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Alan K. Ota reports for Congressional Quarterly today:
An early partisan skirmish is likely in the House next week, when Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to move a rules package that would curb the GOP’s ability to derail legislation through a parliamentary maneuver it used on occasion over the past two years.
. . . A senior House Democratic aide said Pelosi, D-Calif., had not made a final decision on whether to move the two proposed rules changes when the 111th Congress convenes Tuesday, Jan. 6.
But Democratic leaders are definitely taking a hard look at preventing the minority party from scoring easy political points with motions to recommit a bill to committee with instructions to make contentious language changes and then report it back to the House “promptly.” In the outgoing Congress, “promptly’’ has meant an indefinite hold, because committees were not willing to adopt poison-pill amendments sponsored by the minority.
. . . “Republicans will still get a chance to make motions to recommit. But they would not be allowed to just kill bills in a way that was never intended,” said one Democratic aide.
This development was hailed as a breakthrough by behavioral psychologists studying learned helplessness, who look forward to analyzing Pelosi’s recent diet and other environmental influences to see if a similar shift in thinking can be provoked in Senate majority leader Harry Reid.
The coming Congress will be a case where those who pray for bipartisan peace are well advised to prepare for partisan war. The Republicans clearly remember that they derailed the last Democratic president who had House and Senate majorities of his party simply by using every obstructive technique available to them. Telling the GOP that this isn’t 1994 will do little good if they see the same weapons lying within reach — as the last two elections have shown, they’re very poor at seeing the downside to staying the course.
At a time when the country desperately needs action, Congress (and the incoming president) would be smart to realize that winning the cooperation of enough Republicans to succeed will be easier if you dismantle in advance the tools they would use to defeat you.
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Kumbayah, bitchez!
Digg is open
Thanks Swopa!
ROFLMAO
On a serious note, I think Obama has read nothing about how movement conservatism came to power, maintaineded it, and how they will use it against him. His statements about postpartisanship indicate he’s the most naive pol ever born. I doubt that’s the case, but very suspicious about whether he has anything up his sleeve, or if he does, what it would be.
Is that a spine I see in the distance?
Unless the Senate moves to curb the filibuster (my suggestion is to invoke cloture at 54 or 55 votes), whatever Nancy Pelosi does in the House won’t mean a thing because Minority Snake Mitch McConnell will filibuster everything including the daily prayer.
Let’s wait and see. It might just be a mirage.
Moving closure lower will hurt Ds in the not-to-distant future.
This guy.
Evening, eCAHN;
Maybe Pelosi could have one of her, you “don’t know the half of it” conversations with Obama?
(Dis a snark is for da porpoises of entertaintment only)
;~DW
I’m afraid you’re right about that. They’ll obstruct no matter the cost to them in the future.
Or a feint to lull us(the Left) into a false sense of security…!
Hard to stuff that guy up your sleeve, but appreciate the sentiment and wish it were so. *g*
jujitsu: japanese martial arts with aim of keeping opponents off balance
broadcasting moves does little to help one achieve satisfactory results
425 hrs & 32 min
The secret whistle that calls him fits up a sleeve. *g*
If ‘they’ can mess up the “present” sufficiently, then the “future” has already been shaped …
‘Post-partisanship’ is the new oxymoroon.
Learned some painful lessons from those guys.
If Mitch McConnell calls for a filibuster….. then it should be immediately announced to call for cots and tell a members to expect to spend the night until it is over…. MAKE THEM do it…..
There was a interview of Reid by Daschle (2 of the 50+ most useless D senators ever) on cspan2 today. No date stamp, but seemed to be after the conventions but before the election. Boyohboy was Reid ever crying the blues about how difficult the Rs were to work with. Daschle, of course, applauded Reid for the wonderful job he did fighting the nuclear option. Spit.
Course having Reid force an actual filibuster, whereby, Mitch has to read the DC yellow pages in the Senate well would put a halt to that chicanery, most rickety-tick…!
Righto. Keeping opponents off balance by agreeing to whatever they want. Wonderful. /s
Oh just realized that Cheney will be President of the Senate until Jan 20th at noon… THAT could be interesting….. how much does he want to meddle?
Damn Skippy…! *g*
wow, i like that.
I, for one (and selise if I can speak for her), would watch every bloody second of the Rs reading the yellow pages. Only I would opt for NYC, not just Manhattan, but all 5 boroughs.
He’s only good for tie votes and I don’t see a lot of votes between 6 and 20 Jan that aren’t procedural and he has no say about those iirc.
Not really. It’s Republicans who filibuster. Democrats don’t. They just cave.
w00t!
Hell, selise’d put in on an mp3.
Taking notes too…? ;-)
Fair enough.
Without Franken and Burris the dems have 57. There are at least a half a dozen Rs that are now in blue states and will be facing elections. If Reid cannot get to 60. !@#$%^&*
425 hrs & 25 min
This is what I was hinting at by saying, “those who pray for bipartisan peace are well advised to prepare for partisan war.”
I understand that Obama considers not questioning his opponents’ motives publicly to be an essential part of his political approach (indeed, Biden said the same thing during the VP debate). And I suppose that’s fine in terms of his rhetoric.
But if his actions don’t privately (and, needless to say, accurately) assume the worst about the GOP’s motivations, he’s toast. There is no common goal that he can rally them around, because their foremost goal is for Obama to fail.
How Obama squares these two elements will be (ahem) interesting to watch.
put it on not put in on, fenderhead.
Yep. And post it on YouTube.
I believe I’m correct that RePukes have only threatened filibuster. Just the threat caused Harry to run to the cloak room in hysterics where he receives smelling salts and a testicle transplant. Why not force them to bring the Senate to a halt instead of always caving. I think the Plantation Caucus (most RePukes) are too lazy to do a real filibuster.
Yeah I wanna see Lindsey Graham in his feetsie jammies.
Liveblogging.
Ho shit, overwhelmed with hungry tigers. back in a few.
I second your ahem.
Well, all I’m going to say is this….there are two kinds of Democrats:
1) One who works with their team for the common good
or,
2) One who works against their team to make oneself appear tough, because taking down the other team is too hahd.
See?
We need Democrats who can strategize. Hell, I don’t have Political Science degree under my belt, but I sure as hell could have done a better job than ole Nancy & Harry have. I mean, really, how hard is it to think past your nose or your feet?
must disagree – the senate Ds did not use their power to block the Rs when they were in the minority (with 45) during the 109th congress. why should we expect them to use it in the future?
Heh, free advertising for all those NYC Biz’s…! ;-)
Because we are talking about Harry Reid here.
The one thing the President of the Senate is responsible for is actually swearing in new members. I can foresee the opportunity for drama there.
How far ahead can you think if you are complicit in all W’s crimes and are working hard to steal all the Rs’ corporate contributors? I think P&R actions are completely understandable in that context.
Reid and Daschle – the astute powerhouses of legislative genius.
(Sadly, for all of us, amongst the d’s, that is, actually, too close to the truth … ;~( …)
good call. i sure would. bet we’d have company too.
You are late to the party. I already agreed to Hugh’s correction of my comment in the same vein. *g*
that too. *g*
Well, I was just thinking about how tedious it would be for the Rs, but you certainly raise a valid business interest for me. *g*
And by drama, of course, I mean mischief and perhaps treason.
You mean Darth himself will be asking to see everyone’s SoS certificates…? Priceless..! ;-)
that’s what i get for going to wiki first to make sure i had the correct number. then again, probably would have just been slightly less late. *g*
With his BFF McCain….. always wondered about the Lieberman, Lindsey and McCain trio….. Who needs a Miss Vicki scandal?
Heh. FDL slowed me down for submitting comments too quickly! All owing to my secy mother who insisted that I learn to touch-type on a manual typewriter.
Thank you….. I knew it was more than tie votes….
You mean the VP doesn’t run the senate. *g*
425 hrs & 15 min
the one time i’m aware of that it looked like the Rs were really going to have to filibuster – last dec. 17 to dodd’s amendment to the fisa legislation that was under debate – the Rs went into panic mode and had reid pull the bill.
Watching cnn. What’s the deal with Michelle & Barak talking about his broken family background?
Good point, eCAHN.
Thanks for opening.
Thanks Swopa.
I’m watching espn Are they just rerunning that background piece?
425 hrs & 10 min
Count on me to be cynical & doubting. There are other times & places where my genetic tendencies would be detrimental, but under current circumstances, I think they are warranted.
Don’t know if it’s a rerun, as I am watching cnn out of desperation, not a normal event. Running clips of Suzanne Malvaux’s interviews with both of them, talking about his upbringing.
Yeah that’s the same thing they did yesterday & the day before. Rerun the reruns. Same w/ MSRNC.
Count on me to be cynical & doubting.
Really…? *g*
oops 425 hrs & 5 min
Foothillsmike:
The clips seems to be teasers to the full interview to be shown on Sunday.
Guilty as charged. *g*
here’s the thing – all this talk about the fear of a obama and the D’s agenda being filibustered is just bullshit. the senate needs a simple majority to make their own rules – the filibuster rule is not written in concrete.
no nuclear option required. keep some form of a filibuster – hell even keep the current sucky form and change the number of votes required for cloture (it’s been changed before).
believe it or not, i was reading background on the filibuster and senate rules regarding this very issue this after noon.
Well, you have every right to be cynical at this point, eCAHN. Me too, but at the same time, I still think Reid (and Pelosi) doesn’t have a clue and can’t seem to see the forest through the trees. Even if Reid & Pelosi are complicit in every crime George Bush and his Oil Cartel have committed over the past 8 years, don’t you think it would be in Reid’s best interest to use his power to make the neocons crawl over hot coals for him? The fact that he can’t think things through is very disturbing.
I have a feeling Barack Obama will be impeached within 6 months and it will be because of something stupid. Not even a blowjob. I can see Reid being the ‘tough Democrat’ by stating Barack didn’t pay for his pencils, therefore, he’s committed treason against the American people! I’m serious. Democrats take joy in taking down other Democrats. Why? I don’t know. Not only does it happen in DC, but it happens online too. Hell, some Democrats online are friends with the known right wing trolls to give themselves the appearance of being tough and have banded together to go after other Democrats. I’m telling you….it’s pathetic to watch no matter where it’s happening. I can see having disagreements, but an all out assault is disgusting.
I, for one, will not give the republicans/neocons/Traitors a free pass no matter what Pelosi & Reid are doing. I know you won’t either, eCAHN. ;-)
I believe it.
Hey, this is my first comment here. I decided to register after seeing everyone misunderstand the filibuster power completely. Here is why Harry Reid can’t force Mitch McConnell to read from a phonebook:
http://www.donkeylicious.com/2…..essly.html
There are other ways for the Democrats to embarrass the Republicans. This is not one of them.
Unfortunately, Pelosi believes in the literal of the spoken word.
Just like Reagan.
Got all those maps memorized? *g*
It is to be devoutly hoped that several of the d Senators have the gumption to follow your advice, selise, as well as to follow your example in doing some ‘research’, apparently this is all ‘new’ terrain for them and they are afraid that their shoes might become dusty if they venture off the beaten path.
obama, if he wants to, has exactly what he needs on pelosi and probably reid too. i doubt they will breath without obama’s ok – and here’s why: obama will have a doj that can, at obama’s descretion, decide to investigate the bush administration for illegal spying, torture or any number of crimes that the D congressional leadership are complicit in.
dude! i can’t even look at them or i won’t come up for air for days! get thee behind me satan with your evil temptations! *g*
I have great faith in Barack Obama at this point despite what I’ve read online. ;-)
Ya think Obama’s ’strategists’ are that astute?
Personally, I think Obama ought to hire a number of people from FDL to fashion a coherent Plan for the Future.
You should be on that list, selise.
(Barack, be you listening? …)
Roland Burris is on the NewsHour. Says he is the junior Senator from Illinois. He expects not to be seated with other Senators but maintains his selection is legal.
By-the-by, Stirling be upstairs …
welcome!
the senate of 111th congress can write it’s own rules – they don’t have to keep rule 22 as it is.
Burris says his selection is separate from Blago and his problems. Blah, blah, blah.
Pleased to meet ya.
I like your handle, reminds me of the panda that walked into a bar …
LOL
the only reason i started thinking about this was because of hugh’s diary: A Christmas list to fix the financial meltdown
i was sorta distracted when he wrote it (ice storm, no power, etc), but when i read it later it occurred to me that there was one thing missing in order for the Ds to have no excuses and that was to write a new rule for the 111th congress’s senate filibuster.
Hugh ought to be on the ‘list’, as well.
Hmmm. In some ways, you’re worse than I am. I guess my substantive reply would be, in line with my field, that Ds are scared to attack Rs, even neocons, for fear of offending their corporate backers. But I’ll think about what you say.
WRT impeachment, think it’s an issue, but don’t think it would come as soon as you fear. Of all my problems with Obama, he does seem to be pretty clean, my assumption based on the inability for Rs to find a way to attack him during the election. So if impeachment comes, it would be related to Obama’s inability to get U.S. out of W’s mess. Probably not directly, but waiting for that to happen as an excuse to make a mountain out of a molehill.
even if it’s legal, that does not make it legitimate.
Maybe Darth will go all rogue, decide Palin’s right, and declare he’s “in charge of the Senate!”
Welcome to FDL. And thanks for the link. I don’t know enough about it to evaluate, but you provide a rational explanation.
Legal.
Legitimate.
Horses of quite different colors, here in La la land …
Welcome!
hee hee. *g*
imo in a just society, legal would be a necessary but not sufficient condition for legitimacy.
BINGO!!!
any list that makes a bit of sense.
Monday is going to be interesting. I’ve a feeling that the next 17 days are going to be interesting.
LOL ;-)
Reid, to show his toughness, will go after Barack for anything he can muster and he will then say to the neocon knuckle draggers, “See? This is how you impeach one of your own! Pay attention!” or something like that. I’m serious. The Governor of my state is the same way. Instead of sticking to his Democratic ideals, he has decided that he needs to be more of a neocon at times to impress the hell out of them. It stinks. He stinks. I’m tired of it. For some reason after 9/11/01, some Democrats across this country decided they had to wear fatigues and a penis-strap-on to be ‘one of the guys’. Truly disheartening and disgusting. They’ve fallen for the mantra that if one has a tinge of progressiveness or liberalism in their blood, therefore, they are bad and need to spend their days convincing everyone around them that they are really a neocon….yeah really they are! Spit.
I don’t give a shit what shark-tooth McConnell has to say or what he threatens at this point. Reid is an asshole if he thinks he should be listening to him at all after 8 years of the bullshit.
This is a good thing. It would also be a good thing to pass a Senate bill to change the fillibuster. We’ve had too many years of gridlock. We have serious work to do and the republicans haven’t realized it yet. Time they did. Let’s see to it.
Oh, the republicans know very well that there is serious work to be done, but because they are OBSTRUCTIONISTS, they will try to block everything Barack wants done. Why? Because during the 8 years of George Bush, the neocons made sure that their fascist policies remained in place and by allowing Barack to fix their mess, it will be obvious to the American people that they were wrong all along, even though they’ve been touting for years that their way is the way. They’re not very good at accepting responsibility or holding themselves accountable either. They will do anything to make sure they don’t have to!
They don’t need no stinking cots. The Senate Chamber is conveniently furnished with chairs. Wouldn’t it be nice to see them get some use?
Grand Obstructionist Party
Yeah, they can change the number of senators it takes to start a filibuster. That will have negative implications in the future for the Democratic party, of course; I don’t know how I feel about it.
But Reid forcing a filibuster doesn’t hurt anyone but the Democrats.
Pelosi should be impeached if she knew about the torture, and took the impeachment of Bush/Cheney off the table.
I’m no political expert, but even I can see that the Dems have simply existed to continue pushing through the Republican agenda. Time to start pushing back and rewriting the laws in our favor.
i’m not so sure about the negative implications for the dems. they didn’t use it when they could have during the 109th congress – and the one time there was some talk of it, we got threats of nuclear option and the gang of 14. is there more i should be considering and am not?
i don’t understand why this should be so. would you explain?
p.s. so glad you decided to de-lurk, hope you are now hooked on commenting and won’t go back to just lurking. please don’t let my questions and generally confrontational style put you off!
Huh?!? So he beat the “inevitable” Clinton/DLC machine, then withstood full-on assault from the Noize Machine with the Rev Wright and Bill Ayers nonsense, then demolished McPOW while bringing along many other Dem victories with him around the country, and raised incredible amounts of money especially from small donors, and this all happened even though he’s naive?
Oh yea, there’s that little bit about about being the first melanin-enhanced President EVER.
Funny, I was thinking this all happened because Obama might be one of the most skilled politicians in history, or certainly in our lifetimes, and that gave me a lot of confidence in his ability to get things done once he’s actually in office. Silly me.
You’re counting Clinton and Biden?
It’s really very simple – you do the things that are good for the country, that get us all heading in the right direction, and everybody wins. You obstruct for inane and foolish and/or non-existent reasons, we all lose. Why is this so hard for the likes of McConnell and Boehner to grasp?
LOL
“No plan remains intact after coming into contact with the enemy.”
— Napoleon Bonaparte
Apparently the Future doesn’t like to be seen as all that predictable.
Maybe the Future has to be wooed to coming round to our way of thinking.
Having the option to filibuster is ALWAYS helpful, whether or not the Democrats decide to use it when they are in the minority. Period.
As to why it can hurt Democrats while we’re in the majority… see what I linked to before:
http://www.donkeylicious.com/2…..essly.html
Reid and the Dems are really full of it when you consider that Reid (and Durbin) are all in a huff about Burris, threatening not to seat him (which is foolish), but they never get in a huff about the GOP and their constant obstruction of the Dems’ agenda.
delighted, but somewhat confused. this seems to suggest that Republicans were killing proposals with majority support by voting to recommit with instructions. unsure why anyone in the majority would vote for that, but more interesting question is whether they killed any such proposals the majority was supporting and, if so, which they were. this another instance where the mainstream lapdog media was on a lunch break?