Trump whines about filibuster rule after Obamacare repeal goes down in flames

President Donald Trump complained about Senate rules after the Obamacare repeal failed to pass hours earlier.

The measure failed 49-51 after three Republican senators — Susan Collins, John McCain and Lisa Murkowski — broke with their party, and Trump called for an end to the filibuster rule to pass it later.

“If Republicans are going to pass great future legislation in the Senate, they must immediately go to a 51 vote majority, not senseless 60,” Trump tweeted shortly before 10 a.m.

“Even though parts of healthcare could pass at 51, some really good things need 60. So many great future bills & budgets need 60 votes,” he added a few minutes later.

Original Article
Source: rawstory.com
Author: Travis Gettys

This Is What Democrats Have to Gain From Filibustering Gorsuch

Speaking to a gathering of Democratic donors in late March, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) gamed out the perils of filibustering Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump’s nominee to the US Supreme Court, whose confirmation is scheduled for a Senate vote on Thursday afternoon. McCaskill imagined a scenario—one that is barreling toward becoming reality—in which Republicans remove the 60-vote threshold necessary to confirm nominees to the Supreme Court.

Our Democracy’s Unnecessary Stupidities

Going to cast a vote Tuesday, less than three weeks after the government shutdown and the near-default, put me in a sour mood. Usually, I exercise the franchise in a state of embarrassing, heart-swelling affection for the imperfect republic, my under-informed fellow-citizens, confused poll workers, even the dubious names on the ballot. But yesterday, with the gross malpractice of elected officials in Washington still fresh in mind, I walked to the local polling place thinking about some of the stupidities of our democracy, grouping them into two categories: necessary and unnecessary.

Ted Cruz Accuses Obama Of Taking 'Advantage' Of Sandy Hook, Vows To Stymie Gun Control Legislation

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) responded to President Barack Obama's latest call for action on gun control Thursday, launching criticism at the White House and promising to do everything in his power to stop the administration's push for stricter legislation.

"It is saddening to see the president today, once again, try to take advantage of this tragic murder to promote an agenda that will do nothing to stop violent crime, but will undermine the constitutional rights of all law-abiding Americans," Cruz said in a statement. "I am committed to working with Sens. Rand Paul, Mike Lee, Marco Rubio, and Jim Inhofe -- and I hope many other colleagues -- to use any procedural means necessary to protect those fundamental rights."

For Obama’s Judges, It’s Already Late

On the same day as Rand Paul’s celebrated filibuster against drone strikes last week, the Senate engaged in a less noticed but more typical form of delay and obstruction. A majority of the Senate voted to bring up the nomination of Caitlin Halligan to the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, but forty-one Republican Senators voted to prevent her from receiving consideration. This is the modern version of the filibuster, far more common than Paul’s thirteen-hour speech. Without sixty votes, it’s now virtually impossible to accomplish anything in the contemporary United States Senate.

Senatus Decadens

The Roman Senate outlasted the fall of the Republic, the splitting of the Empire in two, repeated invasions, the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, and several centuries of intermittent Barbarian rule. The institution didn’t finally die off until 603 A.D.—about six hundred years after it had ceased to have any purpose.

The United States Senate hasn’t matched that record yet, but it’s getting there. At this moment, the Senate doesn’t look so bad, but that’s only because the House of Representatives has recently managed to outdo it in sheer pigheadedness—defeating the majority party’s own fiscal plan, refusing to allow a vote on Hurricane Sandy aid. Also, we’ve grown numb to the Senate’s paralysis. Stagnation and obstruction have become its only identifying characteristics.

Democratic Solution To The Filibuster: Make Them Talk

WASHINGTON -- The next time a minority of senators find something the majority supports to be objectionable, they may be required to take the Senate floor and explain just why they object. And when they're done with that, they'll have to keep talking, and talking, and talking.

The most persistent advice that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he gets from liberals he meets across the country is as simple as it is frustrating: "Make them actually filibuster!"

NDP filibustering Conservatives' attempt to shut down F-35 committee hearings

PARLIAMENT HILL—The NDP has successfully filibustered a Conservative attempt to shut down a committee inquiry into allegations the government and the Department of National Defence withheld $10-billion worth of F-35 costs.

NDP MP Malcolm Allen (Welland, Ont.), along with other opposition MPs, has prevented a motion to halt Public Accounts Committee hearings into the $25-billion F-35 acquisition from being passed after Conservative MP Andrew Saxton (Vancouver North, B.C.) proposed the motion more than three weeks ago and sent the inquiry into in camera sessions.

Elizabeth May at centre of fight against Conserative omnibus budget bill

OTTAWA — Green Party leader Elizabeth May will be front and centre Monday as the opposition pulls out all the stops in its bid to alter the much-maligned Conservative omnibus budget bill.

Without official party status and the ability to sit on parliamentary committees, May is one of the few MPs who can introduce new substantive amendments during the report stage and, with support from the Liberals, she’s planning to put forward upwards of 300.

“The goal here is not just to take a long time and make everybody miserable,” May said in an interview.

“What Stephen Harper is doing under the so-called omnibus budget bill is beyond outrageous . . . I remain committed to stopping this bill from passing.”

NDP mounts unusual filibuster in closed-door Public Accounts Committee probe into F-35 fighter jets

PARLIAMENT HILL—The NDP is mounting an unusual and likely unprecedented filibuster behind the closed doors of a Commons committee inquiry into Canada’s controversial acquisition of 65 F-35 stealth fighter jets because of the government’s refusal to hear more witnesses and its desire to shut the hearings down before the House adjourns for the summer in two weeks.

The standoff, which a Conservative MP confirmed along with opposition members of the House Public Accounts Committee, could force a resumption of the inquiry in September, despite the federal government’s desire to shut the hearings down now after hearing only seven hours of witness testimony.

Budget filibuster could sideswipe other bills on Tory agenda

Ottawa is bracing for a frantic fortnight, with the Harper government determined to pass four major bills through the House of Commons before the summer recess, and with the opposition parties equally determined to stop one of those bills.

There is a risk that the filibuster against C-38 – the omnibus bill that would enact the budget, change environment assessment and Employment Insurance rules, and do much else besides – could sideswipe other legislation.

But although Government House Leader Peter Van Loan isn’t tipping his hand, the odds favour passage of all the legislation by the time the House rises on June 22.