Will the Senate go on Strike?
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid has threatened to shut down the Senate if the Republicans go through with their threat to eliminate the filibuster. Give ’em Hell Harry!! You go, Guy!! Unlike his predecessor, Tom Daschle, Reid has a spine; and previously non-existent backbones seem to be growing throughout the ranks of Senate Democrats. It’s about time!
The Senate will return in early April after a 2-week recess, and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is expected to carry out his long-threatened move to eliminate the filibuster. Reid accused Bush and Senate Republicans of trying to “break down the separation of powers and ram through their appointees to the judicial branch.” He also accused Bush and Frist of harboring “a desire for absolute power.”
The way the Republicans have steamrolled and bulldozed their way over the opposition, you’d think they had won the election with 99% of the vote. They’ve already achieved many of the goals that the Far Right has been wet dreaming about for decades, and they’re on the cusp of dismantling Social Security and raping the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The filibuster is a tradition dating back to the 1850s; both parties have a long history of using and overusing this tactic. Any attempt to derail this tradition for short-term gain (i.e. absolute power for the current president) is going to backfire.
The House Ethics Committee came to a standstill several days ago. Democrats on the committee finally had enough ninth inning rule changes designed solely to protect Tom DeLay every time he fell into the sleaze pool.
A strike in the Senate would be far more drastic. But if the Republicans insist on eliminating every time-honored procedure that stands in their way, they’re asking for it.
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posted by Tom Harper @ 12:11 AM
8 Comments:
It's great to see Harry Reid standing up and fighting. It may not seem productive to the casual viewer, but the Senate really does need some serious fights and debates. It's nice to see a democrat with passion, too bad it doesn't happen more often in election years. Sen. Reid is doing a much better job than I expected.
Haha, Harry on strike. It's too bad the democrats are going to hold up the senate with their hissy fit, but when has the senate done anything anyways?
Why is it that when Republicans pass all of their bills when they control Congress it's steamrolling, but when Democrats pass all of their bills it's not? That's the inherent danger of a democracy: someone you disagree with gets to make the laws.
What a fabulous blog! I will definitely be back! I'd love to see the Senate go on strike, stand up to the Republicans!!! :)
The issue is that the changing of the rules at the last minute to slant the field of play is unethical. Certainly laws are passed that oposition parties disagree with, but when you hold a majority, it seems odd that the republicans feel the need to resort to stacking the deck in order to force a win. There is a substantial number of citizens who did NOT elect this majority, and the approval numbers of the majority continue to fall. I see this as a an effort, regardless of the ethics, to force the country in a direction that profits this adminstration.
Great blog BTW, I added you to my links list.
Thanks for the comments, everybody.
It's nice to see the Senate Democrats developing a spine, and not too soon. Blue America has lots of work to do.
If the Republicans want to change the rules in the bottom of the ninth inning, then the Democrats have a right, a duty, to go on strike.
How ironic Reid accused Republicans of trying to "break down the separation of powers" while liberal supreme court justices are abusing their power in order to legislate law.
Personally I've always been against the filibuster, whether it is being done by a Republican or Democrat. It seems by its very nature a "cheating" of the system and only a way to make democracy even slower.
Oh, they care about the wildlife. Their PR people have assured us of that; they wouldn't lie.
Whatever one thinks of the filibuster: if they change it or delete it, it should take effect at some future date. You're supposed to change the rules before the game starts, not in the 4th quarter with 58 seconds left.
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