Posted on 12/29/2010 8:21:09 PM PST by Kaslin
Politics: The Senate Majority Leader has a plan to deal with Republican electoral success. When you lose the game, you simply change the rules. When you only have 53 votes, you lower the bar to 51.
When Harry Reid was hawking his book "The Good Fight" on C-Span's "Book Notes" in 2008, he described how he had vehemently opposed GOP plans for the "nuclear option," changing the rules to break a Democratic filibuster on President George W. Bush's judicial nominees. Only 51 votes would be needed to move them along.
"What the Republicans came up with was a way to change our country forever," Reid stated. "We would in fact have a unicameral legislature where a simple majority would determine everything that happens ... the Senate was set up to be different. That was the genius, the vision, of our Founding Fathers."
Reid forgot the Founding Fathers when he considered something similar to get ObamaCare through the Senate and on President Obama's desk.
Now he is planning to use the same mechanism he once considered a threat to democracy to thwart GOP gains in the Senate and outright control of the House of Representatives.
Currently, under Senate Rule 22 it takes a three-fifths vote, or 60 senators, for cloture to shut off the potentially endless debate known as a filibuster.
But it takes a two-thirds vote, or 67 Senators, to change a Senate rule. The reason is the differing nature of the House and Senate.
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
Poor Hairy, he sometimes has a brain f—t where he forgets that the Republicans now own the House, and it’s so what.
Doesn’t matter for judicial appointments and international treaties - those items are voted upon by the Senate only.
Or is he?
With Zer0 as president Dingy Harry is as close as anyone can be to Hugo.
what goes around, comes around.......
Idiots in NV who voted for him and drooling idiots brainwashed by TV which is everyone who watches TV.
Democrats live in a world of hypocrisy the MSM will NEVER point out.
Well, his fellow Dems up for election in 2012 may want him to reconsider because this guarantees tea party II and more GOP pickups.
True, but international treaties require 2/3rds so that has no bearing. And if they use the nuke just to get appointees in, you can guess how many Democrats will survive in any national office. BTW, I feel that filibustering Presidential appointments is wrong. Bad appointments are the consequences of electing "bad" presidents. But what does it matter? Presently the executive branch is governing by fiat.
This angers me — but doesn’t surprise me in the least. Harry Reid is a Liar. He is a power mad b*st*rd. He will [further] destroy what the Founders intended the Senate to be. He DOESN’T CARE.
People like Harry Reid should NEVER be allowed to hold office in this nation again. Ever. Sooner or later, Americans are going to HAVE to make it STOP.
Reid is gone as the majority leader in 2012 with 23 Dem Senators up for election. I see a dozen of them being gone in the next election. If you do it Reid, ObamaCare is easily gone as is the rest of your trashy legislation you jammed in during the lame duck.
I find it hard to believe that reid is going throw
225 years of Senate history out the window and
claim the Senate is not a continuing body
It doesn’t surprise me either. Just look how he stole the election from Sharon Angle
>> drooling idiots brainwashed by TV which is everyone who watches TV.
I at times watch TV and so do the people I love. Wise up about making the insulting generalities.
Exactly. We have the house now, so they can’t do much with their new rules. We will never filibuster supreme court nominees nor treaties and the house has to approve the same bill before it becomes law, which how often are we going to agree with the rats. So in reality, they are helping us for 2012 when we take over and can repeal every one of the Obama laws without threat of filibuster. Then, after we get rid of the Obama laws, we change the filibuster rules back to a high threshold so we never have to worry about the rats passing crappy legislation (ie majority vote changes filibutser to 80 votes for closure, and any more rule changes requires 90 votes).
I am pretty sure one rat will stick up their hand and say this does not help us pass any legislation, so why do it.
I find your word for Republicans very interesting. The only ones I have seen using it are progressives.
Interesting, Harry Reid selecting the nuclear option.
Theoretically, this has never happened, such a split between the House and the Senate, so it’s interesting to see him govern from the Senate.
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