red states rule
05-20-2013, 03:11 PM
This is one way to ram Obama's agenda through.
You may have seen Heather's piece (http://townhall.com/tipsheet/heatherginsberg/2013/05/18/harry-reid-is-considering-rule-change-to-block-filibuster-n1600415) on this story yesterday, but it merits a second spin. The White House and the vast bureaucracy of the federal government are laboring through a fundamental crisis (http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/benghazi-irs-create-perfect-storm-threatening-obama-s-credibility-20130513) of credibility (http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/you-know-what-really-risks-national-security-leak-investigations-20130517). Scandals swirl. The powerful Internal Revenue Service has been caught abusing its power to target and harass the ruling party's opposition. The Department of Justice has launched an unprecedented affront against press freedom. The Department of State manipulated intelligence about a terrorist attack to mask their negligence and stave off political blame. The Secretary of Health and Human Services is unethically (and possibly illegally) coercing the industry over which she wields sweeping regulatory authority. And against that backdrop of power and partisanship run amok, the Senate Majority Leader is reportedly preparing to kneecap long-standing, bipartisan rights of the minority party -- and he's doing so with the president's blessing. Impeccable timing (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/05/17/harry-reid-eyeing-july-for-the-nuclear-option/):
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is increasingly focused on the month of July as the time to exercise the so-called “nuclear option” and revisit filibuster reform, and he has privately told top advisers that he’s all but certain to take action if the Senate GOP blocks three upcoming key nominations, a senior Senate Democratic aide familiar with his thinking tells me. Reid has privately consulted with President Obama on the need to revisit filibuster reform, and the President has told the Majority Leader that he will support the exercising of the nuclear option if Reid opts for it, the aide says, adding that senior Democrats expect the President to publicly push for it as well. “If Senator Reid decides to do something on nominations, the president has said he’ll be there to support him,” the aide says. Reid is eyeing a change to the rules that would do away with the 60-vote threshold on all judicial and executive branch nominations, the aide says, on the theory that this is a good way to immediately break an important logjam in Washington — without changing the rules when it comes to legislation.
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2013/05/20/with-obamas-approval-reid-mulls-nuking-the-filibuster-this-summer-n1600939
But back in 2005 Reid objected to the same idea when he was the MINORITY Leader
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SjdbjrXiobQ
You may have seen Heather's piece (http://townhall.com/tipsheet/heatherginsberg/2013/05/18/harry-reid-is-considering-rule-change-to-block-filibuster-n1600415) on this story yesterday, but it merits a second spin. The White House and the vast bureaucracy of the federal government are laboring through a fundamental crisis (http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/benghazi-irs-create-perfect-storm-threatening-obama-s-credibility-20130513) of credibility (http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/you-know-what-really-risks-national-security-leak-investigations-20130517). Scandals swirl. The powerful Internal Revenue Service has been caught abusing its power to target and harass the ruling party's opposition. The Department of Justice has launched an unprecedented affront against press freedom. The Department of State manipulated intelligence about a terrorist attack to mask their negligence and stave off political blame. The Secretary of Health and Human Services is unethically (and possibly illegally) coercing the industry over which she wields sweeping regulatory authority. And against that backdrop of power and partisanship run amok, the Senate Majority Leader is reportedly preparing to kneecap long-standing, bipartisan rights of the minority party -- and he's doing so with the president's blessing. Impeccable timing (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/05/17/harry-reid-eyeing-july-for-the-nuclear-option/):
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is increasingly focused on the month of July as the time to exercise the so-called “nuclear option” and revisit filibuster reform, and he has privately told top advisers that he’s all but certain to take action if the Senate GOP blocks three upcoming key nominations, a senior Senate Democratic aide familiar with his thinking tells me. Reid has privately consulted with President Obama on the need to revisit filibuster reform, and the President has told the Majority Leader that he will support the exercising of the nuclear option if Reid opts for it, the aide says, adding that senior Democrats expect the President to publicly push for it as well. “If Senator Reid decides to do something on nominations, the president has said he’ll be there to support him,” the aide says. Reid is eyeing a change to the rules that would do away with the 60-vote threshold on all judicial and executive branch nominations, the aide says, on the theory that this is a good way to immediately break an important logjam in Washington — without changing the rules when it comes to legislation.
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2013/05/20/with-obamas-approval-reid-mulls-nuking-the-filibuster-this-summer-n1600939
But back in 2005 Reid objected to the same idea when he was the MINORITY Leader
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SjdbjrXiobQ