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)

[Kartographer]

If they manage to kill the filibuster I see only one course left to us:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b3Q89FZoY0

[nolongerademocrat]

Thanks for the info: I see powerful political ads out of those quotes. Strong music like that America Rising video - quick cuts of photos of the offenders as their quotes sound off in the background.... We should send them thank-you notes. And we should ask the French if they still have any guillotines left that we can borrow. The way these *ssh&les are behaving - we might very well need them. Come to think of it, didn’t the French help us the last time too? Funny how that works, round and round we go...

[Defiant]

Would a move like this be enough for Lindsey Graham to stop prancing around with John Kerry on Cap’n Trade and Amnesty?

[Paul Ross]

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.

Yep. That sounds about right.

[OldDeckHand]

Is this satire?

[stockpirate]

We have already been converted, they are only putting on the finishing touches.

In 36 months they will start micro-chipping everyone, it’s in the HC bill.

[OldDeckHand]

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

No. There's a parliamentary procedure involving a point-of-order that would allow them to do away with the filibuster. It goes WAY back to the early 1800s. This is what is known as the actual "nuclear option"

If they do this, it will destroy the comity in the Senate for the next two generation - perhaps permanently.

[Earthdweller]

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

Bingo. Literally.

[GeronL]

I hope the GOP doesn’t bring it back after November then.

[dr_who]

Either they’ll stage a successful coup, or dig their own graves.

[FormerACLUmember]

Make the 2010 Senate races a referendum on ObamaCare.

No Filibuster: No Obamacare on January 20, 2011.

[vortigern]

Where in the Constitution does it say the country is to be ruled by parliamentary procedures? These games are being played by bozo’s who have no idea what they’re doing.

[Kartographer]

Unfortunately I am betting on a sucessful coup!

[Kartographer]

No Filibuster No Republic on January 20, 2011.

[dr_who]

What cometh around goeth around.

[vicar7]

My Grandfather once told me: “Son, when you are in a hole the first thing you do is stop digging.” The Dems want to dig themselves a hole that they will never recover from come November. I guess they want to ruin the country before the ouster of this regime. I say less power to them, and fight them every step of the way and then “Vote them out.”

[Ancesthntr]

Here’s a related video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClQpS1pLN8g&feature=related

I’m getting real sick & tired of having the Feds do whatever they want, twisting the Constitution and the letter of the law beyond all recognition, all toward the end of beating down the average citizen to live his or her life as they see fit. States? Mere speedbumps along the way.

I’m quite confident that if the Founders could be resurrected, within a few days they’d find out what was going on and would begin to oil up their muskets...because they revolted against King George for less.

[SideoutFred]

BTT

[FormerACLUmember]

The Face of Pure Evil:

Looking more and more every day like the vicious totalitarian thug he really is.

[onyx]

He has a lot of Marxist help in the House and Senate.