Slumber Party in the Senate?
Wednesday July 18, 2007 11:01 AM
By LAURIE KELLMAN
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) – So much for forcing Republicans to filibuster all night.
As the clock struck midnight and Tuesday became Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid loosened up a bit on his plans to teach members of the minority that Democrats set the schedule on the debate over Iraq.
Reid made his point with a 41-37 vote to instruct the Senate Sergeant-at-arms to request absent senators to attend Senate proceedings he had promised through the night. More to the point, nobody wanted to be the next Bob Packwood, the Oregon Republican carried feet-first into the chamber under a similar directive in 1988.
Turns out Reid had no intention of enforcing that motion, what with the assortment of senators over 80 who could not be expected to show up through the night for live quorum calls.
Speaking of those mandatory attendance tallies, Reid changed his mind about how many, and when. He had originally planned holding one around 3 a.m. and another at 7 a.m. But that changed during the midnight vote when Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., made the case against senatorial sleep deprivation and impugned Reid to push the quorum call back.
Surprised? No. Registering as an Independent? Yes. Fuck me? No, fuck you, Democrats.
8 Comments
Democrats worthless? Yes. Still better than republicans? Hell yes. Got any real choice in politics? No.
I’m a registered democrat for two reasons:
-There are no viable independent candidates in the south
-in my state, you have to be a registered member of a particular party to vote in the primaries
Btw, where are the viable independent candidates? I haven’t seen any.
I got up at 3AM to see the action and all I got was McCain blathering on about how swell things were in Iraq. Blech.
And I’m almost certain that a cloture vote requires 60% of PRESENT Senators. So if the old Republicans can’t stay awake, vote on cloture while they are in bed.
What I don’t understand is why the Democrats are even talking tonight. It is the Republicans’ filibuster, let them fill 30 hours with drivel.
How I long for the days of Strom Thurmond reading the phone book in the middle of the night to prevent passage of Civil Rights legislation. That was a REAL filibuster.
Number of Republicans in U.S. Hits New Low, Number of Democrats Also Decline:
Democrats – 36.3%
Republicans – 30.8%
Independent (Green, Libertarian, etc) – 32.9%
I understand your predicament, I first registered as a Democrat so that I could vote for John Edwards in the primaries back in 04′. But in a state like New York (just like S. Carolina, but opposite your situation) it almost doesn’t matter if I vote of not. I think the two party system needs to be destroyed and preferential voting be implemented in all National, State, and local elections. Till then we can forget being represented by congress.
Still registered as a Green and will continue that party affiliation. The only chance of me switching over to the Democratic side is ONLY if Wesley Clark decides to run for president.
I’d love to see Al Gore run as an independent as throw the two party system into chaos.
“I think the two party system needs to be destroyed and preferential voting be implemented in all National, State, and local elections. Till then we can forget being represented by congress.”
Yes. I agree completely. However, I don’t see anything short of revolution changing the current system. Neither side will give up their power. The system is set up in a way that it is nearly impossible to change it from within.
And the Democrats disillusion another supporter and send him over to the sidelines to watch the politicians and their dog and pony show.
Welcome to the team, man. Now you see why I started writing more about Paris Hilton (for a while, anyway) than politics. Might as well. Nader was right about these clowns. They all drink from the same trough.
Did you see the farm subsidies bill Pelosi signed today?