The Wuss Factor
Building a bit on the post below, as Ezra points out, much of this alleged Senate rules reform is based on mere handshake agreements. There aren't penalities for failing to honor the terms and the wuss factor is high. There's a reason they Reid didn't exercise the "constitutional option":
Filibuster reform is off the table because neither side of the old guard pols really want to give it up, or be forced to actually show up on the floor to stage a real one. Republican obstructionism on the other hand is most probably just simmering in a warming dish on the side bar. I have no doubt they'll be dishing it back out as soon as they see an advantage to it.
...Democrats were unable to rally enough votes for those measures among Democrats who feared retaliation from Republicans.Therein lies the other big part of the problem. I have no faith in vague GOP promises. Seriously, does anybody really think if McConnell was Senate leader, and he really wanted to kill the filibuster, that he wouldn't ram it through? It's not like the Dems haven't proved time and again that they'll allow the GOPers to bully them into submission.
Filibuster reform is off the table because neither side of the old guard pols really want to give it up, or be forced to actually show up on the floor to stage a real one. Republican obstructionism on the other hand is most probably just simmering in a warming dish on the side bar. I have no doubt they'll be dishing it back out as soon as they see an advantage to it.
Labels: Death of Democracy, Senate
posted by Libby Spencer at 7:17 AM
4 Comments:
Jonathan Bernstein had some perspective on this ...
Hey SoBeale. He's got an interesting take on it. I'd agree that getting the nominations for appointments moving is a big plus but I don't trust the GOPers to keep to any handshake agreements. Would be happy to be wrong.
Also read somewhere that healthcare repeal is not part of the agreement -- don't know where I read it or what it means.
It is very frustrating to me. Everytime a fundraiser for the DSCC or DCCC calls me up I give them a piece of my mind. I say, look: For 8 years I've been hearing we need more Democrats elected to get everything we want. You call me up and fearmonger about Republicans and the upshot is: help us elect more Democrats. So we do. We gave you the house and then the senate and then we gave you the White House and you are STILL calling me fearmongering about the Republicans and saying we need to elect more Democrats. And dude, we DID that. And we STILL are in Iraq and Afghanistan and we STILL don't have climate change addressed and we STILL have the bankers and Wall Street running things, etc.
And then they go on about Republican obstructionism.
And I throw up my hands and say: You had a chance to fix it. And you didn't. So quit calling me asking for money because it sounds to me like you guys just want to keep things broken so you can continue to call me up on the phone and fundraise.
Fttt.
Good for you SoBeale. They need to hear that even if apparently it's not sinking in. I don't even open emails from DCCs anymore but for a while I was emailing them back with pretty much that same message. Cold day in hell before I give them any money, if I had any to give, especially after they ignored my progressive candidate running against Foxx out here. With more support from DC he could have won that race.
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