Showing posts with label nuclear option. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nuclear option. Show all posts

Saturday, July 29, 2017

Donald Trump spent morning pushing hard for Senate Republicans to use "nuclear option."



Actually there WAS a 51 vote majority, that voted AGAINST passage of the GOP "skinny" bill.

Damn! Somebody was certainly over caffeinated this morning!

What Trump is referring to is the Senate "nuclear option" which is what McConnell used to get Neil Gorsuch confirmed to the Supreme Court. (After first refusing to allow a confirmation hearing for Merrick Garland of course.)

However while McConnell may have felt compelled to alter the rules to place a conservative on the Supreme Court he is less likely to do the same for Trumpcare.

First off there is every likelihood that even more Senators will come out against the bill than the three who blocked the "skinny" bill the other night.

And secondly if it DOES pass only because the Republicans changed the rules, every American voter who loses health care, or has a family who suffers as a result, will take their outrage to the polling stations punish the GOP.

That is a risk far more concerning than the ravings of a mad man on Twitter.

But Trump didn't stop there.
That's right Trump is threatening to end Cost Sharing Reduction payments to insurance companies, which reduce co-payments and deductibles for lower income customers under Obamacare, and end insurance for members of Congress altogether.

And if that threat was a little too subtle Trump followed it up with this.
Yep, gaining cooperation through verbal insults and intimidation. Isn't that how the Mob gets people to do what they want?
Posted by Gryphen at 1:30 PM 49 comments
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Thursday, April 06, 2017

Mitch McConnell triggers "nuclear option" to pave way for Trump's Supreme Court nominee.

Courtesy of ABC News: 

The Senate has altered the longstanding practice for confirming Supreme Court justices after Democrats today blocked the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch. 

In order to bypass Democrats’ opposition, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., first invoked the so-called nuclear option. The Senate then voted to change Senate precedent on voting on Supreme Court cloture votes from the 60-vote threshold to a simple majority of 51 votes. 

Republicans on their own did not have enough votes to end the floor debate on Gorsuch’s nomination, a move known as cloture, under the current rules requiring 60 votes. The first Senate vote to end debate (cloture) on Gorsuch's nomination failed with a vote of 55-45. 

This is what the Democrats wanted all along.

All of that talk about the Democrats overplaying their hand, and how this was going to bite them in the ass down the road, was all BS because the Democrats KNEW that they had to vote against this nomination to placate the base, and that in so doing McConnell would change the rules moving forward. 

Now I would suggest that the Democrats keep this same tactic up for every other nominee and policy proposal that Trump sends their way until these investigation into his collusion with the Russians has reached completion.

I just hope that Gorsuch enjoys occupying Merrick Garland's stolen Supreme Court seat.
Posted by Gryphen at 11:00 AM 23 comments
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Thursday, December 12, 2013

Republicans final tactic to punish Democrats is to throw a 30 hour long tantrum at the tax payers expense.

Courtesy of The Hill:

Senate Republicans made plans Wednesday to stage a more than 30-hour talkathon on the chamber floor to protest Democrats’ triggering of the “nuclear option” last month. 

The GOP protest, which could extend into the weekend, will throw a wrench in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) hopes of wrapping up legislative business for 2013 as soon as possible. 

The Republicans aimed to push a final vote on Nina Pillard, one of President Obama’s picks for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, until the wee hours of the morning. 

Senate Republicans planned to hold the floor throughout the night, speaking out against Reid’s use of the nuclear option. Reid invoked the controversial tactic before Thanksgiving to strip the minority party’s power to filibuster judicial and executive branch nominees. The change did not affect Supreme Court picks. 

“When you blow up the Senate rules, there has to be a consequence,” one Republican senator said. 

“We’ll stretch this into the weekend if need be,” the lawmaker added. 

A GOP source said that so far 36 senators had signed up for hourlong speaking slots on the floor, which would tie up business until early Friday morning.

Seriously?

So a bunch of old guys are going to stay up way past there bedtimes, while spending taxpayer money to keep the lights on in the Senate, so that they can stamp their feet and bitch about the fact that Harry Reid and the Democrats took away their right to sabotage the government?

They did this to themselves by being obstructionists, refused to accept the possibility that the Democrats would reach their limit with GOP shenanigans, and now are acting like three year olds ins response to the fact that they lost their leverage.

And all this does is to illustrate the point that the Democrats and the President were making that these assholes are unreasonable and irresponsible when it comes to doing their jobs.

Okay is there anybody who has ANY respect for these idiots anymore?
Posted by Gryphen at 12:30 PM 22 comments
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Thursday, November 21, 2013

In biggest news of the day Harry Reid and Democrats trigger "nuclear option" in order to stop Republican obstructionism.

Courtesy of the Washington Post: 

The partisan battles that have paralyzed Washington in recent years took a historic turn Thursday, as Senate Democrats eliminated filibusters for most presidential nominations, severely curtailing the political leverage of the Republican minority in the Senate and assuring an escalation of partisan warfare. 

Saying that “enough is enough,” President Obama welcomed the end of what he called the abuse of the Senate’s advise and consent function, which he said had turned into “a reckless and relentless tool” to grind the gears of government to a halt. 

While “neither party has been blameless for these tactics,” Obama said in a statement to reporters at the White House, “today’s pattern of obstruction . . . just isn’t normal; it’s not what our founders envisioned.” He cited filibusters against executive branch appointments and judicial nominees on grounds that he said were based simply on opposition to “the policies that the American people voted for in the last election.” 

“This isn’t obstruction on substance, on qualifications,” he said. “It’s just to gum up the works.” 

The rule change means that federal judge nominees and executive-office appointments can advance to confirmation votes by a simple majority of senators, rather than the 60-vote supermajority that has long been required to end debate and proceed to an up-or-down majority vote to confirm or reject the nomination. 


The change does not apply to Supreme Court nominations. But the vote, mostly along party lines, dramatically alters the landscape for both Democratic and Republican presidents, especially if their own political party holds a majority of, but fewer than 60, Senate seats.

As much as this rule change bothers me, I have to say that I don't think the Democrats had much choice. 

The Republicans have been blocking just about everything this President has tried to do simply because they can, and have been unwilling to compromise on anything.

So as much and I dislike this, and worry what it means going forward when the Dems are no longer in control, I don't see what other options were left.

Any other opinions?
Posted by Gryphen at 4:30 PM 48 comments
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