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There was reason to believe the Senate schedule would go smoothly this week. The parties had already agreed to the provisions of a spending bill to prevent a government shutdown next week, and the House was set to pass it and send the stop-gap spending to the White House for President Obama's signature. The Senate could then move on to trying to pass a budget.
But that's proving to be more difficult, leading Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to once again raise the prospect of filibuster reform.
While the Senate waits to wrap up passage of a stopgap bill to fund the government, Democratic leaders want to begin debate on the budget resolution. But Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) is blocking that unless Reid agrees to vote on his sequester amendment, which Reid won't do because Democratic leaders don't want to replace the automatic cuts in patchwork measures. So they'll have to wait out the delays and finish the stopgap bill before moving on to the budget.
"It is things like that that will cause the Senate to have to reassess all the rules because right now they accomplish so little," Reid said on the Senate floor. "I'm disappointed."
OK, but how disappointed is he?
It's been a couple of months since Senate party leaders struck a very small deal that tweaked the chamber's procedural rules, and proponents said the reforms would improve how the Senate did business. They were, we now know with certainty, complete wrong. Tim Noah had a good piece yesterday explaining just how "worthless" the January agreement really is.
What have we seen since? The first-ever filibuster of a cabinet nominee, a filibuster a CIA nominee, and multiple threats of a filibuster against the Labor Secretary nominee, Republicans have filibustered judicial nominees they don't like and judicial nominees they do like. GOP senators have promised to use filibusters to stop the Obama administration from enforcing the law as it relates to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and to stop the president's nominee to lead the ATF and the EPA.
Jonathan Bernstein noted yesterday how important it is that people realize "just how radical the GOP's filibuster-everyone policy is. Treating this level of obstruction as normal misses an incredibly important story about how the government works -- or, rather, how it isn't working."
That's true. I'd still like to know, however, what Reid and Senate Democrats intend to do about it.
Roughly once a week or so, it seems we'll hear some new whispers about "preliminary discussions" to revisit filibuster reform in light of the increasingly ridiculous abuses. But so far, those whispers haven't led to any real action.
Incidentally, as Joan McCarter recently noted, Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) -- the same guy who's blocked the continuing resolution -- explained that President Obama personally appealed to Senate Republicans to be more responsible, but Moran wasn't moved.
How much more will Reid tolerate before more substantive reforms are back on the table? I look forward to finding out.
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I'll believe it when I see it. As far as I'm concerned, Harry Reid voted Mitch McConnell as Majority Leader when he refused to curb abuses.
It's more than past time to recognize the Republicans for the Confederate traitors they are. Go read the history of the German Reichstag, 1930-33, as the Nazis got representation, then used that to deliberately obstruct the operation, forcing further elections where they campaigned against the "do nothing" Reichstag, and increasing their numbers by claiming they would make things work, using the increased numbers to gum up the works further, until they got to the elections of January 1933. We all know how that worked out...
The Republican Party today is a far right revolutionary movement, not a normal political party. Since they refuse to accept the rules everyone else does, they need to be dealt with the way one deals with revolutionary forces. It is either a serious smash-down, or go the way Germany went, with the 12 year "payback" it took to clean up the mess.
Well, that escalated quickly.
TCinLA, you are right on target. Only the evil ones in the USA today are the Koch Brothers and their cohorts who want to take over the government.
Why would anyone want to destroy the government created by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution? Koch minion, Grover Norquist, says he wants to do just that. He wants to shrink government so that "he can drown it in a bathtub." That is pure treason!
(sigh) Indeed it did.
Any time people start connecting the dots in a way that ends with "Nazi", I start backing out of the room. I must say, it's disappointing to see it happen here.
Too bad, Rochester12, you should stay in the room and see if the situations are comparable. One said, "Deutchland Uber Alles." Today, they say, "Individual Freedom and Opportunity" when they want neither for anyone but themselves and their 1% friends.
I think TCinLA has a point. Our present GOP does look a little bit like the old Nazi party.
Agreed. The Republican Party of 2013 is a demonstrably fascist organization. Anyone who ignores that fundamental fact in favor of handwringing about Godwin's Law or "backing out of the room" because people are actually acknowledging an obvious truth are simply deceiving themselves.
They are demonstrably many things, but Nazi's? (sigh)
Often I find myself arguing that there isn't a Fringe Left anymore. Sucks to be proven wrong.
Nazi does not carry over or compare to anything related to our politics, it always fails.
The "Nazi Party"- (in Germany)- was founded out of the 'far right racist German nationalist movement' and the 'violent anti-communist paramilitary culture of post world war 1'
How TCinLA or anyone else could possibly compare those two entities to our beloved Grand Old Party is beyond me!
looks pretty "fascist" from here.
TCinLA has a very good point about TACTICS. And discussions about specific tactics are by definition not subject to Godwin's Law for the simple fact that Godwin's Law merely shows how introducing "Hitler" can shut down or stop debate cold, by polarizing positions with a cheap invocation of "sympathy with the devil."
What's interesting is that invoking "Godwin's Law" now has the same net effect as a "Hitler" reference, so that whether someone utters "Hitler" or someone utters "Nyah nyah, Godwin's Law," BOTH effectively shut down debate by cutting off that line of discussion.
Can we discuss 1930s overt Nazi political tactics without painting a debate opponent with a genocide/evil brush?
Because there's a lot to discuss about fascism in general, in many of the different historical incarnations of it, and none of those discussions should be off the table, unilaterally.
We should be discussing the tactics of "corporatism" in both Mussolini's Italy and Weimar Germany in the 1930s.
We should be discussing overly punitive war reparations, and ANY imposed policies that devastate the social fabric of a culture (Potential starvation and austerity forced on Greece? BANK RUNS FORCED on Cyprus?!).
And we MOST DEFINITELY need to be allowed to discuss:
1. "False flag" political operations in service of fascism (Reichstag Fire),
2. Strong-arm or "brown shirt" tactics of institutional bullying and intimidation,
3. "Big lie" propaganda that aims to persuade by sheer outrageous audacity and vilifying,
4. Massing and marching and other forms of "groupthink" distributed from one-to-many communication models or cultish "programming."
5. ANY group-identity detention efforts ("camps" to hold whole families of illegal immigrants, like in Australia?),
6. Most of all, segregating and "ghettoizing" of an entire culture or ethnicity of people for some trumped up pragmatic reason, while the net effect deprives those people of everyday rights and freedom of movement enjoyed by the larger population (the WALL being built in Israel right now?! Ambulances can't even reach pregnant women going into labor, because of this CRIMINAL divider).
7. Oh yeah, and appropriation or state-seizure of property of disempowered classes of people (like the previous owners of the land the Israeli settlements are built on).
If saying the name "Hitler" keeps us from discussing these things, then we are in greater danger from fascism than we think.
Not because of evil, the devil, the specter of genocide, or history repeating itself precisely.
We need to understand that the next fascist strong man may not even be a "man" at all, may not love massing, marching or chanting, or even lust after the number of seats in your average mega-mega church. The next fascist oppressor could "mass" followers in the privacy of their living rooms, and it could be an entity, like an electronic megaphone, an instrument of "big lie" propaganda.
And Shooter, what about your friends like Karl Rove, the Kochs and Antonin Scalia and Grover Norquist? Fine upstanding Americans?
So much fail, there's no one place to start.
But at the moment I'm still ROFL about "Christian Police". That was so rich in irony, it's a wonder how someone could write that and still expect to be taken seriously.
Oh. Right. LOL
@Shooter42 - You evidently need the grammar police to teach you what "fascist" means. Hint: it isn't about policing anything.
He's disappointed? Phhttt!! !'ve been disappointed by Mr. Reid more times than not - his recent cause, his stern attack on the filibuster resulted in.....{crickets}
Has Harry ever followed through with any of his stern admonitions to the reptilicans? None that I recall - I don't believe he will follow through with anything he says, except more bluster – the Dems need an actual leader, one that LEADS, not the doormat they have.
He's disappointed? Phhttt!! !'ve been disappointed by Mr. Reid more times than not - his recent cause, his stern attack on the filibuster resulted in.....{crickets}
Has Harry ever followed through with any of his stern admonitions to the reptilicans? None that I recall - I don't believe he will follow through with anything he says, except more bluster – the Dems need an actual leader, one that LEADS, not the doormat they have.
A refresher: http://history.howstuffworks.com/world-war-i/europe-after-world-war-13.htm
He's disappointed? Phhttt!! !'ve been disappointed by Mr. Reid more times than not - his recent cause, his stern attack on the filibuster resulted in.....{crickets}
Has Harry ever followed through with any of his stern admonitions to the reptilicans? None that I recall - I don't believe he will follow through with anything he says, except more bluster – the Dems need an real leader, one that actually LEADS, not the doormat they have.
Totally agree, Carver. Reid needs to openly join the party he backs: the GOP. He washed out on the filibuster, he washed out on gun legislation.
Harry, you now own the failure of both of those items, and sadly, so do the Dems. The sound of laughter you hear is coming from 'across the aisle', and it's in no way wrong or inappropriate. Now it appears the GOP doesn't even have to filibuster anymore. They just have to threaten, and our boy Harry Reid promptly caves.
[hands a handkerchief to carver-1985105]
Dude, you need to wipe off your keyboard and monitor! ;-)
Chris (#1.12), while I do not agree with every single point in your list, I do agree that we need to have conversations about what is happening to politics in the USA. Unless we can look at the facts about what is being done, we will not be able to solve the problems created by the extremely noisy fringe politicians.
Americans have given Obama and Senate Democrats the power to deal with the situation. It's time they do so by calling out to the public exactly what is going on and what they're going to do about it.
It's time Obama and Democrats used the power they have to change the conversation from the rabbit hole topics Republicans and the incompetent press insist on. It's time Democrats go on offense. Or else this country is Haiti and the Banana Republic that Republicans are set on creating.
The criticism of Harry Reid and the filibuster misses the point. Who has the POWER! Supposedly the majority has the power. Not so in the Senate. The power in the last two years has been minority power. Forcing measure after measure to have 60 votes gave the Republican the power to govern although they were in the minority. And who was calling the shots for the Republicans and therefore had the real power --- the lobbyists for the Kochs and friends who provided the Republicans with their marching orders and their talking points.
So be sure to indicate the power factor when you examine what Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell do as leaders in the Senate.
Besides, the Republicans promised that they would use the filibuster judiciously. Rand Paul and others LIED! They love Lucy.
Majority Democrats have the power to diminish minority power to whatever is necessary.
We can address the concerns of the fetal position wing of the dem party
TCinLA mentioned
Confederate traitors and the German Reichstag, 1930-33
Not Hitler , but I have no problem with referencing hitler either , when an actual connection can be made
And if it is a losing proposition and comparison , then go a head and prove it , all I see is complaining , with no point to back it up
As Chis laid out so well , as he always does , you can connect the dots with the corporate wealth take over , which is what germany , the south , and "the gop today" would put in place if given the chance
We are anti-celebrating the 10 year anniversary of Iraq , you people think the corporate gop would not be " imperialists nazi's " , if they got put in power?
And this is how jim crow lasted for 100 years imo , people were to afraid to address the bigots , and hurt their feelings with the truth , it is healthy for THE TRUTH to call a spade a spade
the dem TEA TOTTERS are overly offended by anything that resembles a back bone , no matter what we do any way
They don't want to take over the government -- that would be too much work. And they don't want to delegate that power either -- it could be used against them.
The smart thing for them to do (and don't kid yourself, they are smart) is to neuter the government so it can't get in their way or otherwise cause them difficulties.
Chris Boese . . . Thanks for your thoughtful, well-written post at 1.12. As usual, you cut through the emotional clutter and knee-jerk defensiveness to provide important context and points for serious participants to consider.
Thank you for your kind words, mpguy (and Patango)! I sorta obsess on this topic, and it is good to connect with others on it.
The Democrats should fire Reid. He is an embarrassment to the instittution.
Isn't this just a hold that Moran is imposiing. Reid should tell him to stuff it and just bring the CR to the floor. If McConnell wants to shut down the government he should have the balls to shut it down. A silent filibuster shouldn't be allowed.
And I thought Reid was a Democrat.
A Democrat would end this damn mess, Harry! Nothing will ever get done, ever, ever, ever, unless someone changes the filibuster. That would be YOU, you spineless dolt.
The GOP is a house of bullies. You have to be a man and stand up to them! Try to notice that they are ruining our country, here, Harry!
Reed merely reflects the sense of the caucus (that's his job); there are many in the caucus who don't want rule changes as they want this power as, if, or when they are in the minority.
We have discussed this before. If Reid did not have the votes for significant reform, he is not at fault. However, now he can use all the new filibusters to pressure the recalcitrant Dems who would not support other reforms of the rules. Reid can only proceed with changes if he has 51 votes.
Reid is likely on board, he does not like this one bit. It's the old guard combined with Senators from red states. When Reid gets the votes, he will move IMHO.
Many here and elsewhere hold Reid blameless because "he doesn't have the votes" to change the rules. But it's part of the job of the majority leader to muscle recalcitrant members of his own party to get with the program. He pretty clearly doesn't have the sort of personality to be effective at that, judging by the last couple congresses. Can you imagine a hardball player like LBJ dithering like Reid has repeatedly done? We need somebody who'll put the squeeze on DINOs using whatever pressure it takes: committee assignments, funding projects in their states, whatever. When Reid took over as majority leader it was already clear that the Republicans would block everything they could, and certainly after the first two years there was no doubt about it. At that time—when Obama first took office in 2009—Reid utterly failed, and the next two years of filibuster-caused gridlock (when the Dems otherwise had the numbers in both house and senate to make a real difference) led to the Republican sweep of 2010, with all its repercussions (like gerrymandering to the hilt and even further obstruction). Had Reid gotten his act together to force the issue at the beginning of 2009, current history could be very, very different and Obama's presidency could have been truly progressive.
Reid should not only go, he should have never gotten that position in the first place. His continuing failure to change the rules is crippling in ways that can hardly be fully assessed. I will reiterate my politically incorrect question: Since when does the progressive party put an old Mormon in charge?
Harry Reid said he was going to do alot of things. What the hell happened to any of them? Fillibuster reform. nada. Magazine round limit. nada. Assault weapons ban. nada. Whats with this guy? He has great ideas but he's just jerking people around. I wonder if he really intended to do any of them in the first place. I really hope he did. I really hope he wasnt just playing the crowd.
Djohnson: Malarkey. Harry Reid is grade A from the NRA, and never promised anything but a vote on the gun issues. The AWB will be introduced as an amendment, and it will unfortunately fail. Hate all day on Harry Reid if you like, but please stick to the facts...
You mean NON FACTS like that dude? Please do not pretend to speak for Reid , who has done everything to protect the filibuster , while lying to america about it , you got some never preaching about facts
And here I thought the dems were feeding Reid something to give him a spine. Must have been temporary.
With the gerrymandered republican held house and a broken senate, who needs elections? SOMETHING has to be done: go for it, Rachel; I'll be watching.
Harry looks like he's in the middle of a stick up. We'll let that speak to the post.
Mitch McConnell = Lucy
Harry Reid = Charlie Brown
Senate progress = Football
Don't we all know how this goes - every time?
Graychin, Mitch McConnell is not Lucy. The Koch Brother minions are Lucy. The Koch Brothers never keep their word. They rarely tell the truth either. McConnell may try to honor the "filibuster" agreement, but the Koch supported members of the Senate will not. The Kochs have McConnell where they want him because he is up for re-election in 2014. Some bills and resolutions will pass, but the Kochs will make the Senate Democrats work hard to get them done.
You see, one of the Kochs most often used and most effective tactics is delay. Their Koch Industries empire doesn't want clean energy or environmental protection or IRS audits, so you push the funding for these down the road. The Kochs do not want to give up the many subsidies that they get from the government, so they kick tax reform down the road. So whether they want something or don't want something, the Kochs are happy to kick the can down the road. DELAY! DELAY! DELAY!
Hadn't thought that through, but it makes lots of sense. Live in a small town where the lumber mill has lain fallow over 10 years waiting for a reasonable clean-up plan to make the center of town habitable. Still waiting. Koch Brothers own it.
Harry Reid is a total WIMP who is so afraid of losing his seat, he can turn his back on legislation that might make Congress actually able to do something which is supposedly why we taxpayers have all these clowns there in the first place. Actually he and John Boehner are the two biggest wimps in Congress. But Reid's latest idiocy....removing the assault weapons ban and high capacity magazine ban from the gun control legislation is JUST the latest in a string of wimp moves. Background checks are important and 91% of Americans support them but we also have seen the damage those guns and magazines can do. Wasn't Gabby Giffords a good enough object lesson to politicians??? Except for Gabby...it's NEVER the idiots who won't stand up for American's safety that end up getting hurt. It's little schoolchidren and their teachers and people out for an evening at the movies. Too bad none of these politicians were at either event!!!
Sweet jeebus, susie,
Get a little perspective: it's unlikely that Reid is worried about losing his seat when he just won an election and will be older than Methuselah should he run again. Emotional screeds won't change a thing. Old timers like Harry Reid (and Carl Levin and Barbara Boxer, etc.) seem to believe that the latest radical reiteration o the republican party is an a historical blip. I think he/they are wrong.
Senate Democrats are loath to change the filibuster rules on the chance that they could someday be in the minority again.
Does anybody believe the Republicans WON'T change the rules on Day One if that scenario ever comes to pass? They won't waste any time stopping the Democrats from doing to them what THEY'VE been doing since 2009.
Reform the damn filibuster already, Harry.
Filibuster reform won't happen until the Dems replace Harry Reid as Majority Leader with someone who actually has a spine.
Is there a way to fire Harry? If so, why aren't senate Democrats doing it?
There is a way. If they can elect someone, they can replace someone. But the rules of the Senate are very arcane. We probably stand a greater chance of getting filibuster reform and single payer national healthcare before that happens.
Besides, we now have Dems working with the GOP to gut Dodd Frank and the regulations on derivative trading (so we'll be back to where we were before the last financial crisis). Do you honestly think that the same Dems who are helping this along would actually put a leader in the Senate that would move business the people want??
So, we're stuck with the current filibuster rules until the next time the GOP is the majority in the Senate -- at which time, they will do the nuclear option and make the Dems do a talking filibuster and they will remove the requirement for 60 votes on a cloture motion.
Sam: You are so right the Dems are working with the GOP! Harry knows!
Harry Reid has had more than enough time to "reassess." It's time to update the filibuster rules that have been strangling the Congress. The Republicans, while toying with the status quo, are weakening America. It's a travesty to sit idly by, and wish for a change for the better. Do something!
Harry has done the correct thing in not allowing the 51 vote bc repubes + turncoater dems - nra pimped outs - would run crap onto the population that would also get passed in the pimped out repuber house.
please realize, the congress is no longer running for the people but instead doing poll-jobs and bit advertising just to get elected to do the will of the corps who feed wallstreet at the expense of all others.
jesus warned you.
The thing is, the Republicans will dump the filibuster as soon as they retake the Senate. They have just proved how it can be used, and they won't let it happen to them. That said, I don't totally blame Harry Reid. I sincerely believe that he can, in fact, count and that the votes simply were not there to change the filibuster rules drastically. The older Democrats thought the Republican promises were going to be honored. Reid can't do this on his own, he has to have the votes. They must come from the Democratic Senators. If the Republicans push this too far The Democrats MAY decide to change the rules, but right now, I don't think the votes are there.
Sorry, but I want to see a vote for the record. Even if it's a filibuster, I want to see a record of it. Reid is weak and spineless, just as many on her have said.
He has to have 51 votes to bring it up for a vote? Does the Hasert rule apply to the senate as well as the house? (Not that the Hasert rule is anything binding anyway, even in the house.)
Since we can reasonably presume there will be no Republican Senators voting to change the filibuster, Sen. Reid will need 51 votes out of his caucus of 55 members to change any rules during a Congressional session.
Reid employed that "nuclear option" (changing rules in mid-session) in October 2011 when McConnell failed to live up to a previous agreement. Reid mustered 51 votes out of a 52-member caucus to change the rules.
At the beginning of this session there weren't enough votes to change the filibuster rule at that time. Sen. Bernie Sanders reported that there were only 46-47 votes for filibuster change. However, at the same time Sen. Merckley reported there were enough votes! Which leads me to believe that Sen. Reid does have the votes to change the filibuster, but only after McConnell has, again, shown his inability to keep his word.
Sen. Reid normally doesn't say much, which leads me to believe that his publicaly expressed"disappointment" is a veiled warning to McConnell that if the Senator from Kentucky continues on his current path, there will be changes.
It certainly doesn't hurt, though, to keep up the pressure on all the members of the Democratic Senate caucus...
Give the Republicans some very rueful credit for this - WE all knew they'd screw over their gentleman's agreement with Reid regarding filibuster reform, but to be this egregious this fast takes brass the size of some small countries.
Hah. Let me save you the suspense, Steve; Reid won't do jack @!$%# but spit & bark, then roll over and piss himself like a whipped puppy. They don't call him Ol' Toothless for nothing. The Democrats won't do @!$%#, the President won't do @!$%#, and Eric Holder sure as hell won't do @!$%#.
Just fyi...
Harry Reid is too timid to be Majority Leader. Funnily enough, that's probably why he was elected to the post in the first place. Of the candidates, he probably managed to offend the fewest members in the Democratic caucus.
In case you haven't been paying attention, SOMETHING has been done about the filibuster. Harry Reid, with the sanction of his party, has blocked every attempt to fix this mess. Why? Because it works for them as well as for the Repubs. None of the promises they make to the people to get elected ever get done, and they have a great excuse as to why. It's all because those dirty obstructionist Repubs block everything! Well, who gives them the tools to block everything, and more importantly, why? Because they both get their money from the same rich people and big businesses.
None of this is ever going to change until we get congress off the payroll of the rich. Yes, "we are talking about a revolution", and right now it does "sounds like a whisper".
Harry, talk to your predecessor. His name was Bill Frist.
Why haven't you started talking about a "nuclear option", Harry?
You should have done it two years ago.
I'm with you Shaun, nothing will happen, nothing will get done, until, maybe 2020. We're hopeless and helpless to do anything.
None of this matters. Folks, we do not live in a representative democracy and we haven't for a long time.
I mean, we can't even pass meaningful gun control legislation in the wake of a slaughter of innocents. Why? Because our government is subservient to the corporotocracy, and profit rules all, trumps all.
This is not the country I grew up in. It disgusts me what this country has become. And I don't know what to do to even begin changing it. It may take an international uprising to unseat the globalists who have turned billions into wage slaves.
The sooner the better.
I think yes, it might actually be the country you grew up in, but back then your eyes were closed. And yes, the fear of "an international uprising" had more to do with the New Deal, etc. than one would think if they never cast their gaze overseas.
I think no, it's not the country I grew up in, sorry. On what basis do you make your claim?
I think his point is that there has always been rich puppetmasters that tried, of often succeeded, at influencing how the government is run. You would be right, however, to point out that the rich in this country have never had as much influence over the government in the last century the way that they do now.
History repeats itself of course, and we are repeating the battles of 100 years ago, in terms of corporate vs. political power, so in that sense, yes the struggles of today are age old struggles.
I grew up in the 70s and 80s, when we had a modicum of compromise and agreement between the two parties, and the forces that have fought against progress since our country's beginnings had been held at bay for several decades, decades that also not so coincidentally were a period where the U.S. went from being a backwards rural country for the most part to the most technologically advanced country with the largest middle class in the history of civilization.
This is all gone now, and we have a minority political party owned by a small group of insanely wealthy globalists essentially running our country. Our government has been utterly and thoroughly corrupted, AGAIN, and a handful of democrats are aiding and abetting this sabotage.
So, those that do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, correct? Here we are again.
What disgusts me and what made me make such a strong statement is that I thought in the 21st century we'd be beyond this, that the progress of the 20th century is secure, and we're not going back. Apparently we are.
It isn't like we didn't see this coming back in January.
Call your Republican senators -- tell them to knock this @!$%# off!
That sounds like John McCain.
Reid is worthless, we know it, the Republicans know it, his colleagues know it, the President knows it, in fact, everyone but Harry himself knows it. Take it from me, I'm a Kansas citizen and I can tell you that Jerry Moran is as useless as tits on a bull, and if Mr. Reid can't put a little piss-ant like Moran in his place and pass filibuster reform, then it's time to remove Reid and get someone who knows how to crush weasels like Moran.
I really want to know what we can do to stop their paychecks and benefits until they come to sit down and work out a reasonable budget.
Can someone in Treasury put a hold on the Congress paychecks and let all the other stuff go through? Maybe instruct banks not to accept post dated deposits.
See how they like shutting down the gov't. then?
Is there some way to organize the masses to make them embarrassed. I know, it's not possible. They have NO shame.
Are they shooting for zero percent approval in Congress? It seems like it.
Their pay is untouchable under the constitution
Yeah, but the election is too far off. I just want to express my anger and I have contacted my elected Reps who are usually right on target with what I want to do.
The Rs need to move out of the way. The R voters need to look at this in terms of cheering for pessimism. Because that is what they are doing. It needs to stop, the totally fatalistic views are not helping the economy.
But despite all that obstruction, things have improved. They took us to the bottom, so now we look up, unless they keep up this anti-Obama obstruction.
As I have been saying for months, replace Reid as Majority Leader, appoint a woman and watch McConnell's head spin around. Let the Democrats show that they are serious!
That be awesome and funny to see Mitch McConnell have to deal with Patty Murray.
This is ridiculous it also makes me more pissed at the democrats for not pushing ahead real reform. Sometimes you just have hope people like you when you win. We should be talking about a budget or any number of other serious issue we have to solve instead we are stuck in neutral again unable to accomplish the most basic tasks.
honestly, i'm beginning to wonder--is reid a republican mole?
or just another DLC/DINO/Repuke-Lite dumbocrap?