Albert Kronwall said: Melvin Waldron, CGCS said: Andy,
You are wrong about Democrats doing whatever they want in the Senate, there was this little used thing, well until recently it wasn't used often, that can be used to stop whatever the Democrats want to do, it's called a filibuster. Unless there were 60 democrats in the Senate, they can't do anything the Republicans don't want done.
I don't know if that has even stopped the democrats from submitting budgets anyway, which is wrong, put your stuff on the table and we will actually see who wants to lead and who doesn't.
I do know the president submitted a budget and of course the republicans will say it didn't even get support from his own party but the gutless democrats in the house knew they couldn't win a vote against to house republicans since they just want the president to fail, so they would not support the presidents budget to save their own political jobs. I guess that just sums up this country's problem in a nut shell, neither party is willing to work together for the common good of us.
But to the point of your complaint, it isn't true.
Mel
I respectfully disagree Mel. John Horney of the Center On Budget And Policy Priorities is the parlimentary procedure go to guy in Washington DC and he states the following:
It's true that you cannot filibuster a budget resolution in the Senate, because the Budget Act provides special rules for consideration of a budget resolution, including a time limit on debate. So the Senate can pass a resolution with only a majority vote.
As for the "gutless democrats", your words not mine, voting for a budget that increases taxes on the middle class and the poor would be political suicide. It's said that the #1 job of a politician is to get re-elected, and they would surely loose their next election having voted for Obamacare and a budget that increases taxes on the people they claim to represent.
Andy upon some quick searching of my own, I did see a Talking Points Memo agreeing with what you said about a budget resolution. Yes I did call democrats gutless but there are those on the right as well that are gutless in regards that they don't stand up and work with the other party either.
I also found the following from 2011 on Huffington Post, even though I'm not the parliamentarian, I don't know if this article would still allow a budget vote to be cast, as all other business would be held up?
[quote">Commits To Filibustering Anything Prior To Budget, Tax Cuts
WASHINGTON -- The entire Republican Senate caucus has signed a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid, informing him that they will filibuster any legislative measure that comes before the Senate prior to the body considering a budget or tax cut legislation
The Associated Press first reported the letter last night. But on Wednesday morning Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's office passed a copy on to reporters, showing that he had secured signatures from every Senate Republican.
"[W]e write to inform you that we will not agree to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to any legislative item until the Senate has acted to fund the government and we have prevented the tax increase that is currently awaiting all American taxpayers," the letter reads. "With little time left in this Congressional session, legislative scheduling should be focused on these critical priorities. While there are other items that might ultimately be worthy of the Senate's attention, we cannot agree to prioritize any matters above the critical issues of funding the government and preventing a job-killing tax hike."
The maneuver comes, notably, just hours after congressional leadership met with President Barack Obama in an effort to chart out how to work in a bipartisan fashion. It also dropped on the same day that a bipartisan group of lawmakers was set to meet with the Secretary of the Treasury and head of the Office of Management and Budget to discuss a resolution to the tax cut debate. Pointing to the latter, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) took the floor on Wednesday to condemn, what he called, a "cynical" tactic to delay legislative progress.
"My Republican colleagues knew [about the tax cuts meeting] as they drafted this letter," Reid said. "Therefore, they also know that the true effect of this letter is to prevent the Senate from acting on many important issues that have bipartisan support. With this letter they have simply put in writing the political strategy the Republicans have pursued this entire congress: Mainly, obstruct and delay, obstruct delay action on critical matters, and then blame the Democrats for not addressing the needs of the American people. Very cynical but very obvious and very transparent."
Democrats have been planning to deal with immigration reform and the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell legislation during the lame duck session. A continuing resolution for the budget was on the docket, as was one for tax cuts. But there was no sense about prioritizing those two before the former measures.
How Reid and the White House respond to the letter could give observers a fairly strong sense, not only about how the lame duck session will play out, but also how bipartisanship will be defined in the closing years of Obama's first term in office.It was reported in Dec. of 2010 and update in May of 2011.
Now if I read this right, the republicans in the senate would do everything in their power to stop business until they got their
tax cuts and a budget, here we continued to keep going in debt and the republicans were still worried about tax cuts, that is gutless too.
Andy, I am willing to cast issues with the democrats when they happen, both parties are letting us down, it seems you only want to blame the democrats the republicans are always right? I don't think so.
And I also see Scott has an explanation also.
Mel