A bitterly divided Senate voted Thursday to eliminate filibusters for most presidential nominees, a momentous and politically risky step that limits the ability of Republicans to block President Barack Obama's choices for executive-branch and most judicial posts.It was 2001, and it was called "The Patriot Act." Conservatives and Republicans thought this was the greatest idea in the history of bad ideas. Give the government oodles more power! Let them spy on more people! There is no way that this could EVER backfire on us if the other party were in office.
The change gives Mr. Obama more flexibility to shape the federal judiciary and to staff his administration for the remaining years of his presidency. But it could hand more power to Republicans if the GOP should win the White House and control of the Senate.
MARK THIS NOW.
When (if?) the GOP ever takes control of the Senate and a Republican wins the Presidency, there is going to be HELL TO PAY when the first nominee comes up for a vote and gets confirmed 51-49. Remember, many of the Democrats voting to change the rules to suit them - after more than 200 years of having been the old way - were in office when George W. Bush was trying to nominate John Bolton. And the Democrats filibustered him.
They're changing the rules to suit themselves now. In three years, they may very well wind up regretting this. Heck, the way things are going, as unpopular as ObamaCare - and Obama - is getting, this may be an issue next year as Democrats who rammed ObamaCare down our throats get voted out of office. Wouldn't it suck to change the rules only to so thoroughly enrage the electorate that they put in a majority of the opposite party?
Then again, never underestimate the power of the Stupid Party to be, well, Stupid.
That is all.
5 comments:
No risk for the democrats. If they lose their senate majority in the 2014 election, they simply change the filibuster rule back on their way out. If the republicans then try to go nuclear in 2015, the democrats will complain, their mainstream media will cover for them, and suddenly it will be the worst civil rights abuse against the minority since 1963.
They are going to be pissed when Supreme Court Justice Ted Nugent sails through a GOP Senate with 51 votes.
So will we see the same situation as 1937, with FDR's Supreme Court packing plan? Add more judges who happen to follow your ideology, which would overturn the court's leanings?
Now why would our President want that...
I can hardly wait for Pres. Cruz to nominate Thomas Sowell for Sec. Ed and Arthur Laffer for Sec. Tres. ;)
LittleRed1
The first commenter said it. The lame-duck Democrat Senate will reinstate the filibuster on their way out in November 2014. (If the Republicans have any brains at all, they'll find a way to keep the new status quo for a while -- you made you bed, now lie in it.)
Alternatively, perhaps a Republican-run Senate can change the rules for fifteen minutes, pass some utterly absurd bills, and then change them back. ("Resolved: all Democrats must henceforth announce themselves when they enter the Senate rotunda by quacking like a duck.") Tradition matters, people... and you REALLY don't want to set the precedent of changing the rules for the issue of the moment. (Oops, too late...)
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