That’s right folks, if Harry Reid is serious about pulling an overreach of this magnitude; the Democrats will face a setback that would last a very long time.
The Story:
Senator Harry Reid appears set to go nuclear — before Thanksgiving.
With Senate Republicans blocking a third Obama nomination to the powerful D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, a senior Senate Democratic leadership aide tells me Reid is now all but certain to move to change the Senate rules by simple majority — doing away with the filibuster on executive and judicial nominations, with the exception of the Supreme Court – as early as this week.
At a presser today, Reid told reporters he was taking another look at rules reform, but didn’t give a timeline. The senior leadership aide goes further, saying it’s hard to envision circumstances under which Reid doesn’t act.
“Reid has become personally invested in the idea that Dems have no choice other than to change the rules if the Senate is going to remain a viable and functioning institution,” the aide says. That’s a long journey from where Reid was only 10 months ago, when he agreed to a toothless filibuster reform deal out of a real reluctance to change the rules by simple majority. Asked to explain the evolution, the aide said: “It’s been a long process. But this is the only thing we can do to keep the Senate performing its basic duties.”
Asked if Reid would drop the threat to go nuclear if Republicans green-lighted one or two of Obama’s judicial nominations, the aide said: “I don’t think that’s going to fly.”
via Harry Reid is set to go nuclear. – Greg Sargent / The Plum Line
Well, I can tell you this; if Reid thinks that this “will fly” with the American people, he is wrong and the Democrats will pay the price for this one. If you think that the Republican Party will not exploit this little boneheaded move for political purposes; you are crazy. This will be seen by many as a power grab by the Conservative movement; and they will use it against the Democrats in 2014 and 2016.
Not only that; what happens if the Democrats lose the majority in both houses of Congress? Then, the Republicans will use that relaxed power to stack the courts with people who, of course, the Democrats will not like and then you would have state Christian statism in a horrible form; and you have to know the Democrats will not like that one bit. Now, if I were a partisan type, I would think this would be awesome. However, I believe in divided Government and I happen to believe that one party acts as a check and balance to the other. It keeps one party from holding a monopoly on Government.
It all goes back to that airplane analogy that I like to use: If a plane flies in circles; whether clockwise or counterclockwise, it does not really go anywhere and sooner or later, it will crash. However, if that same plane flies level, it always gets where it is going. The same goes for the Government; a Government that is controlled by one party, is doomed to failure and will eventually crash. However, a Nation with divided Government always gets where it is going.
Hopefully, Harry Reid has more sense than to pull a stunt like this one.
Others, mostly Democrats; your mileage may vary: The Moderate Voice, Talking Points Memo, PoliticusUSA, Booman Tribune, Balloon Juice,Lawyers, Guns & Money, A plain blog about politics, Daily Kos, National Review, The Reality-Based Community and Hullabaloo (Via Memeorandum)
