Free Republic

Senate Democrats are urging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to be aggressive in the standoff over a government shutdown with House Republicans. They say Reid should counter the House Republican government funding bill by not only stripping language defunding ObamaCare, but by increasing funding for the rest of the government. Democrats say Reid can afford to go on offense against Republicans given their division, and polls that show most voters would blame them if the government shuts down. “We’re going to try to get as high a CR level as we can get,” said Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), the...

Republicans shouldn't settle for issuing outraged press releases the next time President Obama makes a recess appointment. Instead, they should use their constitutional powers to block him from taking such action in the first place. In his first two years in office, Obama made 28 recess appointments, many of which were of highly controversial nominees who likely wouldn't have been confirmed otherwise. Obama will keep making such appointments until House Republicans thwart him. Remember that when Democrats took over Congress in 2007, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid blocked President Bush from making recess appointments by holding pro forma Senate sessions...