NY Post: "It Turns Out The Gridlock Was All About Harry Reid"
Harry Reid: Gridlock was the order of the day |
The Senate will reconvene at 3 PM today. The Senate will then resume consideration of H.R. 1191, the vehicle for the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015. At 5:30 PM, the Senate will vote on confirmation of Dava Newman to be deputy administrator of NASA.
The House will reconvene at 8:00 p.m. on April 27, 2015. No known actions at this time.
On Wednesday, May 20 leaders of the U.S. House and Senate will present a Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of the American Fighter Aces’ heroic service to the United States throughout the history of aviation warfare. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will take part in the bipartisan, bicameral ceremony.
Dating back to World War I with the first use of aviation warfare, an American Fighter Ace is any fighter pilot whose tremendous skill and valor resulted in the destruction of five or more enemy aircraft. Of more than 60,000 United States military fighter pilots that have taken to the air, fewer than 1,500 have become known as American Fighter Aces. The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest civilian honor the United States Congress can bestow.
During the years Democrats controlled the Senate, there was constant discussion of the body being dysfunctional. A representative segment from 60 Minutes in 2012 declared, “Today it's known more for deadlock, dysfunction, and political gamesmanship; a body unwilling or unable to resolve the major issues of the day . . . .”
Some liberals, who felt the Senate didn’t advance their agenda enough, decided the Senate itself was the problem and needed to be done away with altogether. Vox’s Dylan Matthews declared, “The Senate is a profoundly anti-democratic body and should be abolished.”
But as Mitch McConnell explained numerous times, it was never the Senate that was the problem, but the choices being made by the majority running it. In a speech on the Senate floor, he said, “The big problem has never been the rules. Senators from both parties have revered and defended the rules during our nation’s darkest hours. The real problem is an attitude that views the Senate as an assembly line for one party's partisan legislative agenda, rather than as a place to build consensus to solve national problems.”
In September 2012, he admonished the Democrat leadership, saying, “It’s embarrassing. For the sake of this institution and for the sake of our country, we need to straighten this place out. We need an attitude change. This is not about the rules. The rules have remained largely the same over the years. This is about us. And this problem can be fixed. All we have to do is decide to operate differently. No matter who is up or who is down, there are basic things this institution owes the American people, which is to get the basic work of government done.”
Last November, the American people decided it was time for a change in management in the Senate thus replacing Harry Reid as Leader, and the result has been a break in the logjam.
The New York Post editors seem to have best grasped what changed. “Here’s a story you haven’t seen for a while: Congress is working — well, sort of. Better than it had for the previous six years, anyway. The difference? Harry Reid is no longer running the Senate — and Republican Mitch McConnell has made the place far less dysfunctional.”
They elaborate, “The bipartisan trafficking bill was delayed awhile by Reid-style partisanship: Democrats held it up to score ‘War on Women’ points over no-federal-funds-for-abortion language that’s been routine in such legislation for decades. McConnell broke that logjam by refusing to allow a vote on Lynch until Democrats quit playing games.
“Meanwhile, members of both parties are cooperating, particularly on the committee levelz. . . . worked to pass the bill asserting Congress’ role in overseeing any Iran nuclear deal. Reid, by contrast, regularly stomped on committee chairmen who dared compromise with Republicans.
“Under his ‘leadership,’ gridlock was the order of the day. He refused to bring many House-passed bills to the Senate floor — sometimes to protect Democrats from having to cast a tough vote, sometimes to avoid exposing the lack of Democratic support for Obama policies.
“Reid also severely limited the ability of the minority to amend legislation — leaving Republicans no way to dissent except the filibuster. McConnell has given Democrats far more ability to amend than Reid did with the then-GOP minority.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reminded reporters of this last week: “As several outside observers have noted, including former Democratic leader Tom Daschle, the Senate is indeed getting back to work. There's some encouraging signs that lots of people are noticing. As you all know, we had 15 roll call votes on amendments last year, the entire year. We've had over 100 so far this year, roll call votes on amendments.”
Tags: Harry Reid, U.S. Senate, Gridlock, order of the day, McConnell, unstops gridlock To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
1 Comments:
Well DUH. No kidding!
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