It's well known that the Republicans have been 100% aligned against the President and the Democrats in both the Senate and the House since the Inauguration. They've opposed every major piece of legislation and every single effort to spur the economy, bring jobs, reform health care as well as medicare, and even voted against defense appropriations, the sacred cow of the GOP. Recently, they went so far as to co-sponsor bi-partisan legislation, then vote against it when the time came.
The behavior is outrageous, destructive, and governance of the nation has ground to a halt. It's un-American and cynical, but not as crazy as it appears. So, what's going on? In my opinion, the Republicans are undertaking an all-in strategy to eliminate the Senate filibuster. The filibuster, or really just the threat of a filibuster, is the ability of the minority party to kill legislation and nominees by requiring a cloture vote which would end debate. It takes 60 votes to invoke cloture, so basically the minority can block action by the Senate by threatening a filibuster. You'll recall that in 2005, Bill Frist, then Republican Senate majority leader, threatened the "nuclear option" to kill the filibuster. At the time, Dems were opposing GWB's extremist right wing nominees for federal judgeships, and the Repubs were growing frustrated. The nuclear option was finally defeated when the "Gang of 14", half Dems and half Repubs, joined together to oppose the change in Senate rules. I'm not sure the Repubs were actually that committed to the nuclear option. They knew that it would come back and bite them if (when) they became the minority party themselves in the Senate despite Karl Rove's boasting about the "permanent majority". They lost majorities in both Houses the very next year.
It makes sense to me that the Repubs are now trying to goad the Dems in to killing the filibuster, betting that they can take back control of the Senate in 2010. It's not a huge stretch to imagine that happening, especially after the upset in Massachusetts last month. According to Nate Silver, the Repubs are almost guaranteed to gain seats this year, currently handicapping their chances of taking the majority at around 6-7 percent, but highly variable this early in the year. If the Repubs hold the line, they are hoping that the Dems will change the rule, which they will then exploit if they take back the Senate with a small majority. If that happens, game over for President Obama's initiatives.
The Dems must hold the line here, not eliminate the filibuster tradition, and pass health care reform and other important legislation under Reconciliation, which only requires simple majority. Remember that the Repubs did just that in 2001 and 2003 when they rammed through the budget busting tax cuts that the Dems opposed in those years. The Dems can use the same strategy, forcing the Repubs' hand on the filibuster.
The behavior is outrageous, destructive, and governance of the nation has ground to a halt. It's un-American and cynical, but not as crazy as it appears. So, what's going on? In my opinion, the Republicans are undertaking an all-in strategy to eliminate the Senate filibuster. The filibuster, or really just the threat of a filibuster, is the ability of the minority party to kill legislation and nominees by requiring a cloture vote which would end debate. It takes 60 votes to invoke cloture, so basically the minority can block action by the Senate by threatening a filibuster. You'll recall that in 2005, Bill Frist, then Republican Senate majority leader, threatened the "nuclear option" to kill the filibuster. At the time, Dems were opposing GWB's extremist right wing nominees for federal judgeships, and the Repubs were growing frustrated. The nuclear option was finally defeated when the "Gang of 14", half Dems and half Repubs, joined together to oppose the change in Senate rules. I'm not sure the Repubs were actually that committed to the nuclear option. They knew that it would come back and bite them if (when) they became the minority party themselves in the Senate despite Karl Rove's boasting about the "permanent majority". They lost majorities in both Houses the very next year.
It makes sense to me that the Repubs are now trying to goad the Dems in to killing the filibuster, betting that they can take back control of the Senate in 2010. It's not a huge stretch to imagine that happening, especially after the upset in Massachusetts last month. According to Nate Silver, the Repubs are almost guaranteed to gain seats this year, currently handicapping their chances of taking the majority at around 6-7 percent, but highly variable this early in the year. If the Repubs hold the line, they are hoping that the Dems will change the rule, which they will then exploit if they take back the Senate with a small majority. If that happens, game over for President Obama's initiatives.
The Dems must hold the line here, not eliminate the filibuster tradition, and pass health care reform and other important legislation under Reconciliation, which only requires simple majority. Remember that the Repubs did just that in 2001 and 2003 when they rammed through the budget busting tax cuts that the Dems opposed in those years. The Dems can use the same strategy, forcing the Repubs' hand on the filibuster.
Why is it that jackasses like you can never come here and at least make a nominal attempt to have a polite and respectful conversation?
Have you totally forgotten how to be civil? How to treat people decently?
But hey, maybe we should give you points for reading us. Too bad you don't have any reading comprehension.
*smooches*
Go kiss up to Spackle for a while, sweetie.
Ar thou: We're fine, thanks for asking. We have good traffic, good subjects, and respectful conversation except when the occasional dickhead from the chron shows up to insult someone. It's much more pleasant than the BS on the chron.
If the Democrats squander this opportunity to pass legislation that will benefit the people and not corporations, I will never vote democrat again.
What were those called who didn't support Bush Co.'s war for profit in Iraq? I do believe it was 'Traitors'...
And now we have republicans blocking any and all reform designed to ease the suffering of the American People. Who are the real traitors I ask you?
...i visit this vacuum chamber from time to time...never more than a few comments by the same folks...blah, blah, blah...must be tough elejefe...bet you wish for the good ole days on the comical blog when your screeds were actually read and commented on by a wide range of opinionated people...you know...before you jumped the shark to this monosylabic nonsense...oh to have fallen so far...
Mr Dangling Participle here:
You are hereby crowned the reigning master of the mixed metaphor... :O)
And don't be thinking I'll be that easy to surpass!
You are too easy - lol!
Yeah, I'm pretty good at that, arent't I? :-)
But to be honest with you, I would have gone ANYWHERE with Carol Lynley.
Carguy, good analogy!
Geee. I hope the democrats are smart, organized, and united enough to LEARN how to run the government when they have a majority in both houses. So far, that learning curve appears too steep for them. For this country to move on, Obama MUST find a way to "drive this wagon train" across the river to the other side, to the "promised land." Or he won't be drivin' nothing come 2012.
Actually, allow me another analogy. In "The Poseidon Adventure", there were two groups of passengers. The ones with Gene Hackman and the other ones. We MUST be the ones with Gene Hackman and the country MUST follow. We know what happend to the other bunch. Glub, glub.
Yes, the Dems need to pass their reforms and move on. GOP will always be NO, NO, NO no matter what happens. Enough of being Mr. Nice Guy, Obama must steam ahead and pass what he promised the American people. Stop catering to the GOP. They have no answers, no solutions, no ideas!
hmmm, you paint a really interesting possibility. Normalcy does compel us to assign rationality where none seems to exist. But, man, that is the downfall of every sane person when trying to outmanuever the disturbed personality. My opinion is that the right living with their morbid fear of no longer being the masters have rolled into a fetal position are simply chanting NO!