- Guaranteeing the uni-party march to fiscal oblivian
- So is there a filibuster or isn’t there, and is it all just more drama or phoniness
- Note this articles has been revised from the earlier posting
U.S. Senate Is Doing Away with Filibuster When It Comes to Vote for Raising Debt Ceiling
Do read the article. Because our readers are politically savvy they will understand the considerations surrounding the filibuster, for and against. Ending it to allow for more fiscal extravagance, aided and abetted by Republicans, members of the minority Party and supposedly the fiscal adults in the room with no concessions from Democrats, well that would seem to be faithlessness.
Reading the article, the precedent is set, thanks to McConnell and Joni Ernst, et al. It comes down to the filibuster only being available upon agreement between the leadership of the two parties, which means it really does not exist other than to provide political cover in agreed upon circumstances.
The concept that important matters ought to require super majority support is not unreasonable. With the current marginal tri-fecta at the federal level for the Democrats of course they do not want the Republicans to be able to stop their agenda or have to weather accusations as to who is at fault for tying up government or something. It is pathetic that Republican leadership believes that that argument cannot largely be won especially given the insane inflation and the fact that key goverment business, as usual, will go on. No one will miss a SSA payment. But the willingness of a group of Republican Senators led by McConnell which includes Iowa Senator Joni Ernst have gone along so effortlessly is pathetic.
Our Senators Chuck Grassley (for other but similar reasons and votes) and Joni Ernst are simply undependable as conservatives. On fiscal matters they will vote for prudence when it is fairly easy, but they can only be depended on to protect and enhance Big Wind and Ethanol subsidies and mandates. They are a bit of a tag-team of late, one takes up the others slack after conservative blow-back is felt to continue to allow the ratcheting of bigger government and fiscal irresponsibility.
Grassley helped bring us to the fiscal cliff with his vote on the first infrastructure bill (with profound process implications for endangerment of the republic that were telegraphed by the Democrats). Grassley did so using the excuse that the worst of the larger “soft infrastructure” bill will not pass because of Senate protocols or something, even though the filibuster was off the table for that as well.
Now Joni Ernst steps up to help Democrats save face and make the ongoing fiscal insanity a bi-partisan thing. But worse, with her vote the implications are unavoidable. If she protects the filibuster henceforth, she is giving Democrats great power to protect all of their evil policies or she is signaling the filibuster is over and the deliberative institution is dead and the Democrats can do their worst for the next year at least. In the mean time she tries to have it both ways. Consider this observation included in the article:
@JakeSherman
interestingly enough, some of the Republicans who voted for cloture on the debt ceiling process change are now voting yes on final passage too. Barrasso and Thune are yesses. This is at a 50-vote threshold, so their votes are not needed. Ernst and Wicker are no.
Schumer and McConnell stop the 40 Senators who might get a better deal by maintaining the filibuster, and down the road after a new Senate, now minority leader Schumer still maintains the filibuster to protect leftest programs. Hell of a deal, Mitch, Chuck and Joni. Passages from the above linked article are inescapable including this one from leftist Robert Reich:
@RBReich
Serious question: Why shouldn’t voting rights be an exception to the filibuster? Dems are fine with a filibuster exception to raise the debt ceiling. So why not for democracy?
Please Senator Ernst, Senator McConnell, do tell us. The only option becomes to end the filibuster after a Republican takeover or with this agreement you have empowered Democrats to protect their worst.
