Rogers-Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Another hypocritical move by Democrats and Harry Reid. The vote on the filibuster rules change went according to Party line with three Democrats voting against.
It's all become a familiar tactic with this administration. Harry Reid was against it before he was for it So was Joe Biden when he was a Senator who said that the nuclear option is “a fundamental power grab by the majority party." Now he likes it. Congressional approving rating is in the toilet. The Senate is sure to follow as this vote eliminates any chance of bi-partisanship. Government has become more and more of a dictatorship by changing the rules in the middle of the game. Obama wants his own way and he got closer to it today.
The vote in the Senate regarding the rules change will prevent minority members from filibustering with the intention of blocking President Barack Obama’s judicial nominees. It is precisely the same tactic Reid tore into as an assault on democracy when Democrats were in the minority in 2005. Senate rules required a three-fifths majority ("duly chosen and sworn" -- usually 60 votes) to end debate on a bill, nomination or other proposal (or two-thirds ("present and voting" -- 67 or fewer votes) for a change to the Senate rules), effectively allowing a minority of the Senate to block the measure through the technique of the filibuster. Today's vote results in 51 votes to pass, not 60. If its a good law, then they should be able to get a supermajority vote.
The move is informally referred to as the "nuclear option" because it blows up any protection of minority rights. It has been a long-standing Senate procedure. Today's rule change is the most far-reaching when Senators eliminated the two-thirds requirement for ending filibusters that has been around since the 1700's.
It's more important than ever to vote out these hypocrites in 2014.
2 comments:
The dumbocrats are shooting themselves in the foot! after the 2014 elections, republicans will own both the House and Senate. They really are the dumbocrats.
When we vote the Democrats out of the majority in the senate: The Republicans will change the rules back to where they were for over 200 years!
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