Maybe it’s time to kill the legislative filibuster …
============
Trying to pin the shut-down on Trump & the GOP, Dem front-men and their supportive media keep repeating the same refrain:
“They control the White House and both houses of Congress … how can they not be responsible?”
CNN’s Jim Acosta asked that question of OMB Director Mick Mulvaney and was summarily schooled on the obvious.
The short clip is worth viewing but, if you’re in a rush, here’s the story …
==========
The simple answer: there are only 51 Republicans in the Senate … it takes 60 votes to break a filibuster and pass a bill … so, if all 49 Dems vote as a block, the GOP’s hands are, in fact, tied.
In effect, any minority party with at least 41 party-loyal, rubber-stamping Senators … controls the Senate, not the majority.
It’s the Senatorial practice of minority rule.
Obama faced this situation midway through his Presidency and couldn’t get any meaningful legislation passed or get any left-tilted judicial appointments approved.
So, Obama ordered that the Senate change its rules and eliminate the filibuster for judicial and cabinet appointment.
That was a legal move since the filibuster isn’t dictated by the Constitution … it’s strictly a function of Congressional choice and tradition.
Technical note: The Constitution requires a “super-majority” vote on very few matters, e.g. over-riding a Presidential veto, declaring war.
The historical rationale is that the Senate is a mature, august body of statesmen … and that the 60 vote rule would harness extreme legislation and give the minority party some clout in the political process..
Recognizing that the judiciary could become a force in shaping laws – not just testing them against the Constitution – the Dems deep-sixed the rule for judicial and cabinet appointments … but left it in-place for legislation.
Now, that means that the Dems can put Resist on steroids and shutdown the government if they don’t get their way on pet issues like immigration.
My bet: They may see their petulance backfire.
Trump is hinting that maybe now is the time to finish the job that Obama started – kill the rest of the filibuster rules.
If they do so, the government will be back in business … and, provided that he can get the GOP to follow the Dem lead and always vote as a lemming-like bloc – Trump can push through a lot of legislation before the 2018 mid-term elections.
The media calls that the “nuclear option” and Trump may be crazy enough to push the button.
Crazy like a fox, that is …
If I were the Dems, I’d quit taunting the dude.
==========
#HomaFiles
Follow on Twitter @KenHoma >> Latest Posts
The Homa Files 
Leave a Reply