As reported on Townhall this morning, McConnell may be moving towards fast-tracking a standalone bill for defunding Planned Parenthood.The problem is that McConnell is a master of the parliamentary head-fake. In this case, he is trading a 51 vote threshold for an amendment to pass, for a 60 vote threshold for cloture on a standalone bill.
Once again, McConnell is manufacturing an empty gesture that allows him to say he voted against Planned Parenthood without actually having changed the status quo.
That's why Paul must succeed in getting this passed as an amendment on a "must have" bill.
-PJ
There’s two sides the story. I’m not trying to defend Senator McConnell, but I don’t think it’s as simple as some think. Whether we agree with it or not, McConnell has made it clear that he will not allow the government to be shut down again. If the transportation bill was amended to add the ban on Planned Infanticide (Parenthood) funding, President Obama would have certainly vetoed it, and that would have led to another possible shutdown.
McConnell may very well oppose Planned Parenthood, but he cannot do anything about it so long as he’s promised the government will not be shut down. That ties his hands. I think you’re right that this is a symbolic vote so that he can say he tried. He’s not stupid. He has to know it will fail, but he also has to know that nothing will get past the president’s veto regardless.
If the Republican elites truly oppose Obama (and that’s a very big IF these days), they have very little power so long as they refuse to use their biggest weapon—the power of the purse. A promise to avoid another government shutdown at all costs basically hands the minority party and their president complete veto power over all legislation.