Posted on 11/21/2013 9:52:06 AM PST by SoFloFreeper
Edited on 11/21/2013 9:53:53 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
A bitterly divided Senate voted Thursday to ease the confirmation process for most presidential nominees, a momentous and potentially risky step that limits the ability of Republicans to block President Barack Obama's choices for executive-branch and most judicial posts.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) engineered the rules change, over Republican objections, with a complicated parliamentary maneuver that ended up placing new curbs on the use of the filibustera move so controversial that it is often called the "nuclear option."
"The American people believe Congress is broken. The American people believe the Senate is broken It's time to change the Senate before this institution becomes obsolete," Mr. Reid said.
The key vote was 52-48, with all but three Democrats voting for the change and all Republicans opposed. Democratic Sens. Carl Levin of Michigan, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Joe Manchin of West Virginia broke from their party and voted against changing the rules.
snip
I am. I do. I spend entirely too much time every day on the “Politix” forum refuting the leftist lies in the articles their “editors” post on that website. I get weary of the stupidity I find there, stupidity and evil.
Changing the rules mid-way through a session via a parliamentary interpretation is what just happened, which requires a majority vote to adopt. Otherwise, regular order would be necessary to change the rules.
Regardless of how we got there, these are the rules going forward, unless a future Senate votes to change the rules, following regular order, which allows for filibuster.
-PJ
Sad day for the country! bowing my head
You're possibly right, but we do have more _____(fill in the blank) for the coming revolution!
Only if the Republicans are smart enough to do it. I am not optimistic that they are.
You mean grammar!
The nuclear option was discussed in 2005 by the GOP but didn’t come to be.
https://www.google.com/#q=2005+senate+nuclear+option
They (dems) don't care , about all the harm that is being inflicted on the public by Obamacare-people losing their insurance (even cancer patients), impossibly high deductibles, people being reduced to part time hours exc...
They (dems) are not the least bit bothered by the pain, stress, and worry, being caused by O care- they want it to be forced on people period. (Not to mention they never read the freakin bill in the first place. Oh, and let's not forget they exempted themselves from it.)
The nuclear option is just another example of the democrat party ruling (not governing), by force.
This needs to be said loudly and often to the people, and tie it to the fact that the dems are trying to shove people into Ocare.
I agree. Reminds me of the Star Wars story, when the Senate agrees to give Palpatin “emergency powers” to essentially bypass the legislature.
That is what these fascists have done, and their sycophants in the media applaud.
Eventually, the sycophants will run afoul of the Dear Leader, and will get a taste of his punishment.
Then it will be too late.
Those two are so missable.
Unused power is wasted power. Just like an unused resource, it benefits no one.
Yes. Criminalization of Christianity is on the agenda. Oh, there will still be churches, but only ones approved by the state.
And watch out if you dare to have a Bible study in your home.
225 years -we had a pretty good run as a republic. now we’re a pure democracy(mob rule)
Next, the Senate will just change what’s considered a quorum.
http://democrats.senate.gov/2005/04/26/floor-statement-of-senator-reid-on-nuclear-option/
Floor Statement of Senator Reid on Nuclear Option
For the past several months, the Senate has operated under a nuclear cloud. As a result of the Senates decision to reject a small number of President Bushs judicial nominees, the Republican majority has threatened to break the Senate rules, violate over 200 years of Senate tradition and impair the ability of Democrats and Republicans to work together on issues of real concern to the American people.
It is astounding that Republicans would precipitate this destructive confrontation, especially since this President has a better confirmation rate than any of his recent predecessors. The Senate has confirmed 205 of President Bushs judicial candidates and turned back only ten, a 95% confirmation rate. Ten rejected judges only seven of whom are currently before the Senate does not seem reason enough for Republicans to break the Senate rules.
My Republican colleagues claim that nominees are entitled to an up-down vote. That claim ignores history, including recent history. Throughout the years, many judicial nominees have been denied up-down votes. For example, according to the Senate Historian, Republicans filibustered Lyndon Johnsons nomination of Abe Fortas to be Chief Justice.
During the Clinton Administration, almost 70 judicial nominees were bottled up in the Judiciary Committee and never received floor votes. In addition, Republicans engaged in explicit filibusters on the floor against a number of Clinton judges, and defeated a number of President Clintons executive branch nominees by filibuster. Some of the loudest proponents of the nuclear option opposed cloture on those nominees.
America is paying attention to this hypocrisy. Our citizens are alarmed at what the Republican majority is planning to do. According to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released yesterday, Americans oppose by 2 to 1 changing the rules to make it easier for the President to stack the courts with radical judges.
The American people have rejected the nuclear option because they see it for what it is an unconstitutional abuse of power.
Regardless of political affiliation, Americans understand that this is a partisan power grab. Nearly half of the Republicans polled opposed any rules changes, joining eight in 10 Democrats and seven in 10 independents.
Over the last several months, I have spent a lot of time reaching across the aisle and talking with my colleagues about how to avoid this nuclear catastrophe. My door has always been open to responsible Republicans who do not want the Senate to head down this unproductive path.
I wrote to the Majority Leader on March 15 and expressed a willingness to find a way out. The Majority Leader replied two days later that he would offer a compromise for resolving this issue. One month later Democrats still await that proposal.
Now it appears that Republican leaders are not interested in compromise. The Majority Leader stated earlier today that he will not accept any compromise that does not provide for the confirmation of all of President Bushs controversial nominations including those that were previously rejected by the Senate.
Karl Rove, currently the Deputy White House Chief of Staff, has stated that the President will settle for nothing less than a 100 percent confirmation rate.
These are not positions that allow for compromise.
These are not positions that allow the Senate to proceed with the work of the American people.
There are positions that force a confrontation. These are positions that divert attention from the problems real Americans face high gas prices, poor schools, inadequate health care coverage.
These positions demonstrate that Republican leaders are fiddling while Rome is burning.
Republican leaders dont want compromise. Republican leaders dont want Democrats to have a voice in this debate. Republican leaders dont want any check on their quest for absolute power. They want total victory.
95% of President Bushs nominees have been confirmed, but that isnt good enough. The Majority Leader wants to break the rules and turn the Senate into a rubber stamp for the President. Ultimately this is about removing the last check in Washington against complete abuse of power the right to extended debate.
Once that last check is gone, the radical right will be able to place one of their own on the Supreme Court. This is all about the Supreme Court. The radical right is angry with the decisions of Justices Anthony Kennedy and Sandra Day OConnor, both of whom were appointed by Ronald Reagan. The radical right wants a different kind of Supreme Court one that would roll back equality, liberty and the rights of all Americans.
Many of us understand who elected us to this body the people sent us here, not Karl Rove, not James Dobson and not radical elements of our society.
There is a way to avoid the nuclear shutdown. I have outlined a proposal to my Republican colleagues in an effort to protect our independent judiciary and to preserve the Founding Fathers vision of the Senate.
I will keep the details of my conversations with other Senators private, but I want to talk about why compromise is necessary.
Democrats stand united against the unconstitutional nuclear option. We have a responsibility to protect checks and balances, not violate them. My offer protects those checks and balances.
My offer also renews procedures to allow home state Senators to have a meaningful say in who sits on the federal courts in their states. Those procedures encourage consultation and leads to the nomination of consensus judges, judges who can be confirmed unanimously in most cases.
Democrats have confirmed 95% of the Presidents judicial nominees. The ten that were denied confirmation previously lack a commitment to the fundamental rights and liberties we hold so dear. But, to ensure that the Senate remains a check on the Presidents power, especially for the Supreme Court, we are willing to compromise on this subject.
I believe my proposal strikes the right balance it protects our democracy and the independence of our federal courts, it protects the American people and lets us do their business, and it breaks a partisan stalemate that is unnecessary and divisive.
I want to emphasize that any potential compromise is contingent on a commitment that the nuclear option will not be exercised in any form during this Congress. The threat to break the Senate rules must end.
End of Senator Reid's comments.
Actually it was professors and academics from Columbia. The very same people who groomed Obama to power.
And YES, they were deadly serious about exterminating 25-70 million Americans whom they pre-determined would not accept 'change'.
America has no clue what is about to happen to it.
Even most here keep saying silly things like "We win the Senate in 2014" and 'What goes around comes around".
They have no clue what time it is.
Collins a RINO
Landrieu a Dhimmi. What’s your point.
Reach across that aisle, McCain! Keep reaching! If you reach far enough you can participate in a circle jerk.
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