Posted on 12/15/2014 9:46:05 AM PST by SeekAndFind
For all of their foresight on other matters, America's founders were somewhat taken aback by the natural development of political parties. It happened anyway, even during George Washington's presidency. And although party ideology has fallen along different lines at various points in American history, it has long governed the allegiance of a majority of American voters in elections.
In legislative matters, party ideology takes the form of the modern party caucus system. In order to achieve their goals, partisan lawmakers collaborate, choose leaders, and agree on strategies in advance.
On Saturday, lawmakers demonstrated why this system evolved and is necessary. Two conservative senators, Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Mike Lee, R-Utah, discarded the caucus system and put their own tactical plan into action without warning. It did not prove helpful to their cause.
Cruz and Lee derailed a bipartisan agreement on procedure Friday night. Their actions removed the only major obstacle to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., confirming several minor Obama nominations that Republicans strongly opposed. Because Republicans lacked the votes to block the nominations in question, their best and only leverage was to insist on the use of all debate time, running out the clock on the lame duck Congress. It seemed likely that Democratic senators would not tolerate losing their Christmas just so that Obama could get his surgeon general confirmed.
Cruz's and Lee's parliamentary freelancing gave Reid all he needed to advance the schedule by two full days and guarantee the confirmation of these nominations. In exchange for making Reid's job easy on ramming the nominations through, all Cruz and Lee got was a symbolic floor vote against Obama's executive action on immigration. It drew the support of only 22 senators.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
They believe that the next news cycle will kick this out of our memory and we fall in line again. And some us of do move on to the next battle, but if you notice we are always losing the last one.
Cruz's and Lee's parliamentary freelancing gave Reid all he needed to advance the schedule by two full days and guarantee the confirmation of these nominations.That's the narrative the GOPe is advancing.
However, the devil's in the details.
Boehner and McConnell, always prepared to fight the next battle. The best day to do anything, tomorrow.
Aside, anyone who thinks Reid wasn’t going to push these nominations through is also dumb enough to think he wouldn’t do it in the spirit of bipartisanship.
Boehner couldn’t lead a mule to water.
How’d this P.O.S. ever make it in to a leadership position?
hussein, Val, or Soros.
Thanks Ray76. We can hope...
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