Posted on 02/08/2017 10:59:16 AM PST by bigbob
Proponents of the nuclear option say it is necessary to prevent Democrats from using the filibuster to permanently prevent a vote to confirm Gorsuch. Opponents of the nuclear option say it will not only fundamentally alter the nature of the Senate, it will also greatly empower Democrats when they retake the Senate and the White House. At its core, the debate over the nuclear option highlights the tension between the need for debate and the need for finality on judicial matters. Unfortunately, exercising the nuclear option is a zero-sum game. If it’s invoked, debate is dead. If it isn’t, proponents say, Supreme Court nominations are dead.
But what if there were a way to guarantee both an up-or-down vote on a Supreme Court nominee and debate about the nomination? What if there were a way to preserve debate while providing for a final vote? Thankfully, there is a way to accomplish that and, unlike the nuclear option, it doesn’t require any major trickery or parliamentary shenanigans. Instead, all it requires is for the Senate to abide by its own rules regarding debate.
(Excerpt) Read more at thefederalist.com ...
The argument for not using the nuclear option is to preserve the traditional role of the Senate of slowing the pace, promoting compromise, and maintaining the rights of the minority. The article describes an alternative but I'm not convinced the filibuster is worth preserving. The Senate is no longer what it was - does anyone see a reason it should be?
Rule 19.
The argument that using the nuclear option ensures that the dims will do likewise presupposes that they likely won’t use it unless we do. I’m not buying....
Psst...I got a secret for you. The democrats are going to do this anyway the first chance they get. Remember they are the ones that did away with the 60 vote rule on all other offices.
We can't afford to keep the nomination bottled up that long. For Republicans, there is no point in NOT hitting the Nuclear Option. We all know that the Dems would nuke the filibuster rule in a heartbeat if the Repubs dared to actually try to filibuster anything the Left cares about, if the Dems ever had a majority.
Exactly so nuke them first, its the only way to be sure. Besides, it gonna be a long, long time before these idiots are back in power.
“Empower Democrats when they retake the Senate”?? What planet do they think they are living on? The Democrats respect no rules — they have used, and will again use, the nuclear option whenever it suits their purposes, and ther won’t be nice to us just because we were nice to them.
Agree, I think he’s trying to save something against a future need that is unlikely to exist anytime soon.
The obvious reply is to prevent them from retaking the Senate and the White House.
We can start with a special commission to evaluate, identify, and prevent voter fraud, with the imprisonment of those guilty, and the appointment of a special commission to evaluate, identify, and prevent government corruption--measures that should be taken anyway.
If President Trump can use the nuclear option to put three good ones on the court and they are fairly young that will be three seats that the Democrats won't be able to fill when they do get back in.
Take the "birds in the hand" before you go stumbling in the around bushes waiting for a something that may never come your way again.
You got the President and the majority in both houses for heavens sake strike now!
It isn't going to get any better.
Stupid Question Department: If the repubs invoked the nuclear option for Gorsuch, then kept it in place for the next 4 years, why can’t they un-invoke it on the eve of a losing election, and raising the threshold necessary to re-invoke it back up to 60 votes. That way, they get the benefits while em-placing a major obstacle to the dems doing the same thing once a majority dem senate is seated. It CAN be revoked, can’t it?
Precisely
You hit the nail on the head. Clean up the registration rolls, and require ID that can only be obtained with proof of citizenship.
I agree. They can whine all they want, but the truth is they owe it all to Harry Reid. Praying Trump gets at least one more pick!
>>The argument that using the nuclear option ensures that the dims will do likewise presupposes that they likely won’t use it unless we do. I’m not buying....<<
It reminds me of when Nadia broke the “10” barrier, which was theoretically impossible since no one is perfect. Once she got a “10” they started giving them out like candy canes at Christmas and then it was “get a 10 or go home.”
Now that the “Nuclear line” has been crossed, the filibuster is now dead for all practical purposes.
Reid destroyed the filibuster for everything. Period.
Is that the First Strike Nuclear Option?
Breyer (78), ginsburg (~84) and Kennedy (80) won't make it 4, much less 8, much less 16 years.
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