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<<< GOP Senator Trent Lott
ONCE AGAIN, THE GOP "PLAYS" THE DEMOCRATS LIKE THEY OWN THEM.
Being somewhat of an independent, but most of the time in support of the Democratic platform, the Dems. do drive me nuts when they try so hard to attempt to "play fair" against the "other party" that has absolutely no scruples. I am not suggesting that the "Dems" get down in the gutter with the "Reps", the "Bush's" "FOX NEWS" and the "Roves". But the "Dems." should at least make some more noise. Just so everyone can see what the "other party" is up to with their "less than appropriate" approach to dealing with the business of what we, the people have sent them to Washington to do.
As a case in point, after the 2006 election, when the Democrats barely took a single vote majority in the Senate, the Republican Senators actually stated just how they had planned to "deal with keeping the Democrats from getting anything done for at least the next two years".
Shortly after the election, the Senate Minority Whip, Senator Trent Lott (R-Miss.), was interviewed as to his boasting that with only a one vote majority of 51 to 49, it still wouldn't give the Democrats the 60 votes needed to pass the bills going through the Senate. Senator Lott went on to say that based on this situation, the GOP members of the Senate would block as much legislation as possible by "filibustering everything that moves".
It was made very clear at the time that this was going to be the Republicans plan up to the 2008 election. This way, the republicans could run in 2008 on the fact that the Democrats had been given the majority in the Senate in 2006, but it had been their "do nothing 110th Congress", that had done virtually nothing for the last two years. At the time of the interview, there was a little "noise" made by the main-stream press about this approach by the Republicans, but that has long since died away.
Why haven't the Democrats made more of this fact with the public, especially now, during their convention this week in Denver?
For the most part, the GOP has been very successful in implementing their 2006 plan.
Up to today, all we have heard are the complaints about how the Congress hasn't gotten anything done and of course, it's all been the fault of the Democrats. President Bush may have the lowest ever, public approval rating at 28%, but according to the Rasmussen Report, "Congress has not received higher than a 15% approval rating since the beginning of 2008. The percentage of Democrats who give Congress positive ratings fell from 17% last month to 13% this month. The number of Democrats who give Congress a poor rating remained unchanged. Among Republicans, 8% give Congress good or excellent ratings, up just a point from last month."
Progress on most major policy initiatives has been very difficult, if not impossible in the Senate this year due entirely to the fact that the chamberīs Republicans have decided to follow through on their promise to "filibuster everything that moves". The Senate GOP caucus is on track, with a record breaking "90+ filibusters to block more legislation in the 110th Congress than any in the history of the Senate". Filibustering is currently at "triple" the usual rate.
And now, as a way for making a show that they "really aren't trying to block legislation", according to a recent report in Roll Call, some of the same Republicans whoīve been blocking bills are supposedly working on a plan to improve the way the Senate does business.
Per Roll Call:
>>> In what could be a new incarnation of the successful bipartisan "Gang of 14," Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-Miss.) hosted a meeting this week with a handful of the Senateīs most notable compromisers to figure out how to unclog the gridlock that has slowed the chamberīs progress this year.
>>> About half a dozen moderate and independent-minded Republicans and at least one (token?) Democrat — Senator. Ben Nelson (Neb.) — participated in the Members-only huddle, which was held quietly in Lottīs Capitol office. Afterward, few Senators offered much detail, but several said thereīs a feeling among them that the narrowly divided chamber no longer can operate at an impasse and they want to find ways to avoid the growing number of filibusters sidelining Senate legislation this year.
>>> Although not all showed up, sources indicated that about 10 Senators were asked to take part in the meeting. In addition to Lott, Nelson, Graham and Snowe, GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Bob Corker (Tenn.), John Warner (Va.), John McCain (Ariz.), Gordon Smith (Ore.) and Norm Coleman (Minn.) were invitees.
"Itīs about creating a better environment to get things done for the country," said Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who participated in the meeting. "We need to get back to being a deliberative body."
This whole endeavor is so transparent. If the Senate Republicans wanted to help unclog the gridlock, they could just stop blocking the legislation.
Don't you find it ironic that Trent Lott, the one that boasted in April that, "The strategy of being obstructionist can work or fail and so far itīs working for us.", is the same "Trent Lott" that is saying that they are working on "how to unclog the gridlock that has slowed the chamberīs progress this year".
Since the Republicans lost their Senate majority, The Dems have tried to govern, but the GOP has just decided that they would not allow the 60 votes needed to pass any bill. After so many years of crying like children if the Democrats "even considered" a procedural hurdle, Republicans now present regular "hurdles" and they donīt want to see an up-or-down vote on anything.
And all of a sudden, theyīre interested in starting to move legislation again?
Actually, this is all part of the original master plan. Now that it's only a couple of months to the election, they are starting to show that they are getting everything in-line to get things done instead of the past bad results from the "do nothing Democratic 110th Congress". And don't you think that it's "funny" that it just happens to be at the same time that "a national poll showed that a majority of the public was starting to blame the Republicans for the lack of progress in Congress".
Itīs amazing that these guys are making it sound as if thereīs some kind of mysterious hurdle standing in the way of legislative progress. There isnīt. They donīt want popular, progressive legislation to pass, and they donīt want to force Bush to veto everything, so theyīre blocking legislation on everything from Iraq to Habeas Corpus to voting rights.
If they want to stop the blocking, they should just stop. If theyīre tired of the gridlock, they can end the filibusters. If they want to deliberate, they can debate the merit of legislation and then vote, up or down, on whether they support the bills or not.
Thereīs no need for a new "gang" or "working group". Thereīs simply a need for the Senate minority to stop standing in the way of every important bill that comes to the floor.
The Democrats still need to make this story a "Big Deal" and to do it NOW!
ONCE AGAIN, THE GOP "PLAYS" THE DEMOCRATS LIKE THEY OWN THEM.
Being somewhat of an independent, but most of the time in support of the Democratic platform, the Dems. do drive me nuts when they try so hard to attempt to "play fair" against the "other party" that has absolutely no scruples. I am not suggesting that the "Dems" get down in the gutter with the "Reps", the "Bush's" "FOX NEWS" and the "Roves". But the "Dems." should at least make some more noise. Just so everyone can see what the "other party" is up to with their "less than appropriate" approach to dealing with the business of what we, the people have sent them to Washington to do.
As a case in point, after the 2006 election, when the Democrats barely took a single vote majority in the Senate, the Republican Senators actually stated just how they had planned to "deal with keeping the Democrats from getting anything done for at least the next two years".
Shortly after the election, the Senate Minority Whip, Senator Trent Lott (R-Miss.), was interviewed as to his boasting that with only a one vote majority of 51 to 49, it still wouldn't give the Democrats the 60 votes needed to pass the bills going through the Senate. Senator Lott went on to say that based on this situation, the GOP members of the Senate would block as much legislation as possible by "filibustering everything that moves".
It was made very clear at the time that this was going to be the Republicans plan up to the 2008 election. This way, the republicans could run in 2008 on the fact that the Democrats had been given the majority in the Senate in 2006, but it had been their "do nothing 110th Congress", that had done virtually nothing for the last two years. At the time of the interview, there was a little "noise" made by the main-stream press about this approach by the Republicans, but that has long since died away.
Why haven't the Democrats made more of this fact with the public, especially now, during their convention this week in Denver?
For the most part, the GOP has been very successful in implementing their 2006 plan.
Up to today, all we have heard are the complaints about how the Congress hasn't gotten anything done and of course, it's all been the fault of the Democrats. President Bush may have the lowest ever, public approval rating at 28%, but according to the Rasmussen Report, "Congress has not received higher than a 15% approval rating since the beginning of 2008. The percentage of Democrats who give Congress positive ratings fell from 17% last month to 13% this month. The number of Democrats who give Congress a poor rating remained unchanged. Among Republicans, 8% give Congress good or excellent ratings, up just a point from last month."
Progress on most major policy initiatives has been very difficult, if not impossible in the Senate this year due entirely to the fact that the chamberīs Republicans have decided to follow through on their promise to "filibuster everything that moves". The Senate GOP caucus is on track, with a record breaking "90+ filibusters to block more legislation in the 110th Congress than any in the history of the Senate". Filibustering is currently at "triple" the usual rate.
And now, as a way for making a show that they "really aren't trying to block legislation", according to a recent report in Roll Call, some of the same Republicans whoīve been blocking bills are supposedly working on a plan to improve the way the Senate does business.
Per Roll Call:
>>> In what could be a new incarnation of the successful bipartisan "Gang of 14," Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-Miss.) hosted a meeting this week with a handful of the Senateīs most notable compromisers to figure out how to unclog the gridlock that has slowed the chamberīs progress this year.
>>> About half a dozen moderate and independent-minded Republicans and at least one (token?) Democrat — Senator. Ben Nelson (Neb.) — participated in the Members-only huddle, which was held quietly in Lottīs Capitol office. Afterward, few Senators offered much detail, but several said thereīs a feeling among them that the narrowly divided chamber no longer can operate at an impasse and they want to find ways to avoid the growing number of filibusters sidelining Senate legislation this year.
>>> Although not all showed up, sources indicated that about 10 Senators were asked to take part in the meeting. In addition to Lott, Nelson, Graham and Snowe, GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Bob Corker (Tenn.), John Warner (Va.), John McCain (Ariz.), Gordon Smith (Ore.) and Norm Coleman (Minn.) were invitees.
"Itīs about creating a better environment to get things done for the country," said Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who participated in the meeting. "We need to get back to being a deliberative body."
This whole endeavor is so transparent. If the Senate Republicans wanted to help unclog the gridlock, they could just stop blocking the legislation.
Don't you find it ironic that Trent Lott, the one that boasted in April that, "The strategy of being obstructionist can work or fail and so far itīs working for us.", is the same "Trent Lott" that is saying that they are working on "how to unclog the gridlock that has slowed the chamberīs progress this year".
Since the Republicans lost their Senate majority, The Dems have tried to govern, but the GOP has just decided that they would not allow the 60 votes needed to pass any bill. After so many years of crying like children if the Democrats "even considered" a procedural hurdle, Republicans now present regular "hurdles" and they donīt want to see an up-or-down vote on anything.
And all of a sudden, theyīre interested in starting to move legislation again?
Actually, this is all part of the original master plan. Now that it's only a couple of months to the election, they are starting to show that they are getting everything in-line to get things done instead of the past bad results from the "do nothing Democratic 110th Congress". And don't you think that it's "funny" that it just happens to be at the same time that "a national poll showed that a majority of the public was starting to blame the Republicans for the lack of progress in Congress".
Itīs amazing that these guys are making it sound as if thereīs some kind of mysterious hurdle standing in the way of legislative progress. There isnīt. They donīt want popular, progressive legislation to pass, and they donīt want to force Bush to veto everything, so theyīre blocking legislation on everything from Iraq to Habeas Corpus to voting rights.
If they want to stop the blocking, they should just stop. If theyīre tired of the gridlock, they can end the filibusters. If they want to deliberate, they can debate the merit of legislation and then vote, up or down, on whether they support the bills or not.
Thereīs no need for a new "gang" or "working group". Thereīs simply a need for the Senate minority to stop standing in the way of every important bill that comes to the floor.
The Democrats still need to make this story a "Big Deal" and to do it NOW!
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