Posted on 10/06/2011 4:42:43 PM PDT by jazusamo
In a shock development Thursday evening, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) triggered a rarely-used procedural option informally called the “nuclear option” to change the Senate rules.
The surprise move stunned Republicans, who did not expect Reid to bring heavy artillery to what had appeared to have been a hum-drum legislative knife fight.
Reid appealed a ruling from the chair that Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) does not need consent to force a vote on a motion to suspend the rules to consider an amendment after cloture has already been approved.
The maneuver is highly arcane but momentous. If a simple majority of the Senate votes to uphold Reid’s appeal, the Senate’s rules will have been changed by the unilateral action of one party.
Republicans had considered using this maneuver, dubbed the “nuclear option” in 2005, to change Senate rules to prohibit the filibuster of judicial nominees. Democrats decried the plan and the crisis was resolved by a bipartisan agreement forged by 14 rank-and-file senators known as the Gang of 14.
Democrats always take the low road.
This shows how DESPERATE the Senate democrats are and it shows how weak Obama is.
This tells us Democrats in the Senate will run AWAY from Obama in 2012, without doubt. And, that Obama is a lame duck and they know it.
At this point is every man for himself in the dim party. Their only hope to to save some down-ticket races.
China can’t call in debts. They hold US treasuries that come due at specific dates. And they are reducing their holdings of that.
The best thing that could happen is that we start weaning ourselves of Chinese imports. And do you really think they’d do anything to stop the flow of around $375 billion in exports to the US annually, and all that technology they copy for free when US firms locate there?
That’s why they keep their currency undervalued so they can continue the export business which finances their growth. They do just what Japan did and eat any currency fluctuations (or they avoid them) to keep the exports flowing.
We hold the power over China if enough could just clear their heads and realize it. We owe them around $1 trillion, which is about 1/16 of the total. Most of the debt is owned to Americans and Americans entities.
A narcisistic totalitarian in the White House who enjoys full obedience by a compliant media complex (PRAVDA). A Senate that has effectively destroyed the voice of the Republic with Authoritarian tactics that it uses to pass legislation that the people reject. What’s next, a 21st century version of the Reichstag fire, followed by declaration of Marshall Law, the recruitment of the wall street occupiers to server as the Obama youth revolution unit, fully paid for by your tax dollars, where they will serve as the Presidents (brown shirt) cvilian armed forces and will be charged with collecting up all the bad bankers and corporate CEO’s, as well as other nefarious political plotters, opponents, racists that dare question the president. Gulags, I guess the left will have found a new use for GITMO
You seen Hank Williams Jr. was more right than even he could have guessed.
No you haven’t gone Galt.
I believe you summed it up perfectly, Reid might be dingy but he’s not politically dumb.
He sees the handwriting on the wall and knows ‘The Won’ is going down and he’ll do everything he can to salvage what he can for the Rats.
I don't pay to feed the monster. I with-hold my labor from idiots.
You don't know me, newb.
/johnny
Republicans said they couldn’t pull this option because then the Democrats would benefit when in power. I said at the time Democrats would have no such retraint if roles were reversed. I argued with people on this very board over this who took the GOP’s side. They were wrong.
THANK YOU GOP ESTABLISHMENT! Think of all the good judges that lost out on confirmations because they wouldn’t do it. And for what? The Dems to pull it anyway. Hell, the GOP couldn’t even stop Obamacare with the filibuster. Pathetic.
People seem to be mixing Apples and oranges here. The vote that is relevant here is the vote that confirmed Reid’s change of rules to prevent McConnell from attaching the Obama Tax bill to the Chinese Trade Bill. That vote (00157) was straight Dems v. Repub’s with Ben Nelson crossing over and Barb Boxer not voting (51-48). Those selling out on the Chinese trade bill were: Brown (R-MA), Burr (R-NC), Cochran (R-MS), Collins (R-ME), Graham (R-SC), Isakson (R-GA), Portman (R-OH), Sessions (R-AL), Shelby (R-AL), Snowe (R-ME)
To vote with the Dems after the Reid Maneuver shows something.
They can make up their own rules, but then they have to follow those rules that they voted on.
SUSPENSION AND AMENDMENT OF THE RULESReid had to use the parliamentary "nuclear" option to get around the one-day notification rule. Notice that this began with McConnell asking for unanimous consent to suspend the rule to allow amendments after cloture.1. No motion to suspend, modify, or amend any rule, or any part thereof, shall be in order, except on one day's notice in writing, specifying precisely the rule or part proposed to be suspended, modified, or amended, and the purpose thereof. Any rule may be suspended without notice by the unanimous consent of the Senate, except as otherwise provided by the rules.
2. The rules of the Senate shall continue from one Congress to the next Congress unless they are changed as provided in these rules.
Furthermore, I think it requires regular order to vote for a change to the rules, which means cloture.
-PJ
Yep! the only ones with cajones in the Republican Party are the women!
Sorry if you don’t like it, but Congress (both houses) sets their own rules.
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I understand that, just being a ‘tad’ facetious.
The Republicans couldn't do anything about it, because Reid used a parliamentary procedure to unilaterally change the rule.
The next chance for Republicans to express displeasure at this was the vote on the bill, and that's where the 12 Republicans broke with the caucus and voted for the bill anyway.
The comment from Levin was that Obama was going to veto the bill anyway, so voting for it instead of showing solidarity was pointless.
-PJ
Except that they sold the gun that was used against them to the Democrats back in 2005.
-PJ
The vote I linked was the vote on Reid’s parliamentary procedure to unilaterally change the rule.
No Republican’s supported it and Nelson even futilely tried to help himself by voting against Reid.
But Reid still got enough votes.
At first glance it seems to me this weakens the Majority Leader greatly, as it does the Minority Leader. Finagling these amendments is a large part of their jobs.
The main point that Levin and Demint were making was that Demint, Cantor, and McConnell were pleading with the GOP caucus to stick together to vote down the bill as a show of displeasure against Reid's maneuver, but 12 Republicans broke ranks and voted for the bill anyway.
So, you can look at each vote as a separate event, or you can look at the second vote as a missed opportunity to show displeasure at Reid's move.
-PJ
What does he know? Whatever he knows, Sarah knows it too.
I’m not that versed in Senate intrigue but see this as a corollary to ‘if you go after the king you better get the king’. If you use the nuke, it better be a high-value target.
Some are speculating, and I could definitely see it, that Reid is using this as a feint to retreat and circle the wagons to protect vulnerable Senators.
The upside is that this will go down in flames in the House, and Zero will say ‘the GOP blocked our bill’. We can simply retort that the bill was so bad that Reid had to use the nuke option to protect his own people.
Reid just cut Zero loose.
You’re on the right track, and Sarah knows something too.
won’t matter.. with this being pulled if we have a republican majority they will just write the rules at the beginning of the session as they can do to say a simple majority wins.
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