Thursday, May 1, 2014

The Senate

If you can't see the Senate is broken, take a look at the vote for cloture, meaning the vote to close discussion on the minimum wage bill (to raise it to $10.10) and proceed to an actual vote for any bill, it was 54 for cloture and 42 against cloture, and the motion was defeated.

Defeated? Really with a majority of 54 of the 100 Senators? Yes, because Majority Leader Harry Reid didn't change the filibuster rules where it takes 60 votes to overcome a Republican filibuster, and they can filibuster any motion and any bill, and even some Presidential nomimations.

So it only takes 41 votes to control the Senate since Harry Reid has been the leader and failed to change the rules because he's afraid if the Republicans ever win the Senate, the Democrats will do then what the Republicans do now.

Except that's likely not to happen in his career, but he's afraid even when a majority of the democratic caucasus wants change but he wants a near unanimous concensus of the caucasus to make any change. The Democrats long had the opportunity to replace him and haven't.

The Democrats have long argued they want to get the 60 votes by elected democrats or independent, meaning they would have a super majority of the Senate so the Republicans can't do anything, except that hasn't happened since the 1979-1981 Congress. Really. Wishful thinking on their part.

This is why the Senate is broken. This isn't new or news, nor it is new or news to Harry Reid who's heard the cries for change and heard the cries to replace him. So why are the Democrats afraid when they know the Republicans wouldn't hesitate to do what the Democrats won't do.

So we're stuck with a House that does nothing except pass useless bills the Senate will never consider, especially over 50 times repealing or defunding the Affordable Care Act, and with a Senate full of political cowards.

Not just the Repubilicans, the majority of the Democrats, but it's clear the Republicans are the smarter party in the chamber because they're winning being the minority. The Democrats, with 56 Senators, can't seem to get their political head out of their ass to pass anything but bad compromises.

And who's fault is that Mr. Reid?

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