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So liberals, are you mad at Biden too? :lol:
Actually, I was pretty sure you would be hypocritical on the matter.
then your post was in disagreement with what you actually 'thought'
since it is you, i am not all that surprised
Well, folks, here we are.
The Democrats just filibustered Gorsuch and voted to not invoke cloture.
Right now -- 11:33 am April, 6th, 2017 -- the Senate is voting to "reconsider the vote on cloture" which is a vote to allow a new vote on cloture.
After this passes, McConnell will state that cloture votes for SCOTUS appointments need only a simple majority to invoke cloture - going nuclear.
After his statement, the Senate will vote again on cloture and it will only take 51 votes rather than 60.
A sad day for the US. But here we are.
https://www.c-span.org/networks/?channel=c-span-2
I disagree. The purpose of the filibuster is to require the majority to respect and gain the assistance of the minority for important Senatorial actions by requiring a 3/5ths supermajority.
I agree with that reasoning, no matter which party is in power.
Yes, this is a fair and accurate point.Yet by constitution, confirmations only require a majority.
The solution is easy. Just make the filibuster have to be an actual filibuster and not a lazy procedural thing. You gotta stand up and talk straight, Mr. Smith style. If Rand Paul can do a real filibuster than so can anyone else.
SCOTUS only needs a simple majority to confirm. So let the person wind down, being a windbag, and then vote.
Yet by constitution, confirmations only require a majority.
That they aren't required to stand up there and actually filibuster - blocking everything in doing so - has always ticked me off.
So in one sentence : The Republicans refused Obama's lower court appointments so Reid nuked that, but kept the option for the SCOTUS. Now the Dems are trying to block a Trump SCOTUS nominee after the Repubs refused to consider an Obama SCOTUS nominee, so the Repubs are nuking that.
Okay, here we are. No more filibuster. At least we know where we stand, and there are no more tricks that can be pulled by either side for court nominees, correct?
And, by the Constitution, the Senate has the power to set it's own rules, including the filibuster and the requirements for cloture.
Too many people seem to think that those two issues -- confirmation vote and cloture vote requirements -- are somehow mutually exclusive under the Constitution, when in fact they exist simultaneously and in harmony... or at least they did before Reid and the Democrats changed the rule in 2013.
That's not a good way to rationalize things. By advocating such a point, you are claiming the senate can make rules to disregard large parts of the constitution.
Very slippery slope in my view.
I'm torn on this.
Yes a tradition has been changed in specific instances, but Reid has already changed it in another specific instance. And we're dealing specifically with cloture here, which is itself a relatively newer specific concept put in place during WW-I under highly political maneuvering.
In a way, I'm happy that government may become more functional in terms of legislation.
Also, I'm not sure what the Dems get out of this - if anything.