When the weak are guardians of the Constitution.
Posted on 01/01/2013 7:32:42 AM PST by SoFloFreeper
As members of Congress fight with the president and each other over the budget impasse, another battle looms. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said he may try — on the very first day of the new Congress — to change the Senate’s rules regarding the filibuster.
Reid wants to severely limit the minority’s ability to filibuster, and his plan for doing so would itself violate the Senate’s rules on rule changes. If successful, he would destroy a critical element of legislative procedure, one designed to prevent the “tyranny of the majority” that the Founders feared above all else.
The Senate’s long tradition of extended debate and an open amendment process is enshrined in Senate Rule 22. It comports with the Founders’ intent that the Senate be a more deliberative body than the inherently raucous House of Representatives. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison saw the Senate as the “great anchor” of the government that would calm the passions of the House. Similarly, George Washington told Jefferson that the Senate was intended to “cool” House legislation in the same way that a saucer was used to cool hot tea.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
When the weak are guardians of the Constitution.
Why in the world would Dingy Harry care about breaking senate rules when he has had no problem breaking federal LAW for the last 4 years?
Mark
There should be more, not less, debate. And, the debate should be on the floor where the public can hear it and not in the cloakroom.
That's a different animal. The NRA will be going after and against any who cross them.
“That’s a different animal. The NRA will be going after and against any who cross them.”
That may be true, but it won’t matter “after the fact”.
Look how the House Republicans voted tonight regarding the fiscal cliff.
How will they vote on the edge of the gun control cliff?
As powerful as the NRA has been in the past, I (regrettably) sense that this time, it’s a “spent round”.
Hopefully not, but I’m a realist.
We shall see.
"American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012" (House Roll Call Vote)
I did. Did you? Boehner was in the minority of his conference, 85 AYES - 151 NOES with 5 not voting. Boehner may be history.
WHEN ‘ASSAULT WEAPONS’ SAVED KOREATOWN
Regulating the Militia - The Second Amendment is about protecting ourselves from the state.
Don't overestimate. The left is overplaying a weak hand.
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