Democrats Get Their Way At Any Cost

There is an apocryphal story from a conversation once had between George Washington and Thomas Jefferson in which GW referred to the Senate as a body whose purpose was to cool House legislation as a saucer is used to cool tea.  The Senate was a slow, deliberative body to counteract the tempestuous House.

From 1789 to 1917 the 2/3 filibuster rule to end debate was in effect.  Over the years the threshold was lowered to 60 votes. However, during the recent Bush years the idea of a “ nuclear option ” was given significant traction since Senate Democrats filibustered significant numbers of Bush judicial nominees.

Then-Senator Obama was quite clear how he felt about the “nuclear option” and how it would further poison our politics.  In the end, though, the Republican-controlled Senate backed away from edge. Earlier today Harry Reid’s Democrat-controlled Senate, facing a similar issue, decided to push the red button:  Reid called for a vote to change the rule on filibustering judicial and executive nominees.

After a brief parliamentary hiccup, a brave new world in the Senate was set into motion — Obama and Reid got their 52-48 simple majority vote to end a 224-year parliamentary tradition.

Three Democrats voted against the measure, standing firm with 2005 Obama. The GOP should be outraged beyond some obligatory and obvious boilerplate responses.  Rather than tsk-tsk , they should threaten similar action once the GOP gets the Senate, which could happen in 11 months.

The Democrats want to destroy the GOP all while the GOP believes it’s the same old game.  The Stupid Party indeed. However, the Dems aren’t thinking about the next election — they’re thinking about the party, throwing radical judges on every bench they can, and leaving a legacy which will far outlast the next Congress.

Hence, Obama’s elation.  His administration may be fatally damaged politically, but the regulatory state, the slow institutionalization of Obamacare, and all of these new judges will make Congress more and more obsolete.  Either way Obama-Reid wins while the people and the Senate as an institution lose.

Go here to see the original:
The Senate Just Got Nuked

Read more ...