I’ve been told that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, but expecting a different result. What Senator Harry Reid did with his idea of filibuster reform fits that definition.
For those of you who might not completely understand what a filibuster is, it is a process that was implemented at the initiation of our government by leadership who wanted majority rules, but also wanted to allow the minority to have their objections to policies or legislation acknowledged. It was used a few times in attempting to block civil rights legislation back in 1957 by one cracka senator named Strom Thurmond. Dude was so angry about “them Nigras agitating for their Civil Rights” that he set a record for holding the longest filibuster. He yakked for over 24 hours without stopping. But, I digress.
Here we are in the second week of President Obama’s second term and right on schedule, the Senate Majority Leader proceeds to fling the President’s second term agenda under the bus with this stunt, virtually guaranteeing nothing will get done for at least two years, and he got raked over the coal by Rachel Maddow on her show (H/T Huffington Post):
The deal will address the filibuster on the motion to proceed by changing the amount of debate time that would follow a cloture vote from 30 hours to four, speeding up Senate business and allowing more legislation to reach the floor. But the deal still requires Democrats to muster 60 votes to invoke cloture on that motion, despite Reid’s earlier suggestion that he would bar a filibuster on that motion entirely.Maddow was unenthused with Reid. She replayed comments he made about the specific changes needed for filibuster reform, contrasted with Thursday’s deal.
“The problem in the Senate has been that they are not able to get anything done. The improvement on that today is that now, they’re not going to be able to get anything done faster.” She added, “No body was anybody talking about taking the filibuster away completely. The idea was to make it something that hurt a little. That actually required some commitment … It will still be a routine 60 vote supermajority for everything, and this is now it for two years.”
It is insane to keep complaining about the Republicans, when you keep enabling them to keep pulling shit like this. And especially when you laid out the path to the ReThugs to take back the Senate in 2014, ’cause we’re getting tired of turning out to vote, giving you our hard-earned money, and then get spit in the face as a “Thank You” for our efforts to get your ass re-elected.
Just like a person who wishes their family member would quit drinking, then tear a strip off the family member who came home with AA literature and a list of meetings to give to the alcoholic to attend to begin to stop drinking. That means the person complaining about the alcoholic family member does not really want him/her to stop drinking – they want to have a conduit for excuses when they get called out for abdicating their responsibilities. Harry Reid just did the exact same thing when he wimped out to McConnell on the filibuster deal. Reid just told Americans that he doesn’t want to actually lead the Senate on anything – yet he tore a strip off his fellow junior Senator, Jeff Merkley, for actually daring to tell the truth about what really happened, while McConnell and Boehner take to the air waves to brag about how they beat the Democrats…AGAIN.
I base this analogy on my own childhood with an alcoholic parent and one who enabled him while complaining about him. It was easier for my mother to complain about my father’s drinking and blame everything that went wrong on him, than to allow her eight-year old daughter (me) to bring home AA literature for my dad to read in the hopes he might start going to meetings and stop drinking. If that had happened, with a sober person in the house, my mom would have had no more excuses for why things weren’t working in our house.
Same thing here. Boehner, McConnell and their ilk are perfectly comfortable with disregarding what the majority of the American People want because they know they can count on Harry Reid to disregard what the President wanted him to do in the Senate, even after all the time, effort and money spent to ensure the Democrats would keep one chamber of Congress. Reid doesn’t want to be held accountable, and wants ready excuses when Americans wise up and start calling him out. I, for one, if given the opportunity, will ask Reid “wouldn’t have making changes to the fllibuster the way he promised might have stopped this bottleneck” and stand back to see what he says. It’s my job as a blogger to ask questions like that, you know.
You have to throw their words right back in their faces. No sweeping under the rug. If the President gets nothing done in his second term, we can look for the reason right at Harry Reid’s door.
Posting this here too;
BREAKING: Virginia Senate Committee Overwhelmingly Kills Electoral Vote Rigging Scheme
ProgressVirginia reported Tuesday afternoon that the Virginia Senate’s Privileges and Elections Committee killed Sen. Charles “Bill” Carrico Sr.’s electoral college-rigging bill, despite an offer by Carrico to amend the bill to award electors in proportion to the state’s popular vote. The vote was 11-4 against the bill, although it will not be official until the close of the committee meeting.
more here
http://thinkprogress.org/justi…
Pink = voted against the talking filibuster.
Hello Leutisha!!!!
Welcome to 3CHICS!!
While I understand your frustrations..
believe me, I do…
Harry has the suckiest group of ‘teammates’ that you could ever see.
If I hadn’t of been reading article upon article of ‘ hesitant Dems’…..I would have been more disappointed…as it is…..Harry didn’t have the votes…unfortunately
Some Dems are their own worse enemies. A damn shame when you have to fight the opposition and folks in your own party.
Yup, and that’s what Reid just handed the POTUS for the next two years, at least. We need to hope that the Democrats keep or increase their majority in 2014.
McConnell might get primaried by a Tea Party Candidate (talk about eating your own) because the Teahadists are upset with him because he didn’t allow the guvmint to go off that fiscal cliff. So they told him he’s going to catch a primary. If that’s the case, there’s a 50% shot at picking up his Senate seat because if he loses that primary, the Tea Party whack job that beats him will be too much for the whole commonwealth of Kentucky, so a good Democratic candidate has a chance to pick up that seat (I’m hoping Ashley Judd does more than talk and actually throws her hat in the ring).
LOL Have you heard the news? PA and VA are putting the kabosh on the GOP’s vote rigging efforts.
I get that, Rik, but look at the chart Ametia posted. He had the votes – just not from the Senior part of the group. He had enough backup to at least call McConnell’s bluff. He didn’t. We are seeing this waay too much from supposed Democratic Leadership in the Senate = Harry Reid. Even Chuck Schumer might have pushed if he was in the driver’s seat. But that chart Ametia published says more than what Harry Reid will say verbally.
And, if he didn’t have the votes, he should have said so – and not hand McConnell jack, because we know if you give McConnell an inch, that SOB takes five miles.
Thank you both for your warm welcome, And yes, Ametia, it’s still 60 votes needed to override a filibuster attempt and to get anything passed. Reid’s trying to put a good spin on it, but when a simple majority is all you need to get anything done, and nothing’s done to get the rule changed, then that means that NOTHING has changed. And, on schedule, we’ll get bombarded with requests to promote the President’s agenda, when Harry Reid could just get the job done, yet ensuring that won’t happen.
Hi Leutisha. Congratulations on you first post at 3 Chics! I’m grateful for this post on filibuster. So if I understand correctly, it will still take 60 democratic votes to get any meaningful legislation passed. The only change is the amount of time one can filibuster? SMGDH.
Is Reid holding back, because he thinks the Dems will need the current filibuster rules should they be in the House’s position?
Reid doens’t want to be on the receiving end should the Republicans take back the Senate. It can’t be because he actually wants to get things done.
I heard Feintstein isn’t keen on filibuster changes either. yet she’s pushing to get another assault weapons ban passed. I suppose she’s trying to get things done too? /snark
Girl, please don’t get me started on DiFi. She’s beyond her shelf life. What was surprising to me was my other home Senator, Barbara Boxer. She’s usually been a reliable progressive vote, but she voted in line with Feinstein and Reid. I think it may get to the point where no “reliable” vote is reliable anymore.
WTF?! Boxer too? See, it’s the old guard at work here. It’s time for us to help these folks along, and get in some young, committed blood. Unfortunately, no one comes to mind to replace them, at the moment.
Well looky here! Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?! I’m so excited to see you and WELCOME. It’s a thrill that you’re joining us. We’re glad to have you here!