Do Not Expect Is For One Party, Be It Republican Or Democrat, To Change The Rules In The Middle Of The Game So They Can Make All The Decisions While The Other Party Is Told To Sit Down And Keep Quiet.” “What they do not expect is for one party, be it Republican or Democrat, to change the rules in the middle of the game so they can make all the decisions while the other party is told to sit down and keep quiet. The American people want less partisanship in this town, but everyone in this Chamber knows that if the majority chooses to end the filibuster, if they choose to change the rules and put an end to democratic debate, then the fighting, the bitterness, and the gridlock will only get worse.” (Sen. Obama, Congressional Record, S.3512, 4/13/05)
THEN-SEN. JOE BIDEN (D-DE): “I Pray God When The Democrats Take Back Control, We Don’t Make The Kind Of Naked Power Grab You Are Doing.” (Sen. Biden, Congressional Record, S.5737, 5/23/05)
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV): “The Need To Muster 60 Votes In On Executive Power And Part Of Every Senator’s Right To Free Speech In The United States Senate.” (Sen. Harry Reid, “Reid Floor Statement On Nuclear Option,” Press Release, 5/17/05)
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY) On Any Threat To The Filibuster: “The Basic Makeup Of Our Senate Is At Stake. The Checks And Balances That Americans Prize Are At Stake. The Idea Of Bipartisanship, Where You Have To Come Together And Can’t Just Ram Everything Through Because You Have A Narrow Majority, Is At Stake. The Very Things We Treasure And Love About This Grand Republic Are At Stake.” (Sen. Schumer, Congressional Record, S.4801, 5/10/05)
• SCHUMER: “We Are On The Precipice Of A Crisis, A Constitutional Crisis. The Checks And Balances Which Have Been At The Core Of This Republic Are About To Be Evaporated By The Nuclear Option. The checks and balances which say that if you get 51% of the vote you don’t get your way 100% of the time. It is amazing it’s almost a temper tantrum by those on the hard right. They want their way every single time, and they will change the rules, break the rules, misread the Constitution so they will get their way.” (Sen. Schumer, Congressional Record, S.5208, 5/16/05)
SEN. ROBERT BYRD (D-WV): “I Believe That Efforts To Change Or Reinterpret The Rules In Order To Facilitate Expeditious Action By A Simple Majority, While Popular, Are Grossly Misguided.” (“Sen. Byrd Calls Proposed Democratic Changes To Filibuster Rules ‘Misguided,’” The Hill, 2/24/10)
SEN. CHRIS DODD (D-CT): “‘I Totally Oppose The Idea Of Changing Filibuster Rules,’ Dodd Said During An Appearance On MSNBC. ‘That’s Foolish, In My View.’” (“Dodd: Changing Filibuster Rules Would Be ‘Foolish,’” The Hill, 2/17/10)
SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D-CA): “Blinded By Political Passion, Some Are Willing To Unravel Our Government’s Fundamental Principle Of Checks And Balances To Break The Rules And Discard Senate Precedent. The nuclear option, if successful, will turn the Senate into a body that could have its rules broken at any time by a majority of Senators unhappy with any position taken by the minority. It begins with judicial nominations. Next will be executive appointments, and then legislation.” (Sen. Feinstein, Congressional Record, S.5398, 5/18/05)
SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D-IL): “Those Who Would Attack And Destroy The Institution Of The Filibuster Are Attacking The Very Force Within The Senate That Creates Compromise And Bipartisanship.” (Sen. Richard Durbin, Congressional Record, 4/15/05, p.S3763)
• DURBIN: The Filibuster Is “[One] Of The Most Treasured And Cherished Traditions Of The United States Senate.” “Many of us in the Senate feel that this agreement tonight means that some of the most treasured and cherished traditions of the United States Senate will be preserved, will not be attacked and will not be destroyed.” (Sen. Durbin, “Statement of Sen. Dick Durbin Regarding the Agreement on Judicial Nominations in the Senate,” Press Release, 5/23/05)
SEN. BEN NELSON (D-NE): “Filibusters … Give Small States Such As Nebraska An Important Tool To Protect Itself From The Will Of The Larger States.” “Filibusters also give small States such as Nebraska an important tool to protect itself from the will of the larger States.” (Sen. Nelson, Congressional Record, S.5917, 5/25/05)
SEN. MARK PRYOR (D-AR): “I Was Very Concerned That When You Looked At The Nuclear Option, If That Trigger Was Pulled, You Had A Nuclear Winter That Would Follow.” “But in a broader sense, I did this agreement for them because I was very concerned that when you looked at the nuclear option, if that trigger was pulled, you had a nuclear winter that would follow.” (Sen. Pryor, Congressional Record, S.6000, 5/26/05)
I would really like to see some of these clowns lose their heads. It might serve as a deterent.
Doesn’t it take 67 votes to change a rule like that? I think this is a media scare tactic, crap...like the “Obama cancels national day of prayer” on April 15.
I submit this query to smarter folk than I.
He might switch to mincing.
It is a raw, naked power grab. The Rats think that they can do enough damage that for the two 1/2 years that Obastard will hold veto power that it can never be undone.
No, the Constitution states that the Senate has the ability to make its own rules and its rules say that they can change the rules with a simple majority.
The Rats cannot make a rule that binds a future Senate.
What America-hating freaks these DIMs are! Vote them out! In the meantime why aren’t the Republicans screaming?????
You can bet that they are. But you can't hear them because the MSM isn't about to give them a megaphone.
I am not sure about that....
The "nuclear option" would have involved VP Cheney ruling that the filibuster rule did not apply to a vote to confirm, or reject, a judicial nomination. The Senate rules are silent on the point, and the filibuster was not routinely used against judicial nominees until recent years. It would have been a hardball move, but the chair does have the power to resolve disputes.
This, if true, is very different. This is an attempt to overturn by trickery a rule that every Democrat in the Senate (including then RINO Specter, minus Franken who was not seated), specifically voted in favor of just back in January of 2009.
Back when the nuclear option was being talked about, I said that the Republicans ought to go ahead and do it, as the first time the filibuster kept the Democrats from doing something they wanted, when they had a majority, and a the Presidency, they would just change the rules themselves.
Depressing to (apparently) be proven right.
“The only surprise is the lack of repulsion from the public for the administrations agenda.”
The public is repulsed. We’re just biding our time until November. True, there are many who are either all for socialism or those who aren’t paying attention. But, I think the Dems already know the public at large is after their collective, sorry a**es!
Why am I so afraid for Nov?
Too stupid and lazy?
Yes, I agree there is a wholesale difference between what was being contemplated then, and what the Dems are thinking about now. But, the parliamentary maneuver - just describing the mechanics of how they make this work - is the same.
But, what are the Republicans going to do? Maybe they sue, in an attempt to get the Dems to follow the Senate rules - Powell v McCormack maybe helps theme here - but I think it's a very long shot. People overlook the power of the VP when acting in the capacity of President of the Senate. Even Cheney during the legislative debate over the Bush tax cuts wouldn't act in this manner when some wanted him to overrule the parliamentarian using a point of order maneuver. Cheney said, no thanks. We will see if Biden does the same. I'm not going to hold my breath. They know that they're getting fired in 7 months, and this might be their last chance for a while to move their legislative initiatives.
I underestimated their treachery (that's really all you can call it) in the health care debacle. I won't make that mistake twice.
Yeah, but the problem is that after the filibuster is gone the Democrats will make it impossible to ever win an election again by giving all of the illegal aliens amnesty and voting rights. Which will quickly be followed by putting an ULTRACOMMIE on the Supreme Court with ease. They could pack all of the courts with commie supporters, and they couldn't be removed by simple majority. There will be unbridled power to dismantle the rest of the constitution and 8 months to do it in. The Supreme Court couldn't stop them, because they could just pack the court by passing a law by simple majority. Heck, what if the Dems just go for the whole enchilada and suspend elections in November and rule by simple majority. Will they do all of this? Who knows? How crazy do you think they are?
I am scared to death that 0 will pull something to not only keep control of the legislature but somehow garner more senate seats. He is soooo corrupt that he would do it i the light of day and laugh!
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