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Subscribe to RSSNewt Gingrich is warning that “the Left are planning to subvert the will of the American people” with it. Rep. Tom Price of Georgia unsuccessfully introduced legislation to quash it. And three Republican Senate candidates are making the argument that they are uniquely positioned to stand in its way.
Republicans are threatening that a lame duck session of Congress -- when members who have retired or been voted out of office will return with their colleagues to cast a final series of votes before the next session begins in January -- will be packed with legislative activity as Democrats hurry to ram through progressive proposals before an expected influx of new GOP members.
Because of special election rules in Delaware, West Virginia, and Illinois, the senators elected in those states on Nov. 2 will be seated almost immediately. Republican candidates Christine O’Donnell and John Raese have used their ability to “stop the lame duck” legislation as a talking point during their campaigns, and Mark Kirk of Illinois has even launched a website called saveusfromthelameduck.com.
The major issue that Congress is expected to address in the lame duck session will be a vote on the extension of tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has filed cloture on a handful of other bills -- including one that would address food safety regulations and the stalled energy overhaul bill . Also on the to-do list: an omnibus spending bill to fund the government, the ratification of an arms treaty, and possibly another attempt at the repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy for gays in the military.
But it’s unclear how many of those agenda items will actually be passed, no matter how the election turns out.
Lame duck sessions generally involve more congressional waddling than soaring legislative achievements – or even broken gridlock. And it’s worth noting that, in the United States Senate, the 21 Democrats up for re-election in 2012 likely won't be eager to incur the wrath of their constituents if the ballot-box rejection of many of their colleagues is still fresh in their minds.
Lame duck sessions may be unpopular, but they’re no longer uncommon. There have been 17 lame duck sessions since 1935, when the passage of the 20th amendment adjusted the start date of new members to create today’s two month gap between Election Day and the start of the new Congress. Such sessions were generally sporadic until the mid-1990s; seven of the last eight Congresses have held them.
The term “lame duck” was born among the brokers of the London stock exchange in the 18th century, who used it as a slang term for those who defaulted on their debts.
The first lame duck session was, well, pretty lame. In 1940, international tensions prompted congressional leaders to meet regularly without taking an extended break for the election. But very little was actually accomplished in the days after Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected for an unprecedented third term, in part because the House and Senate chambers were being repaired, forcing members to meet in alternate rooms. There often weren’t enough lawmakers around for a quorum.
But there have been some productive lame duck sessions, even some after one party had made substantial gains on Election Day.
In 1980, Democrats lost control of the Senate but not the House. In a lame duck session between Nov. 12 and Dec. 16, the House enacted over 100 laws, including a controversial “superfund” bill for cleaning up chemical contamination. And in 1994, after Democrats suffered spectacular losses on Election Day, the Senate finally allowed a vote on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the most ambitious international trade agreement in the nation’s history. It passed with a broad bipartisan majority through both chambers.
The most dramatic lame duck session to date was in 1998, when President Bill Clinton was impeached by the House during a lame duck Congress. (The subsequent Senate trial occurred after the new Congress began. Clinton’s lawyers considered using the lame-duck status of the House to argue that the impeachment vote should be voided, but ultimately decided against it.)
Participating in the vote that ultimately approved the articles of impeachment were 21 Republicans -- including retiring Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich -- and 17 Democrats who would not be returning for the next Congress. Only one departing lawmaker, Democrat Rep. Paul McHale of Pennsylvania, broke ranks with his party on the vote.
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Will someone please put a sock in Mr. Gingrich's BIG mouth!
How can anyone take what the serial adulterer has to say seriously?
Newt has gone from a once semi-respected Republican to someone who's suffering some SEVERE psychological problems!
He had better be careful around Christine O'Donnel, eye of Newt is a staple item when it come to witches casting spells, or as conservative witches call it "experimenting
Frankly, you are way wet behind the ears Feisty. I don't care Gingrich voiced his concerns regarding lame duck sessions in Congress. The fact of the matter is there should be NO room for lame duck sessions in Congress. If you really care about America and passage of bills that really do make a positive difference, then get off the party line BS and stand straight with your beliefs held high.
Republican this, Democrat that.. we can continue to take the partisan line of either party which blinds us from the truth, or we can stand up for what we KNOW is right. I believe America will see the beginning of real change come next month.
Me too Dude!
Especially when the Democrats maintain the majority in the House & Senate proving to the American people that the Koch Brothers and hate merchants on the right & FAUX News CAN'T buy or steal elections!
And that REAL CHANGE does INDEED start from the bottom up!
There aren't many like Feisty, but ALL of them will be asking "what happened" when they no longer have the majority.
Ed in Georgia
There aren't many like Feisty, but ALL of them will be asking "what happened" when they no longer have the majority.
Please just because the "sounds bites" come from the media doesn't mean everybody buys it or that it's not slanted.
http://www.bookoffers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/9781741666816.jpg
You'd have to ask Bill Clinton about that one.
Getting scared, eh? Fiesty
Serial adulterer...Bill Clinton?
LOL Feisty, you just don't get it. Just like your Democratic friends in office don't get it and ignore their constituents. The Obama administration and Congress have failed. I wish they didn't, but they did. The evidence is overwhelming from candidates Obama endorses that don't see improvement in their polls to Congress running away from a vote on the Bush tax cuts that would help businesses get a grasp on what to expect. Businesses that would grow and add jobs but won't due to the uncertainty of the market and taxes.
Honestly, Feisty, if they wanted to avoid this mess Pelosi should NOT have cast the tie-breaker in favor of a recess ahead of the elections. They should've continued working without any question as to who's vote was legitimate or not by right of the November results.
How else can they expect this to be perceived? What should any of us think about them willingly adjourning the month ahead of this cycle with the possibility of them reconvening before the new session in 2011 to propose new legislation? Pelosi's vote REALLY gave the GOP additional ammunition; there is no denying that.
Save your schoolyard taunts... the people will speak on November 2nd...
And last time I checked Bill Clinton didn't serve Hillary divorce papers in the hospital while she recovering from cancer surgery!
It's Newt who has proclaimed himself to be a bible banging family values character!
Just how MANY ways can you spell hypocrisy?
I'm tired of business holding the economy hostage with This BS about uncertainty... what ever happened to risk & reward? Now the ONLY reward the 2% of the population want is MORE freakin tax cuts!
They had 10 YEARS of thes BUSH cuts - so WHERE ARE THE JOBS?
Feisty, you can't argue with people who advocate Paying thier Elected Politicians to sit on thier collective A$$e$ & do Nothing.They don't understand why thier called Hypocrits for advocating such things.They Say, they want to Put people in Office who'll do the peoples business,then come on here & talk about the Oppisite. thats called Hypocrisy!
But trying to get that thru thier heads is Impossible, so why even Try.
You havta Stand for something or you'll Fall for Everything!
Nice to see you Puckie & Fupped Duck!
This guys needs to be FLAGGED so that Tyler can BAN HIM AGAIN!
Really Rick? I don't know of ANYONE here that would want politicians to be paid to do nothing. Quite the opposite actually. In fact, come next month those that do nothing and those that chose to go against their constituents desires will be the ones without a job. But why should they care since EVERY Congressman/woman in office have millions if not more and really don't need the money?
Really Dude, we're gonna throwout all the GOP, who've sat on thier Butts & collected TaxPayer $$ for 2 years now!
Dauuuum, sign me up, America will be better off than I thought after November when the GOP is Gone!
Wheeeeeeeeeeew, & the MSM has been telling me just the opposite.
Rick,Ky
LOL, you obviously haven't check the polls regarding various races around the country. I'll give you a hint, the Dems are not winning. But, I'm sure you would congratulate the victors no matter who wins.. cough... yeah.
Funny thing is, I'm not a Republican and do agree with you regarding removing some of the Republican trash. I also support removing those Democrats that were absolutely useless like Frank, Dodd, Pelosi, Reid and others.
Justshootmefast banned, rereg of PuCkiE.
Thanks Tyler... he's like the Energizer Bunny... he keeps going and going...
That is real nice rhetoric, but it doesn't address the basis for the article. It is possible that some of the soon to be former reps and senators will try to push through things they would never have done if they were going to be in office.
Kirby, try reading EVERY line in an article before commenting
Not that it much matters ED, but I was commenting on another post, not the article. Perhaps you should do a little checking before ranting.
Kirby,
Don't you find it strange that the only time the repugnants are concerned about this is when it is happening to them? Kind of like life in general, unless it affects their pocketbooks they don't care about anyone else.
I believe there are just as many liberals as conservatives. The country is divided almost evenly and as you can see by the production of congress, nothing is happening. If the GOP gains control of congress still nothing will happen because they were the party of NO. Now it will just be the Democrats turn to say NO. If you really want change do the following
1- throw everyone out
2- enact term limits
3- impose tariff's on ALL products entering America
4- close our borders and insist our government enforce the immigration laws in place
5- do SOMETHING about the illegal aliens already here
So ddw1946, have a Congress made up of all rookies. Boy, that would surely get things done wouldn't it. No one to guide the newbees along.
Term limits? They are calle elections. If you want to end a politician's term don't vote for them. It is that simple. We don't need special laws.
Impose tariffs on all products entering America like fine French wine, Italian olive oil or ham, and of course the Mercedes Benz that rich guy buys would have a tariff wouldn't it? Since most of us can't afford that stuff it could work. The cheaper stuff like we find at Wal-Mart made in China or Viet Nam may be good candidates to tax but then where would people get items they could afford. If they don't have money they won't buy anything and more stores will go under taking jobs with them. Tariffs sound good but, by itself is not the be all and end all solution to the jobs problem in the country.
Close our borders, fine, and let in only those who have the proper papers. Sounds good but half of our military would need to be on the border and and armed border is usually done by totalitarian governments to keep their people in as much as keeping undesirables out. What do we do with the millions Ronald Reagan gave amnesty? Do we, all of a sudden, send them packing? Do we round them up en mass and dump them into Mexico when many of them aren't Mexican? Do we profile anyone who looks Mexican, even citizens and harass them because they look like "them"? Who will pick fruits and vegetables, clean hotel rooms and homes of the wealthy? Would you be willing to pay $10 a head for iceberg lettuce? Be careful what you wish for.
My last purchase of iceberg was 85 cents a head.
$10 a head would be a rude awakening. Perhaps one or two farms should replace their migrant workers with Americans at a livable wage. Price the harvest accordingly and have a large grocery store chain carry the American-picked fruits/veggies.
Very interesting pilot program indeed.
The options ddw brings to this board are not new but are gaining support enough to start realistically studying the positives and negatives in order to make knowledgeable decisions about implementing them. Adler counters with the argument that we just might as well drop our pants and bend over with regard to seriously taking a look at changing anything. I'm wondering if Adler likes the hope and change he's witnessed during the Obama era, or if he just never wants anything to change.
As for Adler's fear of a congress of "all rookies", he may have a point. The biggest rookie in Washington D.C. right now is President Obama. I admit, we are paying a huge price for that mistake. But it's still worth a shot to try and put people in Congress that might have more of a business attitude with regard to how the USA borrows and spends its money. If I ran my company like our politicians run this government, I'd be out of business in no time at all. Then we'd need term limits to prevent the rookies from mastering the art of power grabbing and deal making that our veteran lawmakers have mastered and refined to their personal advantage throughout recent history.
The point is, to stop the libs from doing anymore harm to the economy. So many things they have done, and things they want to do, will only serve to stifle economic recovery and raise the price of energy and everything else. Who in their right mind could possibly be in favor of this destructive path these lunatics are on???
".
Goggle " Fair Tax " I like it...
But there have been some productive lame duck sessions, even some after one party had made substantial gains on Election Day? We know the Left are capable of using cheap tricks. We saw it during the health care reform debate. We know they are willing to ignore the will of the people. They ignored the town hall meetings and the clear signal the voters of Massachusetts sent by electing Scott Brown and passed the health care bill anyway?
Give me a break. Are they gonna sign with their blood?
First of all, that is just another pipe dream of Newt.
Second of all, he has no grounds to impeach President Obama in regards to Healthcare. It's a part commerce clause. Constitutional scholars and Supreme Court precedents show that the Commerce Clause of the Constitution clearly gives the federal government the legal right to oversee the issue of health insurance.
http://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&context=ois_papers
Congress also has the authority to legislate a health insurance mandate under its Constitutional authority to tax and spend. There are no plausible Tenth Amendment and states’ rights issues arising from Congress’s taxing and spending power.
GM, its a loan, they had to pay it back and with interest; which they did and so will AIG? So why does Newt think he can tell anyone to step down? If anyone or anything should go anywhere it should be Newt; and his race baiting.
How 'bout taking Bush/ Cheney to the Hague for a "little hell in a cell" for lying to the American people? Especially since there are document showing he planned on starting a war since 1999.
Or Michelle Bachmann "I want citizens armed and dangerous" impeached for "treason"?
Beverly, where in the article does it mention impeaching Obama? Stick to the subject. And, if you're going to make claims Gingrich said it then please provide your source. I don't know if he did at some point or not but if you're going to claim then source it.
Bev,
Come on now really. I agree with dirt... STAY ON TOPIC.
Commerce clause my A$$. Take your healthcare mandate and stick it where the sun don't shine.
As far as impeachment, I believe bribery and extortion are criminal offenses. The problem lies in who did what and who will Obama have take the fall for him. Pelosi? Reid? Or will he actually admit to having done the crime himself. After all, he all but admitted to extorting the $20 billion from BP.
What did Obama "threaten" BP with if they didnt provide money or cave into the "extortion" attempt?
Give them bad press? Legal action? If anything the 20 billion fund helped BP's damage control efforts.
As far as the individual mandate, an amendment to the HCR Law added by Sen. Wyden of Oregon allows state EXEMPTIONS if they develop their own system that covers the same number of people as the federal law would have.
Such a system could not require an individual mandate.
http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/03/wyden_says_states_can_design_o.html
"Lame Duck" Session is a time where those who will soon no longer be in office get to vote with their heart. A nice change from politics as usual. If only more people could do such a thing. Republicans stopping the first responders bill for so long, is a prime example as to why "politics" is such a dirty word these days.
Fight for what you believe in...not what the memo from party headquarters tells you to. America votes for individuals.
Oh yeah, they will vote with their heart. Give me a break. You honestly believe a CAREER POLITICIAN is no longer a politician when they leave DC? You really don't think they would grease their party's palm with their vote to secure a position afterwards?
Come on Thad,
Don't act like a nieve child...repubs have been saying NO to all the BS the dems have been piggy-backing on these bills that on the front look benevolent. The public used to be mostly unaware of this sort of crap, but people who can think, and many who are NOW paying attention can see this sh!t for what it REALLY is. The dems are playing to the people who DONT think and are still NOT paying attention...that would be the bulk of their base who still take what they spew at face value.
America's eye's are openning more and more everyday
It seems to me the old Newt and his republican party are the ones who have been subverting, and will continue to subvert the will of the American people; they've been subverting the Constitution's majority rule since Jan 21, 2009.
These guys are tiresome; they rant, they scream, they protest yet in 2006, there was a republican majority lame duck session. The republicans would like to adjourn Congress from Nov 2 until January. Would they also like not to receive a paycheck? That's my suggestion--no lameduck session, no pay, no benefits.
I guess thats why the Democrats in 1994 rammed throught the Trade agreements and jobs moved overseas.Lame Ducks should not be allowed to pass any bills that are not required to keep the country safe.
Yeppers, limit the time Congress can meet. Great idea Jody! It works very well for the Texas legislature so perhaps we should try it at the Federal level. After all, Texas has a surplus and a "rainy day fund" to help them through troubled times like these. Sure beats EVERY state whose legislature is controlled by the Democrats. EVERY Democratic state is in the red and some on the edge of complete collapse.
The Texas economy you mention might be in better shape than most, but only because of the windfall the oil industry made during the Bush Oil Corp days and the fact that more federal funds flow into Texas than out. If all you are is a rubber stamp to corporate lobbyists you don't have to meet at all. Texas is red only because of former corrupter-in-chief Delay got the gerrymander he was after.
Using a "lame duck" session to try and ram more ill advised legislation down the throats of the the American People would not be a very well thought out plan. Most of them are already kissing their jobs in Congres and the Senate goodbye for doing that. Allegiance to a President that has $hit for brains can only go so far. He doesn't care that he is committing political suicide. President of the United States is way over Obama's head and he exhibits his incompetence on a daily basis. He wants out, where he can get back on the world stage where he can read speeches written for him, and be paid to criticize the work of others. He's great at that and their are billions of people willing to listen to someone that will tell them that their lot in life was caused by wealthy capitalists taking advantage of them. The Democrats that are left, however, might want to re-think their support. Obama, Pelosi, and Reid have almost ruined their once great party.
Yet you treasure the words of Newt and "Mama Grizzly" and admire the "grassroots" organizing of Dick Armey, don't you?
Da Noid
Yet you treasure the words of Newt and "Mama Grizzly" and admire the "grassroots" organizing of Dick Armey, don't you?
It's a racket. "FreeDumb" Works sprung forth all of these hilarious Republikant's TBs Tea Pot "shizzle". But, the "shizzle" from the tea pot will fizzle into the drains of the plumbing fixtures of history. LMAO
Beverly------ Sure they will sunshine, stock up ojn the booze or herb of your choice, judgement day approaches and it is going to be trying for the libs and the inept liar, in the white house.
I am going to SO enjoy coming back here after the elections and hear the whining of Democrats claiming the election was stolen by Fox News. People like Da Noid, Feisty Red Head, and Beverly of Chicago will be soooo disappointed while the rest of America goes out to celebrate their victory.
Ron
Be careful what you lambast. Imagine a Sarah Palin president. Talk about not being ready for president or even vice president. It's like the GOP threw the election on purpose! Hah! But I'd really like to hear what is different now about your life (did you lose your home, your job, get a pay cut) than 20 months ago. And really what has been RUINED by the present administration? (Besides your ego) Be $pecific.
I don't know Ron...it sure seems like a good possibility that the motivations of the seemingly inexperienced "retard-in-chief" might just be malevolence rather than idealogical stupidity...but I hope its just the latter.
If someone votes to subvert the will of the people, after being voted out of office, may they, and their families, suffer a horrible, painful, lingering death shortly after leaving office.
Geez....What do they mean in the article "lame duck LOOMS..."????????? President Obama HAS BEEN MADE LAME ALREADY by influence of the party of NO and the nasty bs coming from the corporate driven tea party-- this having begun to happen even before he took office and carried on so far in his 2 year administrtion! It's a joke to say lame duck looming, when it has already occurred big time, causing the watering down of every importatnt initiative that held hope and attempted to fulfill his promises to and for our people. God bless [sarcasm] the partisanship of the repubs and the teapartiers. (JMHO They'll get theirs; what goes around comes around.)
Sorrry about your politician, ours were doing what we elected them to do, keep the inept lying quasi socialist in the white house from imploding the economy.
AMEN! bgoode67
They call it obstructionism. I call it patriotism. Block that clown and all his twisted ambitions.
Corporate Driven Tea Party? And where's the Dems Partisanship...
bgoode67 - sure wish we had gotten some of that patriotism when georgie & dickie were raiding the national treasurery and attacking the wrong country, it would have been nice to have removed those idiots with an impeachment vote - but those tow the party liner repugnants would have none of that - powerhungery a$$es that they are.
The session might finally give the Replicans the chance to vote their conscience. Instead of saying "No" to Everything.
That would be the Unions, you know, the groups that cannot fund their own pension programs without the Federal Government bailing them out. The ones that caused our steel industry to move overseas along with many industries due to their greed.
Some people call Republicans obstructionists. Wonder what we'll call the democrats when and if they are voted out of power in the House and/or Senate. What I wonder though is if many people who post on this blog are aware of how gov works? Our Congressmen are supposed how their constituents want them to vote (granted it doesn't happen often), but have all lliberals out there ever considered that maybe that constituents have been contacting their representatives and telling them to vote against some of President Obama's ideas? When a Congressmen votes with the will of his constituents he is truely following his mandate as a Congressman. They are not being obstructionist, they are following their constituents will, how upset will you be when the dems become the obstructionists???
Dhaly, you sound like a kind and compassionate and love-thine-enemies christian LOL.
Keep it up and the spreading of Jesus commandments---"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and your neighbor as yourself".....plus His "love thine enemies " and his Gospel---will at the very least be badly impaired, because of persons like yourself. Very sad: what gall to play GOD and to ask for death of anyone.
bgoode67
quasi socialist in the white house from imploding the economy?
You don't get the way the KOCH brothers and other billionaires are redistributing their wealth; do you? They redistribute their wealth amongst themselves; not the people they are taking it from. That'd be the middle class and working poor.
Ahhhh.........just a few more days and we won't have to listen to the likes of Feisty and Beverly any longer.
You just don't understand the real world do you??? Your employer doesn't owe you part of his money. He has no requirement to pay you anything other than what was orginally agreed upon. If you don't like your pay, look somewhere else. An employer is under no obligation to share his profits with you. When you start your own business, you can share your profits with anyone you want to, and I bet it won't be your employees
When they get a taste of their own medicine they whine and threaten like little children. What a bunch of babies these Republicans are. They forgot the adage that what goes around comes around and now it has been coming back around and they don't like it. Well, boo hoo, Repulbicans, boo hoo.
When they get a taste of their own medicine they whine and threaten like little children. What a bunch of babies these Democrats are. They forgot the adage that what goes around comes around and now it has been coming back around and they don't like it. Well, boo hoo, Democrats, boo hoo.
Yeah and old Newt voted for the impeachment at the same time he was having an affair with a staffer himself, are you still an overwhelming hypocrite Newt?
Well said , Beverly: in fact, the biggest redistribution of wealth --
FROM the middle class and poor
TO the Very RIch and the Corporations--
has already occurred during the past decade or so. Just where they want it to be!
And let's face it, THEY have been/ are in control as a "shadow government" pulling the strings, for many years now.
What the powers-that-be behind the scenes, want to be put into stone, is for the USA to become a FASCIST [WEALTH-RUN] PLUTOCRACY ( in the bacground for now, anyhow) while us lemmings think/believe it is a democracy and a constitutional republic of by and for the people. LOL
Wake up from your slumbers, fellow USA ciitizens. We live in "Corporate America." .... Doesn't matter who is in office. The shadow goverment rules-- and by any despicable means it chooses to use to obtain and retain that rule; and right now that may be to influence elected officials (lobbying) with both goodies and threats of all sorts, and influencing the people with a load of propaganda through shilll organizations looking like grassroots, just my guess. And this will continue. And unless " we the people" truly address that issue head-on, we are goners. Let's wake up to this horror of controlling background activity of a shadow government, please. That is the first step toward really regaining our democracy.
If you want to know who Gingrich really is google "Language-A Key Mechanism for Control".A.K.A.1999 Memo to Gopac.The idea was for Republicans to equate words like "liberal" and "democrat"with words like "criminal" and "dishonest" and so control people's perceptions.It's right out of "1984".It's also proof that he deliberately encourages the extreme partisanship that is paralyzing this country.
Oh... and the liberals (or progressives as they like to call themselves) don't do the same thing EVERY time they bring up slavery in discussions of the evil corporations. Let's equate how those EVIL corporations treat the 'little' person to the way the slaves were treated.
Sick,that's just your opinion.Newt put it in writing.As for corporations,Thomas Jefferson warned about a tyrannical corporate aristocracy controlling the country.He knew a thing or two about both slavery and corporations.
The hate on both sides is tiresome. Anyone that would want to run for public office is a masochist or stupid or both.
Every political debate I have read or watched in the last 2 years sounds eerily similar to arguments my children have. "You are dumb!" "No, you are!" ... and so on and so forth.
The great unwashed out there aren't any better. "Vote your conscience, but if you do then you are a hypocrite and are destroying the country for breaking with your party!" blah, blah, blah...
"Socialist!" "Fascist!" "George Bush wants to ruin America!" "Obama wants to deliver America over to Sharia Law!"
Listen to yourselves... Listen to us. We sound like uneducated dullards -- like adolescent bullies. We deserve what we are getting and what November 2 will likely bring -- more of the same but probably worse.
This just in: Tea sales are up dramatically across the country!
Unless I'm missing something, the talk about the lame duck is all sound and furry. It will still be 59-41 or worse. Unless someone in the GOP breaks ranks, Reid can't bring any bill to a vote, including an "extension." All that can happen is nothing, meaning the tax cuts expire. Seems to me it is the Dems that are in a tight spot - theironly options are to let the cuts expire or concede to a compromise. I fail to see how the 41 in the GOP are worse off. And if the Senate can't pass the middle class extension in the lame duck, then what choices will they have in the new Congress? Again do nothing? Isn't this the real reason the House didn't vote - it would be an empty vote putting the vulnerable members at risk. If anything, the strategy should have been to force the cloture vote in the Senate and run on the fact that the GOP allows no debate and no up or down votes.
However, first Harry Reid has to allow it to even come to the floor. Kind of like the appointments that they claim the Republicans are stopping, but in actuality is because Reid is too afraid to see what the Senate actually thinks of the potential appointees.
I think you have the appointment thing backwards. The nominees have already been voted out of committee. The GOP is denying the up or down vote. Harry got 50 nominees thru on unanimous voice votes just before the adjournment. But to do so he had to make the devil's bargain of agreeing that Obama could not make recess appointments on 53 other nominees. If you wonder why government doesn't function, it is because the GOP is starving the agencies of their directors. Just like the National Labor Relations Board where the GOP allowed the board to function with only 2 or its 5 members for the last two years, until the Supreme Court ruled that a 2 member board cannot issue binding rulings. Why would the GOP do this? Because the NLRB more often than not has to rule on setting the terms for union elections and other employer actions. If there is no one in place to tell the employers what they cannot do, or that they have to conduct an election - then guess what , the employers just continue what they are doing. There is no one standing in their way to enforce the labor laws.
Sound and furry? I love it. Try:
"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."
These lines were spoken by Macbeth at the cry of the queen's ladies-in-waiting at her death- which Macbeth did not bother attending to honor his wife's passage. The point Shakespeare was making was that only cynical madmen have no regard for the suffering, even the deaths of those they once vowed to honor in sickness and in health- and yet, these words have oft been misquoted and used as a mockery of someone's opinions- precisely because they resonate so strongly with the cynical madness so well decried in that play.
When did cynicism become a badge of honor? When did greed become good? When did Gingrich, in the most fevered nightmare of morality's decay, become a man that anyone sane would regard as a valid source of any ethical commentary? When did we decide that the GOP should be allowed to play dog in the manger to a nation being run into the ground for the sole benefit of the rich- for the few too wealthy to even comprehend the true value of what they have taken from the rest of us? We already have the government we deserve- and as the dumbing down of America continues, that government will descend to new levels of malice earned by further failures to protect the rights our founders attempted to render inviolable- never realizing that the security created by those rights would allow the mindless to spawn in like manner until they outvoted the mindful and gave those rights away as worthless relics of ancient history.
Have we blamed Bush for something yet here? After all, it's been 20 months! I just want to make sure we have not missed any really good opportunities. After all, we vote next month so a little more Bush bashing might be helpful to the rapidly fleeting Democratic cause. Let's be creative people. Bill Maher, Jon Stewart, Keith Olbermann and Rachel Whatsername's, etc. etc. "jobs" depend on it!
Only the mad or the mindless would find such a reminder needful. The rest of us will never forget.
Yes, the GOP will gain seats as the desperate blindly lash out at the only people they can reach- elected officials. Yet, to what conceivable purpose?
Do you really expect change after further securing gridlock for the Party of No? "Meet the new boss- same as the old boss!".
Look...The Democrats gained seats after Reagan's first term was half over too- in numbers likely to be commensurate with those lost by the Democrats during Obama's first term.
Your post is deceptive at best- and I have a word of advice for future reference.
If you want to spin something, learn to provide a grain of truth with which to sustain the body of lies.