Posted on 12/03/2010 1:45:08 PM PST by Red Steel
Democrats hoping to move forward with legislation other than tax cuts shouldn't look to centrist Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) to break the logjam.
Collins said again on Friday that, while she would vote with Democrats to end the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, she wouldn't do so until a debate over tax cuts has been resolved.
"Once the tax issue is resolved, I have made it clear that if the Majority Leader brings the Defense Authorization bill to the floor with sufficient time allowed for debate and amendments, I would vote to proceed to the bill," she said in a statement.
The statement is a sign that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's (Ky.) Republican conference hasn't fractured in its insistence that the expiring tax cuts be dealt with prior to action on any other legislative business.
All 42 Senate Republicans wrote Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to inform him that the GOP wouldn't allow any other issues to move before tax cuts during the lame-duck session. That includes the defense authorization bill, to which an amendment is attached that would do away with the military's prohibition on openly gay and lesbian members.
That bill appears to have the 60 votes necessary to proceed through the Senate but not until tax cuts are addressed.
Reid will convene a rare Saturday session tomorrow to vote on tax cuts, but on a version that Republicans are expected to oppose. Democrats will bring two bills to the floor: one that would extend all tax cuts for those making less than $250,000 and another measure meant as a compromise, which would extend tax cuts for all making less than $1 million.
Actually, the rats look to be at least 1 short since Joe Manchin is not going for it. And I did not count the two Arkansas Dem senators who voted back in September against DADT cloture. And now RINO Collins is falling back for the full tax cuts.
I’m not quite sure where this is coming from.
Wasn’t it earlier this week that all 42 Republican senators signed a letter stating, in effect, that nothing else was happening until a vote extending Bush-era tax cuts for everyone was held?
RINO’s are revolting
I thought Webb was not going to support it either, and what about Nelson?
Oh, geez, they are all going to have to WORK on Saturday?
Bummer!
That’s what she’s saying. None of the Republicans will allow a vote on anything until the tax cut issue is resolved.
In more ways than one.
If they trade DADT for tax cuts the Republican party is dammed to the dustbin of history.
In his opening statement and questions to Admiral Mullen and Secretary Gates at the beginning of the hearing yesterday, Webb nearly squealed and giggled with rapturous delight at the thought of swishes and bull dykes openly strutting their stuff in the ranks. He suggested any "problems" could be rectified with non-stop gay sensitivity training.
Don't look for Webb to have the spine to do the right thing.
I’m just praying for this to drag out long enough so that it won’t come up for a vote during the Lame Duck session. That should kill it for the rest of the Obama administration. The new Senate will not let it come up for a vote. Plus, the new House will kill it as well.
Mr. Obama won’t be reelected. The next POTUS will be a full spectrum (Ronald Reagan)conservative (from fiscal to social issues) and this nonsense will cease.
Folks, it is time for all good men (citizens) to come to the aid of their country. The threat this minority of homosexuals poses to the nation needs to been stomped out with the truth. We need to start educating the public that homosexuality is not a good thing and HOLLYWOOD and the PRESS are just plain wrong to call it an alternative lifestyle. We need to swing public opinion back away from this “I’m OK, you’re are OK” nonsense on this issue. Homosexuality is deviant, perverse, and just plain dysfunctional (immoral too). It is not a thing to be consider OK.
It trully is time to stop the extreme tip of the dog’s tail from wagging the entire dog. They are an extremely vocal and organized SMALL (1-3% and I don’t believe they are more than 1%) minority. They should NOT be allowed to continue to disrupt this country and threaten our military readiness in order to “validate” their deviancy. It is incredible to me that they even are given a public forum and more so that the congress (even a democratic one) would be so messed up to consider them worth considering.
“He suggested any “problems” could be rectified with non-stop gay sensitivity training.””
An unfortunate choice of words on his part!
LOL
ruining our military for tax cuts is unforgivable, screw the GOP if they cave in on don’t ask.
I can’t even write what I think about this.
As a vet then this don’t ask either goes back to no homosexuals or keep it as don’t ask but to allow open queers is the most disgusting thing the GOP can do
Rush said today that this is all political theater because there is not enough time before the clock runs out on the Dims before they can pass anything. The theater is to keep their base happy. See, we tried, but the "evil" Repubs stalled us again. Rush could be very well correct.
Even if the Dems do get to cloture on this or on any other controversial legislation, the process will get drawn out when the Senate Repubs attempt to lard up the bills with amendment after amendment so it dies or slows down in Joint House committee, or the amendments are too much to swallow even for the House Dems if they try a straight up vote on a Repub amended Senate Bill ...et cetera.
Way to make nooooo sense.
-snip-
"Collins was the only Republican committee member to support repealing the policy when it was first considered by the committee.
U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, said Thursday she was monitoring the hearing and continuing to review the Pentagon report, but had concerns about supporting repeal.
"Particularly, the question right now, being that we are at war; I was noticing some of the high percentages in the combat units that had concerns (about repeal)," she said in an interview.
Maine's Republican senators have been targeted by groups pushing for repeal. Maine veterans and the Maine Civil Liberties Union staged a press conference Thursday in Portland to press them to support repeal; pop star Lady Gaga also made a trip to Maine in September before a scheduled Senate vote on the issue.
That vote failed, but another vote on the policy which is included as an amendment in the defense budget authorization legislation could come during Congress' lame-duck session.
"I don't know how it will come up here," Snowe said. "They haven't said and they haven't indicated that at this point, what's on the agenda." "
http://www.pressherald.com/news/Military-brass-offer-split-views-on-DADT.html
-end snip-
Veteran groups -- yeah sure (/sarc) and Lady Gaga too?
"Heh heh. He said rectified!"
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