Democrats Plan to Discharge GOP Bill to End Shutdown

[brooklynite]

Source: Roll Call

House Democrats are moving ahead with a plan to discharge a GOP bill that automatically funds the government, advancing a course that could eventually end the government shutdown — if enough Republicans cooperate.

Democrats announced Friday afternoon that they would file a discharge petition on a bill sponsored by Rep. James Lankford, R-Okla., that has sat waiting for action by the Appropriations Committee since March.

...snip...

The discharge petition would not simply adopt the Lankford bill, which would give 100 percent funding for 120 days before exacting a 1 percent cut every 90 days if the government does not produce funding bills.

Instead, their discharge petition would offer language to substitute Lankford’s bill with a clean CR to Nov. 15. They think they have the votes for the plan.

Read more: http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/breaking-democrats-to-discharge-gop-bill-to-end-shutdown/

---

The game's afoot!

[JDPriestly]

1. If this is the best they can do, we are in deep trouble.

[AllyCat]

3. I don't understand this well enough JDP.

Why do you say this?

[JDPriestly]

17. First, the discharge petition, if I understand the OP correctly, just delays the government shutdown

And, second, because of the 1% decrease in spending (or budgeted money, unclear) is bad news. The Democrats already compromised on the size of the budget and accepted the lower, Republican budget.

So, this makeshift measure is not good for Democrats. It just delays the misery. The Republicans have no incentive to ease up. It would be better just to leave things in the disarray they are until the Republicans come to their senses.

Compromising with the discharge bill will not bring Republicans to their senses.

[LiberalFighter]

22. I think the version you refer to is the Lankford petition.

Democrats plan to replace it with one that is a clean CR lasting until November 15. If I understood it right.

[JDPriestly]

29. So, what happens on November 15? And in December?

Does the budget bill come up for these games or a vote again?

[quakerboy]

36. Yes

All of the above. if they passed this, We are put back exactly where we were about a month ago, except with the fresh knowledge that people do not like government shutdowns and will blame the republicans for refusing to do the job they were elected for.

[wordpix]

60. ugh, really don't want a redux of this in another 5 wks.

[LiberalFighter]

44. Groundhog Day

[BlueToTheBone]

54. We haven't had a budget since 2009!

We have been running on CRs for this entire presidency.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

62. As the wingers love to point out

Given GOP obstructionism and unreasonableness, what did you expect? The wingers won't allow any plan to include any revenue just want the Senate and President Obama to accept whatever crazy "budgets" (i.e. Ryan's budget) the House ships over to them.

[Shivering Jemmy]

26. I do not believe you are reading this correctly

They are using a petition on that (bad) bill to substitute the one they want.

Discharge petitions take 30 days to process. That one was filed already, or so I understand.

It's a hail mary, true.

[JDPriestly]

28. Sorry.

[House of Roberts]

2. What this does , is put Boner on a countdown to being run over.

He can't afford to stall until this hits the floor. Plus, it shows the LIVs there was a majority support for the Dem 'clean bill' all along.

[hedgehog]

4. I may be wrong (probably am!) but it sounds to me like a Blue Dog attempt to

kick the can down the road. If it passes, it puts Senate Democrats and President Obama in a situation in which they have to accept a bad deal or look bad to low information voters for rejecting it.

"many in the GOP have endorsed the idea over the years, including former Sen. Jim DeMint, Sen. Mitch McConnell and Reps Paul D. Ryan and Jeb Hensarling."

[brooklynite]

6. How is this a bad deal?

They're substituting clear CR langauge.

[hedgehog]

24. I'm thinking a continuing resolution means that sooner rather than

later, we come back to this impasse. I thought the goal was to actually pass a budget?

[Shivering Jemmy]

27. no. goal is to pass the CR

budget later.

[quakerboy]

37. It fails to clarify which "Idea" it referrs to

Whether its the clean CR, or just to the idea of using this discharge thing to substitute different language in a bill and force votes on issues over the blockade of an unfriendly house leadership.

Im guessing maybe its the second, but I could be very wrong. I thought I was informed, but Ive never heard of a maneuver like this.

[riqster]

5. A painful discharge.

Usually a sign of a deeper problem

Seriously, nice to see Dems trying to push the CR through. Proves the Reeps are lying.

[displacedtexan]

7. Nov. 15th: Just in time for The Boehner That Stole Christmas...

... if the Repukes decide to shut it down again.

Hmmmmm. There might be some logic to this Dem move.

Time will tell.

[StrictlyRockers]

8. The worm turns.

It may turn slowly, but it turns.

[WilliamPitt]

9. I thought discharge petitions were only usable after 30 days

of legislation being stalled.

[rhett o rick]

19. They said the legislation has been stalled since March. At least that's how I read it. nm

[cui bono]

21. Below, ashling provided some links to more info...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014611114#post15

In the DK diary linked, someone points out that rules may be different since this is a continuing resolution, not a new bill.

I do have faith that Pelosi will know the rules though, so hopefully she will speak publicly about it or just get it done. I'm sure we will still need help from some Republicans either way, but I suppose if this plan is being made public that they know of some they can count on and if they don't have enough, are counting on the pressure to get them to sign on.

[yuiyoshida]

10. I don't understand this but...

If its an Ice breaking Ship that cuts up Rebublican Icebergs, and does the job... go for it.

[cui bono]

13. It's a petition to get a bill out of committe and onto the floor for a vote.

So basically go around Boehner and get the Senate bill up for vote, where it should pass, so hopefully the same Republicans that would vote for the bill will also sign the petition. We would need 18 of them to sign if all Dems sign.

I don't know what the whole Lankford bill and substituting language is about...

http://definitions.uslegal.com/d/Discharge-Petition-Constitution/

[yuiyoshida]

14. Thanks for the

explanation!

[cui bono]

11. Good. I was wondering if and when this would happen.

Let's hope they get the votes. I actually think they will since it's become clear who is getting the blame for this subversion of democracy.

[True_Blue]

12. They should attach a rider to it to dismiss Boehner as Speaker.

If Boehner really wants to save face, he should pretend to be a leader and schedule a vote on the clean CR now.

[ashling]

15. Procedural details make the discharge rule ill-suited for swift enactment of a clean CR.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/09/30/1242593/-FYI-Discharge-Petition-is-NOT-an-option-here

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2013/10/02/why-the-discharge-rule-wont-help-democrats-on-the-cr/

[cui bono]

20. Hm... thanks for the links.

I see in the DK diary it is pointed out that maybe it's different for this since it's a CR and not a new bill. We'll have to see what happens I guess, or see if Pelosi will talk about it publicly. As usual the Rethugs take us into new territory.

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. When it says "would offer language", does that mean the clean CR would be a choice in this bill

or does it mean that the only thing that would be possible would be a clear CR? Because if it's the former, I can see that the few Republicans would say "we'll pass the original Republican 'automatically-cutting' bill, but not a clean CR" - which gives them a 'win' to protect them inside their party. Which does not sound a good outcome - that would be 4% reduction by the time of the 2014 elections.

Can anyone enlighten me?

[cojoel]

18. It is a procedural matter

The Discharge Petition needs to a discharge a bill that is stuck in committee to the floor of the house. On the House Floor the language of the bill will be amended to be the clean CR that the Senate already approved, and vote on it. If it is as said, it would go to the Senate for a vote. I don't know what Senate rules would apply.

If there is any nonsense and the bill is not properly amended, the Democratic members (by and large) will vote against it. If it passes the house anyway it will not pass the Senate. If it somehow does it will be vetoed.

[progressoid]

23. "that has sat waiting"

Is this Jr. High writing class?

[Demit]

32. what's wrong with 'has sat"?

[progressoid]

40. Its just a little clumsy.

DireStrike noted below that it has been edited.

Democrats announced Friday afternoon that they would file a discharge petition on a bill sponsored by Rep. James Lankford, R-Okla., that has been waiting for action by the Appropriations Committee since March.

[Demit]

43. Was perfectly grammatical.

[leftyohiolib]

50. omg this is funny

[DireStrike]

33. The article has been edited

It now says "has been waiting".

This is the same thing as "has sat waiting", grammatically. It just sounds better because the past participle of sat is sat, and "has sat" is a choppy, staccato phrase.

[progressoid]

39. Thanks.

I shouldn't really judge. I've certainly made more than my share of grammatical flubs. However, sometimes when I read things like this, I flash back to my high school English class.

[demwing]

47. Shouldn't it be "I really shouldn't judge."?

"I shouldn't really judge" sounds like you're saying "I shouldn't judge very thoroughly."

In your original sentence, the word "really" qualifies the word "judge," even though your context implies you meant it to qualify the word "shouldn't."

[leftyohiolib]

51. other than that mrs lincoln how was the play

[progressoid]

56. I shouldn't really drink and post.

[demwing]

57. And I really shouldn't mess with people

or hit the POST button before I'm ready, but I do

[hoosierlib]

25. If sucessful, a brilliant move...

It would force a vote that Boehner and Tea Party could not block. All we need are 17 moderate Republicans to crossover in a "bi-partisan" vote to end the stupidity. It would further isolate and damage the Tea Party brand, while making the Dems look reasonable...I love it!

[red dog 1]

31. "All we need are 17 moderate Republicans"?

Here they are:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251327319/

[Agnosticsherbet]

30. If that is the only way we can get things done without surrendering everything to the GOP,

go for it.

If every Democrat votes for it, the will still need at least 18 Republican votes. So it isn't going to be easy.

[red dog 1]

34. Thanks brooklynite for posting

Although all this is confusing, it may just work...we'll just have to wait & see.

[brooklynite]

35. UPDATE: First "Moderate" Republican caves

It's barely been an hour since Democrats revealed a discharge petition strategy that will force Republicans who say they support a clean funding bill to reopen government to put up or shut up, but one of those so-called "moderate" Republicans has already folded his bluff:

Discharge petition uphill: GOP Nunes who supports clean CR tells me "not a chance" he'd sign it. Why would we give over to the Democrats?
— @CHueyBurnsRCP

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/10/04/1244221/-Republican-congressman-admits-he-s-a-pro-shutdown-lemming-after-all

[geek tragedy]

38. Yep, put the entire Republican party on the record as WANTING a shutdown. They OWN this nt

[Cryptoad]

41. Helll NOOOOOO!

No Automatic cuts,,,,,,,,,

Thats like "Dont throw me into that briar patch" to the GOP

Teh GOP would never pass a budget and let the spending decrease that 1 % forever

The GOP is the one refusing to pass a budget.....

HOw about a 1 % increase in spending every 90 days ,

that will get the GOP off its ass and pass a budget!

[demwing]

49. Please review, the same error you made here was made upthread

and resolved.

[Cryptoad]

53. error?

[demwing]

55. Starting with post #1, and including the immediate responses

Particularly post #22:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014611114#post22

[KewlKat]

42. I asked that question yesterday of my representative.....and posted here about why not a discharge

petition.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251327805

[Bluenorthwest]

45. Sounds like they are sick of just kicking it down the road so this time there will be a fancy

two step before the kick. Nov 15 and it all starts again?

Why is it that 'Moderate Centrists' in the Third Way Branch of the DNC are unable to corral their counterparts Moderates in the GOP? We hear on DU all the time that the 'Moderates' can not stand Democratic liberals and see their allies as 'toward the Center' and liberals are often called 'the extreme' left and we are told that only the 'Moderates' can make super good deals for progress, which will always he hyper wise and crafted by genius hands to very slowly bring moderate change to America. But what we see is swift damage being done, no one speaking of the need to make changes slowly, overnight the whole nation is on the block. Moderates unable to broker a deal among themselves. Their 'bipartisan partnerships' are without value. Centrist nattering delivered us to this impasse where millions are suffering and not moderately either.

[Marthe48]

59. Well said!

I would love to be a moderate and have my family like me again, but as long as there are far right wing extremists intent on destroying my country, I need to be as far left as I can be, until there is a return to center. I think we are becoming a country of 'one' and the idea of each of us having our own way is preventing us from working together on solutions that benefit many rather than just a few. I'm still thinking that idea through, so I might have presented it with flaws.

[underpants]

46. "to Discharge GOP"

Is that like "dropping the kids off at the pool"?

[demwing]

48. Are you pissed off at being pissed on? Time for a discharge!

Tell the Republicans to "Go P" on their own damn healthcare!



Flush the GOP in 2014.

[underpants]

52. Well played

[ffr]

58. By any means necessary

If we're lucky enough to pass this, we'll need a miracle to keep Ted Cruz from filibustering it when it reaches the Senate.

[ffr]

61. Please...

HURRY!!!