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)
Back in 2006, there was much talk about the so-called "nuclear option" over judicial appointments. As such, there was also some acedemic legal research done on the topic. One of those researchers was a guy named Lawrence Solum, who co-authored a paper titled Judicial Selection, Appointments Gridlock, and the Nuclear Option , that appeared in the Journal of Contemporary Legal issues. It may be found here.
In it, they detail how the nuclear option would work. And, it doesn't involve the 67 votes normally needed to amend the Senate Rules. In short, it's a back door parliamentary trick. You can read the whole thing if you like, but the relevant passage from their article is...
"The term “nuclear option” is not well defined, but it usually refers to the use of procedure—in particular, a ruling of the chair sustained by a simple majority—to achieve cloture without the sixty or sixty-six vote supermajority specified by Rule XXII. Though the nuclear option may be executed in a number of ways...
[t]he underlying strategy is that a Republican senator would raise a point of order that the consideration of judicial nominees may not be filibustered, and the chair—most likely Vice President Cheney, in his capacity as President of the Senate—would sustain the point of order. A simple majority vote would then suffice to win any appeal of the chair’s ruling, or to table any objections to the ruling
That's it in a nutshell.
Here comes the putsch.
If I remember, they need 67 votes to change Senate rules. I don’t think they can muster the votes they need to change the filibuster rule. Let’s hope so, anyway. sd
Very little. But, what is left has allowed for more deliberate debate, which is a good thing. Unlike the reactionary House, it's nice to have a Senate that has traditionally taken its sweet-ass time. I'm afraid that in the absence of the filibuster, the Senate - just like it's little brother, the House - will become a meat factory of bad legislative initiatives, all waiting to be eagerly signed into law by Barry.
This is bad news.
The "nuclear option" entailed making a finding when it's unclear that the filibuster rule would apply. While the same approach could be used in cases where a filibuster would clearly be legitimate, the Democrats could also get their way by simply chasing all the Republicans out of the Senate at gunpoint before holding a vote. Neither approach would be any more legitimate than the other.
You say that as if it's not a possibility.
I said they could do that, and it would be neither more nor less legitimate than the other techniques being discussed. I didn't say whether or not I'd put it past them to actually try it.
“Yup.
Now we won’t need 60 seats to kill 0bamacare in 2013.
Bring it on suckers! “
Yea - I tend to think that we come out ahead in the long run if the filibuster rule is gone. No more Gangs of 14, or stopping of dozens of other initiatives.
We have one HUGE ADVANTAGE - the people generally support our policies - that will KILL the Democrats.
What goes around comes around.
There fixed it.
It also can only be done at the beginning of the year. (new Congress)
You're kidding, right?
Not satire?! WTF?
Haha go for it then its really all on the democrats.
Hey McCain...How’s that Gang of 14 working for ya now???? I must say I find the irony dripping!!! How many times pubbies did we all warn you of Dim intentions. How many times did you tell us how decent the Dims were and how you could reach across the aisle and work with them. And now they destroy what little power you have by changing senate rules to cast you aside. Something you pubbies refused to do to them because of the seriousness of the comity of the Senate. Bwah HaHaHaHaHaha You are such fools. And McCain and Gram you are right at the top of the fooool list. Dims keep it up. Counting down to November.
Watch how many jokes and cute comments will be on this thread. The denial is mind boggling. MIND BOGGLING! and we wonder why we have lost our country.
Psssssssst, it’s on life support and they plug is about to be pulled.
Psssssssst, it’s on life support and the plug is about to be pulled.
Nope FReeper friend, simple majority vote for a Senate rule change.
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