Another reason to get out and vote. The Left is going full bore on every front to grab power permanently in this country.

https://www.washingtonexaminer...ng-up-liberal-agenda


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Democrats say they've finally exhausted all their patience: It's time for the filibuster to go.

For years, both parties have threatened to get rid of the Senate rule, which allows the minority party to delay or block a vote on a legislative measure by speaking for an indefinite amount of time on the floor. But a growing chorus from Democrats signals that the complaints about the filibuster this time around are different and that the party is serious about getting rid of it altogether.

On Thursday, President Barack Obama called the tactic "another Jim Crow relic" and said that Democrats should end the practice should they take the Senate and presidency in November in order to pass dramatic electoral reform like automatic voter registration and restoring voting rights for felons out of prison.

Obama's rhetoric echoed comments made by longtime Joe Biden confidante Sen. Chris Coons in late June when he said he would "not stand idly by for four years and watch the Biden administration's initiatives blocked at every turn." The Delaware lawmaker added that "what's left of structural guardrails," meaning the remaining filibuster rules, which have been slowly chipped away at over the past decade by both parties, would need to be removed to tackle the "mess at home and abroad."

Nearly a month later, Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer said that "nothing is off the table" in terms of Senate reforms should his party regain a majority after the election.

Although Obama said removing minority protections in the Senate should be used for expanded voting rights, it's clear that Democrats have much more ambitious plans. Even Biden, who as recently as January defended the filibuster and said his administration could "reach consensus" with Republicans on certain issues, has changed his tune.

“It’s going to depend on how obstreperous [Republicans in the Senate] become,” Biden said earlier this month when asked about the topic. "I think you're going to just have to take a look at [the filibuster]."

And for a presidential candidate who promises to unleash "the most progressive agenda since FDR," in the words of former rival and socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, getting Republicans in the Senate on board with any of Biden's policy proposals may prove impossible. Despite his general vagueness on the campaign trail, both Biden's campaign website and the Democratic National Committee's new platform outlines myriad new programs and plans that virtually no Republican would sign onto.

During the primary, Biden promised that new gun control measures would be one his priorities during his first year in office. In the 1990s, Biden, in the midst of his 36 years as a senator representing Delaware, led the charge to ban "assault weapons." That ban has since expired, and despite the chance that some swing-state Democrats may oppose its reenactment, getting 51 members of Biden's party on board in the Senate would be almost a certainty should the filibuster be ended.

Similarly to those who back gun control, immigration reform advocates are some of the most energized constituents of the Democratic Party. Biden's current proposal, which would provide a "roadmap to citizenship for the nearly 11 million" illegal immigrants constitutes the most liberal policy by any major party nominee in modern history. As the GOP learned from the failed "Gang of Eight" bill in 2013, and President Trump's ascension to the White House three years later, any compromise on the issue could provoke a massive backlash from voters. Ending the filibuster would stifle any efforts to block Biden's plan by an ambitious Republican with his eyes set on 2024.

Democrats, including Obama, have also backed statehood for both Washington and Puerto Rico. The latter requires permission from residents of the U.S. territory, but legislation making Washington the 51st state has already passed the House. The district has never voted for a Republican presidential candidate, meaning its statehood would all but guarantee two new Democratic senators, making a GOP majority in the chamber that much more difficult to win back. Aside from constitutional objections to the measure, should Democrats retake the Senate and White House in 2020, the only thing stopping Washington statehood would be the filibuster.

The temptation to end the filibuster will remain strong for Democrats should November go their way — but so does the possibility the move would backfire down the road.

"You will no doubt come to regret this, and you may regret it a lot sooner than you think,” then Minority Leader Mitch McConnell warned Democrats in 2013 after the Senate changed its rules that eliminated the filibuster for federal court nominees. Republicans won a Senate majority the next year and have since approved judicial appointments by Trump at a record pace.

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Another reason to get out and vote. The Left is going full bore on every front to grab power permanently in this country.

Why are we NOT doing the same?

Yeah, the dems, if they regain power are hellbent on stopping another Trump from ever happening again. They will never cease power again willingly.

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Originally posted by chellim1:

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Another reason to get out and vote. The Left is going full bore on every front to grab power permanently in this country.

Why are we NOT doing the same?

The filibuster isn’t a bug, it’s a feature. Passing laws by a simple majority isn’t a great idea. I don’t want either party to be able to do it.

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Originally posted by sigalert:

The filibuster isn’t a bug, it’s a feature. Passing laws by a simple majority isn’t a great idea. I don’t want either party to be able to do it.

Different times man. The plain fact of the matter is that if the dams regain power in the senate, they will scrap the filibuster. Republicans playing nice ain't gonna cut it anymore (not that it ever did cut it).

Here's the thing, the Democrats know, they know, that we are the good guys and will be the Romneys, McCains, Sessions, et al all the time when the venom starts flowing. We rarely sank to their despicable level. But like Para once said, you can't win for losing. Time to play for blood. Screw the George Wills of the world. Screw. Them.

Yup I get it. I’m saying we should fight to keep it. If we lose it, then sure all bets are off.

When Harry Reid killed the filibuster for lower judges, Mitch was absolutely right to do the same for Supreme Court appointments.

I suppose it’s like Mutually Assured Destruction. I wouldn’t want to start it, but I’ll absolutely finish it.

Payback will be a bitch, and they know it. I figure they'll win this go around, but they won't be able to hold it. They scrapped the filibuster for court nominations, and it ended up burning them.

While I think in many ways the filibuster is BS the idea that now they want to change it is also BS.

Happy with it when it serves their purpose but unhappy when it doesn't. It will backfire and then they will want it again.

BTW any member that has every ever used it better not be proposing to get ride of it.

And after the scrap the filibuster, look for them to pack the SCOTUS.