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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHarry Reid APOLOGIZED to Senate Dems for the deals he cut with McConnell. It's nuke time.
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/07/the-start-of-the-filibusters-end-94062.htmlIn a closed-door caucus meeting Thursday, Reid began by apologizing to his colleagues for cutting bipartisan deals to avert the nuclear option, including at the beginning of this year. And the Nevada Democrat complained that he allowed votes on scores of conservative nominees under former President George W. Bush after a bipartisan coalition headed off the nuclear option in 2005. But Reid said it had been the right thing to do because Bush had won a second term in the White House.
Now, Reid argued, times have changed.
I ate sh on some of those nominees, Reid told his colleagues, according to sources who were present.
The die has been cast unless McConnell blinks.
tblue
(16,350 posts)I want action, dammit!
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)When you start apologizing for cutting a deal in the past, it makes it tough to cut a deal in the near term.
KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)LOL!
Maximumnegro
(1,134 posts)one of my favorites.
ancianita
(36,130 posts)merrily
(45,251 posts)very convenient for Democratic politicians and Republican politicians to support.
It beats thinking that Democrats deliberately cooperate with Republicans and corporations against the 99%.
Neither major Party would survive if people thought that.
CrispyQ
(36,499 posts)Autumn
(45,120 posts)Never mind the fact that some of us Democrats have been eating shit for years now because of his actions.
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)Autumn
(45,120 posts)merrily
(45,251 posts)Yet, that is but one of the things that make them so dangeous to the rest of us.
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)merrily
(45,251 posts)Decent salary,free (to you) health insurance, great offices, staff waiting on you hand and foot, wonderful dining room and gym, lobbyists and captains of industry falling over themselves to make you happy, including jobs for your family members, free fact-finding trips in the U.S. and abroad, visits to the White House, maybe for state dinners or Easter egg rolls, etc. etc. etc. plus the ability to vote on things that matter. And that good ole, lucrative "consulting" job if you get voted out.
In their shoes, I might have a hard time voting for term limits.
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)Even though we get absolutely nothing done & complain when we have to work more than three days in a week!
Plucketeer
(12,882 posts)and saying: "Citizens? What citizens?"
Blue Palasky
(81 posts)he will eat shit until he uses this nuclear option.
merrily
(45,251 posts)We do.
They eat very well and as often as they choose. Not so the people whom they sell out year in and year out so that the rich can get richer on our dimes(s).
supercats
(429 posts)I'll believe it when I see it!!!
grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)The Magistrate
(95,251 posts)No deal is possible; McConnell has already demonstrated his word is worthless.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)Last edited Tue Jul 16, 2013, 12:00 PM - Edit history (1)
the NLRB and CFPB nominees?
If he's playing hardball, he's scheduling Perez and McCarthy after the other four.
If he wants to play "let's make a deal" they'll come first.
"Because the Greyjoys are treasonous whores" seems to explain the actions of McConnell etc.
The Magistrate
(95,251 posts)I actually have not been paying a great deal of attention to things lately; the grand-kids are out of school, and we are doing some refurbishings about the home.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)Hope to garden and landscape tomorrow, the rain gods permitting.
Volaris
(10,274 posts)He knows full-well the implications of a Democratic-led Senate that actually can govern the way the demographic majority WANTS them to, as it further marginalizes the Idiot GOP in their quest to run roughshod over things like, oh I don't know, THE POPULAR WILL. I'm not one who advocates turning the Senate into the House, and I DO think there's a danger in that (as mentioned in the original article), but there's a solution: The Nuclear Option isn't the ONLY option; simply repeal the dual-tracking rule, keep the Filibuster, and FORCE the Minority to actually STAND THERE AND FILIBUSTER; FORCE the wailing harpie puppets of the 1% to state why they are defending the 1% against the betterment of the other 99, and that's something I think a lot of us would be ok with. If, at some point in the future, the GOP wants to get pissy and ACTUALLY turn the Senate into The House 2.0, that's a circus I will be HAPPY to let them try and ringlead, 'cause no good will come with it in terms of GOP electoral prospects.
I'm all for changing the Rules on this one, AND I don't want the filibuster destroyed as a protection mechanism of the Minority Position. But sure as hell, I want those fuckers in the Minority to have to stand in the Well of the Senate and tell the American People WHY IT IS the Minority Party is in favor of fucking over the rest of us.
I think this might actually happen this time, but I'm not holding my breath. One too many times before, there have been NO WOLVES.
Also, I have a question as to how this works regarding The Dems needing only 51 votes--I thought that was a thing that could only happen on the first day of a new Session. I know at the beginning of the year, Reid "held the door open" for a little over a month, but what is the mechanism by which this is still possible WITHOUT 60 votes?? I'm asking because I'm stupid, and I know full well that someone here knows the answer=)
Ed Suspicious
(8,879 posts)LittleGirl
(8,287 posts)Why don't they have to stand there and filibuster a bill?
And your last question...why yes, why is it in play now? I thought they couldn't do that after the first day of the session either.
Volaris
(10,274 posts)because of (i think) a late 70's era rules change called Dual-Tracking. Prior to the implementation of dual-tracking, YES, you actually had to hold the floor and speak. Dual-tracking was created to allow the Minority Party to block a piece of legislation until both parties found a way to deal with that particular piece of legislation, and NOT hold up the rest of normal Senate Business while doing so (say, NOT holding up a bill that everyone wanted passed because you were having a fight over what a new tax rate % would be in something totally unrelated).
Just Saying
(1,799 posts)DO IT!!!!
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)It would appear the NLRB and CFPB, plus the EPA and Labor, nominees are a bare minimum of a concession.
Volaris
(10,274 posts)Filibustering the funding stream needed to do it should ABSOLUTLEY a deal-breaker, and McConnell can rot in hell if he doesn't like it. President Obama wants us to "make him" do these kinds of things and that's FINE with me as a matter of "proper" Constitutional balancing, but if thats going to be the case I want the Majority to actually be able to FORCE HIS HAND. No more of this "Well, I want this done, but Congress won't write the check I need to do it".
Nuh-Uh. I'm DONE watching THAT game get played.
wordpix
(18,652 posts)and taxed at the earned income rate, not at the investment income rate
NYC Liberal
(20,136 posts)Stinky The Clown
(67,817 posts)How else will these do-nothings continue to do nothing while trying to appear to give a fuck?
Fantastic Anarchist
(7,309 posts)I'm pretty unconvinced.
Stinky The Clown
(67,817 posts)Lets enlist other and have a shortz eating party that will never happen!
😄
Fantastic Anarchist
(7,309 posts)Maybe start an online campaign and force Harry's hand, eh?
L0oniX
(31,493 posts)with brown spots.
William769
(55,147 posts)geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)I've never seen a turtle explode in impotent rage before.
beveeheart
(1,369 posts)Volaris
(10,274 posts)He KNOWS there won't be SHIT he can do about it, and as soon as the Senate has a Functional Majority again, it won't take long for the House GOP Majority to disappear into the electoral winds. The GOP know the ONLY thing standing between them and Electoral Oblivion is a House Majority based mostly on gerrymandering. As soon as the Senate can start passing things that most Americans want done, and the House GOP Majority keeps voting those things down, even that gerrymandering won't keep those districts safe. The bi-cameral mudlsinging will be nasty as hell for a while, but there's an old saying in the Senate that the "enemy" isn't the other Senate Party, the "enemy" has always been the House of Representatives, and vice versa.
I say repeal dual-tracking, and let's have a REAL-ASS, OLD-SCHOOL, DEBATE in this country about what the role of Our Government IS. I THINK our side can WIN that fight at this point in our Nations's hsitory. Let's lay the groundwork NOW, so that IF someone like Liz Warren wants to engage that debate as a Presidential candidate, we can have that fight FAIRLY, so that WHEN we win, there will be NO DOUBT that the other side isn't on the same page as the American People.
If that makes The Turtle sweat a little bit, well, then that means he already has some thoughts as to how that fight will go down.
LET that Rat Bastard be afraid.
Fantastic Anarchist
(7,309 posts)This is another stunt by Reid. Give 'em honey, Harry!
I'll eat Stinky The Clown's shorts if he actually does it.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)nm
KoKo
(84,711 posts)along with...well...you know..
So Sad...he pipes up like this and he knows his seat is secure since he was recently re-elected. I don't know who he and Durbin are always apologizing to...it isn't the Left of Dem Party for sure. Sadly. Watching him all these years....it's just so depressing.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)indepat
(20,899 posts)Jeff In Milwaukee
(13,992 posts)I'm going to go kill myself now.
upaloopa
(11,417 posts)worthless deal? Reid is too much of a pansy ass to do anything about filibuster rules.
He worships at the alter of a bygone era of bipartisanship like Obama did all the while the repubs push their face in big piles of shit
leeroysphitz
(10,462 posts)Laelth
(32,017 posts)-Laelth
on point
(2,506 posts)AnotherMcIntosh
(11,064 posts)rurallib
(62,439 posts)Tansy_Gold
(17,867 posts)kentuck
(111,110 posts)After all, it is only on executive nominations, not on regular legislation. and every President has more or less picked his own executive nominations.
I would even support a filibuster on regular legislation if Repubs refused to debate it. As it is now, the Democrats would need to get 60 votes so that the debate would not end. In fairness, it should be the reverse. Those that wish to filibuster should be the ones required to get 60 votes. It's a scam.
dballance
(5,756 posts)There is nothing stopping Reid from simply ignoring a filibuster but the Senate rules. Those are not law but an agreement among the senators about how the Senate will operate. So he can simply ignore the filibuster and bring up a bill or a nominee for a vote if he wanted to.
Yes, the GOP would probably try to file a suite with SCOTUS but it's unlikely even the 5-4 Roberts court would invalidate a law or the confirmation of a nominee based on that. The courts have, historically, stayed out of the operations of the other branches.
This would be different from the row over Obama's recess appointments in that the rules for recess appointments are law as part of the Constitution. So it's not out of line for a court to interpret them.
kentuck
(111,110 posts)and need a simple majority vote to continue it in the next session of Congress or the Senate, voted on by the new Senate, in 2014, for example. It is extenuating circumstances that is forcing him to do it this time. Mitch McConnell is playing the badass and blocks everything, including personnel to keep the government running. Since we can't try him for treason, this is the last resort.
KoKo
(84,711 posts)You can see where I am...down thread.
ZRT2209
(1,357 posts)cascadiance
(19,537 posts)... who has shown he knows what to do with it and would make sure that constructive things get done when possible, instead of just finding ways of making excuses for things not getting done.
MurrayDelph
(5,300 posts)I've met and spoken to Jeff Merkley several times, and he has been a great Senator for us in Oregon. I would love to see him in a position of higher authority.
cascadiance
(19,537 posts)Was there last year and had a great time talking to him and others there. I think a good turnout for him then might be really helpful to continue to encourage him doing the great things he's been doing recently.
I'm not sure if his lower seniority will allow him to be in line for the speaker position just yet, but I certainly would like to see that happen. Would be a great improvement in making sure the Senate is heading in the right direction.
NRaleighLiberal
(60,018 posts)protect the voice of the minority"
I could picture Dionne jumping across the desk to strangle Brooks....
red dog 1
(27,844 posts)Peregrine Took
(7,417 posts)awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)valerief
(53,235 posts)Mr. David
(535 posts)even after nearly 10 years after the fact.
Reid's still an idiot. Walk the walk, asshole. Talk's cheap.
KoKo
(84,711 posts)Unknown Beatle
(2,672 posts)Harry (Milquetoast) Reid? Really? I'll believe it when he actually does something against the Repugs.
milque·toast
/ˈmilkˌtōst/
Noun
A person who is timid or submissive.
Synonyms
mouse
Yep, sounds like Harry Reid to me. He even has a weak ass sounding voice.
I'll eat anyone's shortz if Reid goes nuclear.
KoKo
(84,711 posts)Cali_Democrat
(30,439 posts)Please.
NO MORE DEALS
SHRED
(28,136 posts)Kablooie
(18,638 posts)Don't change anything.
Just trust the Republicans to do the honorable thing and everything will be all...right.
All...riiiggtttt.
Yyyeeeessssssss.
You're getting sleeeeepppyyy. Sleeeeppppyyy.
Keep your eye on the swinging pachyderm and it will be all.....rrrrriiiiii...ggggghhhhttttttt.
There.
That's much better than changing the rules, isn't it?
Firebrand Gary
(5,044 posts)Rather than take the opportunity to jab Reid, I will just say, its time to move and look forward. The only way to stop this powerful pull to the right of our country, is in the judiciary.
red dog 1
(27,844 posts)BumRushDaShow
(129,352 posts)for
lastlib
(23,268 posts)Your feeble attempts to be ""bipartisan" are embarrassing us real Dems, and KILLING the rest of the country. The Repugs had a chance to play nice; they stabbed the 99% in the back. If they don't like having the big one dropped on 'em, well, Fugg 'em. They should've played like grownups.
cherokeeprogressive
(24,853 posts)Oops. He only talked about it...
byronius
(7,399 posts)C'mon, Harry. Kick his ass.
Euphoria
(448 posts)No more "next-times", buddy. You've done enough - for the opposition.
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)Union Scribe
(7,099 posts)but who knows maybe Harry is fed up enough to do it.
winter is coming
(11,785 posts)markpkessinger
(8,401 posts)rateyes
(17,438 posts)You won't do a damned thing about it, so just shut the fuck up!
tofuandbeer
(1,314 posts)Cha
(297,503 posts)"But senators in both parties agreed Thursday that if Reid moves to change the rules by 51 votes, it would be used by the majority in the future to further weaken the filibuster, potentially eliminating the potent procedural weapon altogether one day. While Democrats said they were willing to roll the dice on the nuclear option, believing the GOP would go that route anyway when they get back in the majority, Republicans said Reids move all but assured a continued weakening and eventual demolition of the filibuster."
Hopefully, not "when".. more like "If" and may it be NEVER!
mahalo, geek
merrily
(45,251 posts)Eating shit kabuki, too. And here we thought that kabuki could not possibly be more unattractive.
99Forever
(14,524 posts)Don't believe you.
You ain't gonna do jack.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)He should apologize to the American people as well. He and Mitch indulge and do harm to America and to the Senate.
life long demo
(1,113 posts)Sorry, won't believe it till I see it.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)Not before. We've heard this song several times before, but nothing ever happens. I hope he does.
DainBramaged
(39,191 posts)Kablooie
(18,638 posts)I've lost all faith in the Democrats.
The country is turning against Republican policies by a large majority and the Democrats can't seem to use that power to stop GOP dominance at all.
All we hear day after day is how Tea Party governance is spreading like wildfire.
The Republicans have horrific policies that are damaging everyone's life but the Democrats are like miniature golfers going up against Tiger Woods and can't do anything to stop it.
I know some will crow about the Senate passing the immigration bill but that's stupid. Until the law is passed by both houses it means nothing.
Our government isn't broken, it's just Republican.
NorthCarolina
(11,197 posts)BillyRibs
(787 posts)Now, Get off yer ass and do something about it already!
kentuck
(111,110 posts)...is that he cannot 51 Democrats to vote with him?
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)In other words, the bottom 10% of the Democratic caucus tie his hands.
Rebellious Republican
(5,029 posts)like Joe Lieberman or Zell Miller!
Javaman
(62,532 posts)I'm tired of harry's hyperbole
tosh
(4,424 posts)dreamnightwind
(4,775 posts)after 6 years of Senate obstructionism, shortly before Republicans get the Senate majority in 2014.
We'll be in the minority, and will have weakened our own minority protections. I've heard the Republicans have a great shot at doing just that, getting the Senate majority, any truth to that?
I shudder to think what terrible legislation Obama would sign that comes out of a Republican House and Senate. For this reason, I think he might be wise to make it just about executive appointments, and not about legislation.
Regardless, he's wasted 6 years of Obama appointments, and if the Republicans get Senate control, what will this accomplish? Pretty much nothing, which is probably why Reid is now willing to do it.
He's a classic corporatist, he has little interest in seeing Democrats held responsible to the wishes of the people, it's better for his kind to be able to blame Republican obstructionism.
BlueJac
(7,838 posts)walks and actions talk, we will see! He is worthless at best. Just another compromiser!
mn9driver
(4,428 posts)The 3 or 4 Dems who will "shock" everyone by voting against the rule change have already been picked out.
elleng
(131,067 posts)Fingers crossed.
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)albeit a fed up, weary, utterly disgusted laugh.
sulphurdunn
(6,891 posts)IF NO DEAL IS STRUCK." My god, Is it Kabuki theater time again?
boomer55
(592 posts)The guy is a joke and should have resigned the leadership position years ago.
yourout
(7,532 posts)they have now.
If you want to fillibuster than fine stand up there and plead your case. Otherwise shutup and vote.
tpsbmam
(3,927 posts)How sad it is that our representatives forget so often why they're their and who they answer to. Given that you're the Senate leader, Harry, you owe Americans that apology. Now get to it -- enough yacking about it!
JCMach1
(27,568 posts)for how many years now?
bluedeathray
(511 posts)sulphurdunn
(6,891 posts)he knows he can't get 51 votes to end the filibuster because just enough Dems will defect to keep it from happening. It was an obvious joke when Reid mentioned reaching an agreement after confessing that the Republicans hadn't kept the previous one. It's like Charlie Brown giving Lucy a wink and a nod before she pulls the ball away.
kentuck
(111,110 posts)...especially those that would vote against the filibuster rule change. But, we need to see who those folks are. Democrats need this information to make needed changes in the Party.
A good leader would know how each of his members will vote before a vote is called. Just as a good lawyer does not ask a question he does not already know the answer to.
sulphurdunn
(6,891 posts)I might add that a good leader would make it clear in civil but unequivocal terms to DINOs that failure to do what was asked on critical issues to the Party would be a career ending choice, and the DINO would know the leader meant it and had the punch to back it up. I don't think that describes Senator Reid or President Obama.
Zorra
(27,670 posts)Many progressives were absolutely horrified when we heard the DLC had selected Reid to be SML. If you want to know why Harry always snatches defeat from the jaws of victory, and why it always it always seems like Harry bends over to make deals with republicans, it is not because he is incompetent. Ever wondered why Harry always manages to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory at the last moment? It is because that is his job--to further corporate interests while convincing us that it is raining while he pisses down our backs. He is a master of politics. Too bad he is not really on our side.
Is our Senate leader in bed with America's worst polluter?
The Silver State owes its holdout status in part to Senate majority leader Harry Reid, who went from a hardscrabble childhood in a gold town to becoming one of the mining industry's most reliable allies in Congress. Reid has been instrumental in blocking efforts to reform the archaic General Mining Law of 1872, a legal blank check that's allowed miners to take an estimated $408 billion worth of gold and other hard rock minerals from public lands without paying a single cent in federal royaltiesever. When those mines are tapped out or go bustas they inescapably dotaxpayers are often stuck with the cleanup bill, estimated at more than $30 billion nationwide. But Reid, who owns a handful of defunct gold mines and whose sons and son-in-law have ties to mining companies, has vigorously fought off efforts to make the industry pay its way.
This makes for good politics back home. Even in Elko County, where Barack Obama got just 28 percent of the vote despite making three campaign stops here (what a former Reid staffer considers "an absurd number of times to go to Elko" and declaring himself an "honorary Elkonian," Reid is forgiven for being a Democrat. "He has been our biggest proponent," said the miner at Goldie's.
Yet Reid's loyalty to mining has increasingly put him at odds with other Democrats, who have sought to end more than a century of giveaways to the nation's dirtiest industry. It's also been a curious contrast with his own record as an environmentalist and a champion of Nevada's growing urban population. As congressional Democrats once again prepare to drag the mining industry into the 21st century, Reid may be headed for the final showdown between the two seemingly incompatible sides of his political identity.
http://motherjones.com/environment/2009/02/harry-reid-g...
Coal, oil, and gas companies, as the article notes, have to kick back anywhere from 8 to 17% of their revenues back to the government annually. But thanks to Harry Reid and his cronies, the mining industry doesn't have to kick back any. And then, people wonder why so many people are calling on the government to forgive all college student loans. If we could pass a law requiring mining companies to pay their fair share like the other industries, then we would have money to forgive student loans and then set up scholarship funds for where the need is greatest.
snip--
But Reid's ties to mining run deeper than his sentimental connection to his rough-and-tumble origins. His sons Rory and Leif work for law firms that represent mining companies. Since 1999, his son-in-law, Steven Barringer, has earned as much as $3.7 million lobbying for mining interests including Barrick Gold, though he does not lobby Reid directly. Reid's natural resources staffer, Neil Kornze, is the son of a geologist who discovered Barrick's Betze deposit outside Elko. Since 1994, mining interests have donated more than $269,000 to Reid, including at least $82,000 from Barrick and its employees. Any suggestion, however, that these links have swayed Reid is "an attempt to draw a conclusion that would be inaccurate," says his spokesman Jon Summers. (Reid declined to be interviewed for this article.) Yeah, sure... -- EH
Reid's relationship with the mining industry is a fiercely guarded piece of political capital. Though Reid has a solid base in expanding urban areas such as Las Vegas and Reno, he has had to fight for votes in conservative rural areas. Part of the problem is his environmental record: Reid has opposed road building in national forests and supported setting aside 5.6 million acres in southern Nevada to protect the threatened desert tortoise. His 1998 reelection bid was opposed by the anti-environmentalist Wise Use movement; he won by just 428 votes. In 2001, when Bush moved to quash mining regulations put in place by the Clinton administration, Reid saw an opportunity to mend fences back home. "President Bush can't be wrong all the time," he said. In 2003, prominent Nevada Republicans endorsed his reelection bid, and he won by a comfortable margin.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/03/01/703409/-Harry-...
librechik
(30,676 posts)I will believe it after it happens. I won't believe it until after the vote. If then.
Third Doctor
(1,574 posts)Tell us another one.
Vietnameravet
(1,085 posts)If we do away with the lazy mans filibuster now what if Repbs win a majority..then we wont be able to use it...Bullshit! If Republicans win they will certainly do away with any sort of filibuster if it gets in their way,,
I got a call yesterday asking for money for Democrats...I told them to call back when democrats learn to fight..
mikekohr
(2,312 posts)Then repeat, repeat and repeat. They are crybabies, whiners and pussys' And there are more of us.