Richard Shelby wants Senate to filibuster stimulus bill

Dothan Eagle (AL) ^ | 02/02/2009 | Lance Griffin

[Pokey78]

U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, said he is prepared to filibuster the proposed economic stimulus bill, but fears enough Republicans will side with Senate Democrats to override any attempt to block the bill’s passage.

Shelby’s remarks came during a county meeting Monday morning at the Wiregrass Rehabilitation Center in Dothan.

The Senate is expected to debate a proposed $900 billion stimulus bill this week. A similar measure passed the House last week. Shelby said the plan will not provide the quick boost the economy needs.

“Are we prepared to filibuster? Hope so,” Shelby said. “But I’m afraid we may have two or three (Republicans) that might jump ship.”

Democrats control 58 seats in the Senate. Sixty votes are needed to end a filibuster.

[blam]

The racist, anti-American organization ACORN get $5 billion to wage war against the White middle-class.

Obama Bill Hands ACORN $5.2 billion Bailout

This is your money folks.

[PAR]

Exactly, make them identify themselves.

[aragona]

Thanks but this is an old list from 2005.....I know I saw a current list somewhere. I’ll go poke around.

[MinnesotaLibertarian]

First of all, Chuck Hagel is no longer in the Senate. Secondly, when he was, he was one of the better ones on spending. People here have labeled him a RINO just because of his position on the war.

[surrey]

You can surely count on the two bimbos from Maine...Snowe and Collins.

[stockstrader]

No question about it. Snowe, Collins and Graham are enough right there. McCain is always a wild card.

[stockstrader]

Specter certainly qualifies also.

[mojitojoe]

Who are the turncoat Republicans??? I'm sure Juan McPain is one of them. Graham and who else? If these as*h*les get reelected next time, there is no real Republican party anymore.

[freekitty]

No one is stopping you, Shelby.

Have at it.

[ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas]

It’s a little more complicated than the number of RINOS. This bill is so bad that some Dems may vote against it.

Unfortunately, the Paulson bailout convinced many citizens that what we need is a new bailout that gives money to lower income people, i. e. 2 wrongs make a right. It’s not clear how many voters support the Dem Swine-ulus. As usual, the result of polls depends on how they ask the question.

[lonevoice]

No one is stopping you, Shelby.

Is it a little bit odd that the author of the article identifies Shelby as the Senator of Tuscaloosa? Since the author is in Alabama, and the article is printed in an Alabama newspaper, it seems that this error is more than a mere oversight. Odd.

[WOSG]

“Waste of time. It will only highlight the impotence of the GOP.

With the half dozen or so RINO’s in the Senate....”

NOT a waste of time.

It will be a time of separating the real Republicans who stand for fiscal sanity from the liberal socialist Democrats waging a War on Prosperity and the RINO fellow travellers who are a waste of air.

It’s time to see where people stand.

[WOSG]

“If they filibuster the stimulus bill, they will lose the argument. “

Um, this is backwards. If we DONT filibsuter, we lose the argument by default. you cannot win an argument if you done MAKE the argument, and the best way to MAKE the argument is to tie it up in cloture and keep it on the floor.

Debate the heck out of the bill. The more people know the less they will like it.

“They must publicize all wastefulness.” Filibuster does this.

There is a reason MOveon.org is already running ads in favor of the trillion dollar boondoggle. They are DESPERATE for Republican votes for this stinker.... why?

They want to make this a bipartisan bill so there IS no argument. Having to actually argue for this wasted govt spending will be a disaster for the liberals and they know it!

[freekitty]

Yep. However, when have facts been important to the Left?

[WOSG]

Polls from Ras showd 42% support and 39% oppose.
Clear majorities favor tax cuts over spending as a better stimulus.

This is an argument the Republicans can win. The Democrats went WAAAY too far in stuffing it with useless pork. The Republicans have a duty to sink this bill.

[Sgt_Schultze]

Sorry, they don’t filibuster in real life like they do on t.v. They currently invoke Senate Rule 22 which effectuates the stall but doesn’t require halting Senate business and listening to recipes or arguments. If Senate Republicans plan to invoke the rule, they will lose. If they plan to actually filibuster, they can make the case. It depends on whether there remains any “gravitas” in the Republican caucus.

[swarthyguy]

Oh, hell, if the Dow drops to 7000 by Friday, they’ll cave, just like when Bush bamboozled the country by signing the 700 Billion giveaway.

[ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas]

>>This is an argument the Republicans can win. The Democrats went WAAAY too far in stuffing it with useless pork. The Republicans have a duty to sink this bill.<<

And to do that, they need to convince the public that 2 wrongs (the Bush/Paulson bailout and the Obama Swineulus) don't make a right. I tried to explain that to my son's flag football coach by telling him that the Dem "stimulus" has billions for organizations that are pushing voter fraud. He said he didn't know anything about that, but he said that something like Obama is going to do the opposite of Bush, which he thinks is a good thing. I can't defend Bush's handing of the economy in 2007. I hope the USA doesn't have to learn about inflation the hard way.

[ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas]

Should say, I can’t defend Bush’s handing of the economy in 2008.

[WOSG]

“but he said that something like Obama is going to do the opposite of Bush, which he thinks is a good thing. I can’t defend Bush’s handing of the economy in 2007”

What nonsense, these Obama voters are full of ignorance:
1. Obama’s treasury secty is the guy who was New York fed chairman, who set up and ran the Fed operations to ‘help wall street’ for the past year. That’s why he’s ‘indispensible’, he’s one of the guys calling the shots.
2. Obama voted for TARP, supports it, wanted another $350 billion, made Bush ask for it from Congress.
3. Obama voted for the stimulus of 2008 - IRS rebates, housing bailout in July 2008, etc. His policies are no different from the Bush 2008 policies

The issue is not ‘opposite’ or ‘same’, its what will or wont work. The trillion dollar deficit boondoggle bill is not going to help the economy.

“I can’t defend Bush’s handing of the economy in 2007. “ The economy was doing okay until the Democrats took control of Congress. They are to blame too.