Checks and Balances

[Kathianne]

There are so many built within the Constitution, almost like the folks writing it knew not to trust politicians. Well many of these have been removed by a much stronger executive, leading a Congress that doesn't like to take responsibility for decisions, so they abdicate the decisions to the even stronger executive.

One of the checks on the Senate, the filibuster, helped to protect the minority party. Back in 2013, Harry Reid decided that the rule was pesky for pushing through what the President wanted, so 'he nuked it.' At the time, they 'compromised' with the minority, retaining the filibuster for judicial nominees.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...enate/3662445/

<section id="module-position-PfjY85kgbtY" class="storytopbar-bucket story-headline-module story-story-headline-module" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">U.S. Senate goes 'nuclear,' changes filibuster rules

</section><section id="module-position-PfjY85kqxxo" class="storytopbar-bucket priority-asset-module story-priority-asset-module" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"></section>Susan Davis and Richard Wolf, USA TODAY3:06 p.m. EST November 21, 2013

...

Last month, Reid announced that he was certain that the filibuster would be removed with a new Democrat led Senate, under President Clinton:

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/harr...-nuclear-again

Harry Reid's Parting Shot: Dems Will Nuke The Filibuster For SCOTUS

ByLAUREN FOXPublishedOCTOBER 24, 2016, 1:16 PM EDT


Outgoing Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said he is confident that he has laid the groundwork for Democrats to nuke the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees if they win back the Senate in November.


Envisioning Hillary Clinton in the White House and Democrats controlling the Senate, Reid warned that if a Senate Republican minority block her Supreme Court nominee, he is confident the party won't hesitate to change the filibuster rules again.


Such a move would be an extension of what Reid did in 2013 when he was still majority leader, eliminating filibusters (with a simple majority vote) on the President's nominees. There was only one exception: the Supreme Court. As it stands now, Democrats still need 60 votes to move forward with a Supreme Court nominee.


Reid said, however, that could change.



“I really do believe that I have set the Senate so when I leave, we’re going to be able to get judges done with a majority. It takes only a simple majority anymore. And, it’s clear to me that if the Republicans try to filibuster another circuit court judge, but especially a Supreme Court justice, I’ve told 'em how and I’ve done it, not just talking about it. I did it in changing the rules of the Senate. It’ll have to be done again," Reid told TPM in a wide-ranging interview about his time in the Senate and his legacy.

...

I'd say it's likely that the Republicans will be thanking him for the advice meant for others, it will work for them too.

[NightTrain]

Yep. Democrats were warned at the time that gutting the power of the filibuster was going to haunt them in spades in the near future.

Response :

Remarkable lack of foresight. As the reality sets in as to what they've done to themselves, the few remaining Democrats are eating each other in full panic.

The monumental failures are never their fault, though.

[Black Diamond]

Yep. Democrats were warned at the time that gutting the power of the filibuster was going to haunt them in spades in the near future.

Response :

Remarkable lack of foresight. As the reality sets in as to what they've done to themselves, the few remaining Democrats are eating each other in full panic.

The monumental failures are never their fault, though.

Hubris on Reid's part?

[NightTrain]

Hubris on Reid's part?

And then some.

But they all went along with it and cheered him on, so unless it's a democratic freshman saying anything, they really can't.


Haha! Just kidding!

Joe Manchin, Senator (WV 2010 - present) said this a couple days ago : Reid is “an absolute embarrassment to the Senate as an institution, our Democratic party, and the nation."

In fairness, though, Trump carried WV by a whopping 42 points last Tuesday, so I imagine that Manchin is a bit uncomfortable right now.

But where was Manchin as Dirty Harry set the stage for a powerless Senate minority back in 2013? Yeah, he was on board with that : Full speed ahead, Cap'n Harry! No icebergs for miles!