Breaking: Senate Democrats Gather In The Rules Committee To Eliminate The Filibuster

Gateway Pundit ^ | 04/22/10 | Jim Hoft

[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)

[AU72]

Filibuster for me but not for thee.

Let them try, it will be easier to de-construct Obamacare later.

[blueyon]

democrats play dirty

[Dilbert San Diego]

Yep what they really want is to eliminate the filibuster at times like now, when you have a Democrat president and Democrats controlling Congress.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they write this new rule, so that it expires at the end of this Congress. That way, the next time Republicans are in charge of the Senate, they would still be bound by the old rules.

[bestintxas]

Thye know the game is just about up and American people will want their heads.

[SmokingJoe]

Let them try, it will be easier to de-construct Obamacare later

Yup.
Now we won’t need 60 seats to kill 0bamacare in 2013.
Bring it on suckers!

[Deagle]

Not sure it matters anymore... Most Americans understand that the Constitution is being maligned by the Democrats. It means little that the Senate has just a bit of power left to obstruct. Let them try this in about 7 months...heh.

[Martin Tell]

You know that as soon as the RATs lose power in the Senate it will be back to "Filibuster-Forever."

I remember during the Bush judicial confirmation filibusters reading beaucoup pieces in the NYT and other MSM outlets about how the Senate is to act like a saucer to cool off legislation, blah, blah, blah. It is so [not] amazing that we don't see any editorials along those lines now.

[SmokingJoe]

I wouldn’t be surprised if they write this new rule, so that it expires at the end of this Congress. That way, the next time Republicans are in charge of the Senate, they would still be bound by the old rules.

Easy. We reinstate their rules, and use the new rules to kill every Marxist bill they promulgated.

[Repeal The 17th]

...because of the filibuster rule, they hopefully
don’t have the votes to end the filibuster rule.
-
wiki sez:
The term “filibuster” was first used in 1851.
It was derived from the Spanish filibustero, which translates as “free booter” or “pirate”.
The term was applied at the time to American adventurers,
who sought to overthrow the governments of Central American states,
and was transferred to the use of the filibuster in debate,
which was seen as a tactic for pirating or hijacking the debate.

[Gabrial]

“Thye know the game is just about up and American people will want their heads.”

This is like the thief that knows he is about to be arrested so he continues to commit crimes with a “oh what the h*ll" attitude.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks American Dream 246.

[butterdezillion]

The Toyota Regime.

We press on the brakes as hard as we can and instead it accelerates out of control over a cliff.

80% of Americans don’t trust this government, and the government in response is hell-bent on screwing us as bad as they can while they can.

Is there any way to recall this product and fine the people who created it and advertised it as fit for consumers? Where are our hearings?

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Don’t they need 67 votes for that to happen?

[Yogafist]

You are assuming the Republicans will have the guts to do so. I am not so sure.

[Kartographer]

The magnitude of the damage that they will do if they kill the filibuster is staggering to the point in which what happens in November will not matter! You are about to watch a complete and total make over of the Republic into a Socialist/Fascist state! The death of the Republic is near at hand.

[spectre]

Are they going to eliminate it just till the end of Obama's term or forever?

They're so desperate to complete the devil's work...but this is their last stand. We take control in 2010.

sw

[9YearLurker]

Just my thought. Only thing that won’t be reversible is if they get amnesty through because of it.

[gathersnomoss]

Yes sir’ree, Bob. I am with you. These bastards are coming over the wall.

[spectre]

"This is like the thief that knows he is about to be arrested so he continues to commit crimes with a “oh what the h*ll" attitude."

Or someone charging up their credit cards to the max, knowing they are going to declare bankruptcy.