Kathianne
12-01-2012, 05:38 PM
First smart move from conservatives:
http://www.humanevents.com/2012/11/30/boehner-threatens-to-shut-out-senate-bills-if-filibuster-rules-changed/
Boehner threatens to shut out Senate bills if filibuster rules changed
House Speaker John Boehner escalated a battle in the Senate this week to make rules more favorable to the Democrats in charge by issuing a threat to block all future bills passed under the new filibuster procedures.
“Any bill that reaches a Republican-led House based on Senate Democrats’ heavy-handed power play would be dead on arrival,” said Boehner, Ohio Republican.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is working to eliminate the minority party’s opportunity to filibuster legislation, bucking tradition the party out of power often uses to block or amend controversial bills.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is leading the opposition to the rules change, arguing it would alienate the constituents Republicans have been elected to represent.
“Senate Democrats’ attempt to break Senate rules in order to change Senate rules is clearly designed to marginalize Senate Republicans and their constituents while greasing the skids for controversial partisan measures,” Boehner said.
“I question the wisdom of this maneuver, especially at a time when cooperation on Capitol Hill is critical, and fully support Leader McConnell’s efforts to protect minority rights, which are an essential part of our constitutional tradition,” Boehner said.
Not all Democrats are convinced it’s a good idea, as the tables could turn if they lose control of the Senate in the 2014 election. Reid is hoping to change the rules on the first day of the new session in January, when Democrats will control the Senate 55 to 45. Filibusters require 60 votes to be broken.
Rather than changing Senate rules, McConnell says Democrats need to change leaders.
“What we need is a majority leader with a different view about the Senate, consistent with its norms and traditions,” McConnell said.
What's this about?
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/269867-white-house-signals-support-for-reid-filibuster-rule-change
White House signals support for Reid filibuster rule change
By Justin Sink and Ramsey Cox - 11/28/12
The White House on Wednesday said it backed a proposed change to Senate rules that would limit Republican use of the filibuster in the next Congress.
"The President has said many times that the American people are demanding action," White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said in a statement to The Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/28/obama-filibuster-reform_n_2204589.html?1354119681). "They want to see progress, not partisan delay games. That hasn't changed, and the President supports Senator Reid's efforts to reform the filibuster process."
On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced Democrats would vote to eliminate the ability of the minority to filibuster a motion to proceed. Reid's changes also would force senators to come to the Senate floor to conduct filibusters.
A motion to proceed is how the Senate moves some bills to the floor for debate. It is usually initiated by the majority leader and precedes the actual vote to pass a bill.In a floor speech on Monday, Reid cast the rule change as a minor tweak that would increase efficiency.
“The Senate is broken, and the only ones that disagree are Republicans and Mitch McConnell,” Reid said. “These plaintive cries that we’re getting rid of the filibuster are lies.
“I and no one on the Democratic side has proposed getting rid of the filibuster,” Reid continued, “just that we do away with the filibuster on the motion to proceed.”
That sentiment was echoed by Pfeiffer, who said that the "American people deserve a United States Senate that puts them first, instead of partisan delay."
"Over the past few years important pieces of legislation like the DREAM Act, the Paycheck Fairness Act, and the American Jobs Act weren't even allowed to be debated, and judicial nominations and key members of the administration are routinely forced to wait months for an up-or-down vote," Pfeiffer said.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has criticized the proposal, saying it "would undermine the very purpose of the Senate as the one place in our system where minority views and opinions have always been respected and heard and, in most cases, incorporated into law.”
"What these Democrats have in mind is a fundamental change to the way the Senate operates for the purpose of consolidating their own power and further marginalizing the minority voices that the Senate was built to protect,” McConnell added in a floor speech on Tuesday.
Pfeiffer did not comment, however, on whether the president would support the use of the "constitutional option," by which a rule could be changed with a simple majority vote at the beginning of the new Congress. Otherwise, Reid would need 67 votes — a two-thirds majority — to change the rules of the upper chamber.
http://www.humanevents.com/2012/11/30/boehner-threatens-to-shut-out-senate-bills-if-filibuster-rules-changed/
Boehner threatens to shut out Senate bills if filibuster rules changed
House Speaker John Boehner escalated a battle in the Senate this week to make rules more favorable to the Democrats in charge by issuing a threat to block all future bills passed under the new filibuster procedures.
“Any bill that reaches a Republican-led House based on Senate Democrats’ heavy-handed power play would be dead on arrival,” said Boehner, Ohio Republican.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is working to eliminate the minority party’s opportunity to filibuster legislation, bucking tradition the party out of power often uses to block or amend controversial bills.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is leading the opposition to the rules change, arguing it would alienate the constituents Republicans have been elected to represent.
“Senate Democrats’ attempt to break Senate rules in order to change Senate rules is clearly designed to marginalize Senate Republicans and their constituents while greasing the skids for controversial partisan measures,” Boehner said.
“I question the wisdom of this maneuver, especially at a time when cooperation on Capitol Hill is critical, and fully support Leader McConnell’s efforts to protect minority rights, which are an essential part of our constitutional tradition,” Boehner said.
Not all Democrats are convinced it’s a good idea, as the tables could turn if they lose control of the Senate in the 2014 election. Reid is hoping to change the rules on the first day of the new session in January, when Democrats will control the Senate 55 to 45. Filibusters require 60 votes to be broken.
Rather than changing Senate rules, McConnell says Democrats need to change leaders.
“What we need is a majority leader with a different view about the Senate, consistent with its norms and traditions,” McConnell said.
What's this about?
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/269867-white-house-signals-support-for-reid-filibuster-rule-change
White House signals support for Reid filibuster rule change
By Justin Sink and Ramsey Cox - 11/28/12
The White House on Wednesday said it backed a proposed change to Senate rules that would limit Republican use of the filibuster in the next Congress.
"The President has said many times that the American people are demanding action," White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said in a statement to The Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/28/obama-filibuster-reform_n_2204589.html?1354119681). "They want to see progress, not partisan delay games. That hasn't changed, and the President supports Senator Reid's efforts to reform the filibuster process."
On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced Democrats would vote to eliminate the ability of the minority to filibuster a motion to proceed. Reid's changes also would force senators to come to the Senate floor to conduct filibusters.
A motion to proceed is how the Senate moves some bills to the floor for debate. It is usually initiated by the majority leader and precedes the actual vote to pass a bill.In a floor speech on Monday, Reid cast the rule change as a minor tweak that would increase efficiency.
“The Senate is broken, and the only ones that disagree are Republicans and Mitch McConnell,” Reid said. “These plaintive cries that we’re getting rid of the filibuster are lies.
“I and no one on the Democratic side has proposed getting rid of the filibuster,” Reid continued, “just that we do away with the filibuster on the motion to proceed.”
That sentiment was echoed by Pfeiffer, who said that the "American people deserve a United States Senate that puts them first, instead of partisan delay."
"Over the past few years important pieces of legislation like the DREAM Act, the Paycheck Fairness Act, and the American Jobs Act weren't even allowed to be debated, and judicial nominations and key members of the administration are routinely forced to wait months for an up-or-down vote," Pfeiffer said.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has criticized the proposal, saying it "would undermine the very purpose of the Senate as the one place in our system where minority views and opinions have always been respected and heard and, in most cases, incorporated into law.”
"What these Democrats have in mind is a fundamental change to the way the Senate operates for the purpose of consolidating their own power and further marginalizing the minority voices that the Senate was built to protect,” McConnell added in a floor speech on Tuesday.
Pfeiffer did not comment, however, on whether the president would support the use of the "constitutional option," by which a rule could be changed with a simple majority vote at the beginning of the new Congress. Otherwise, Reid would need 67 votes — a two-thirds majority — to change the rules of the upper chamber.