Last night, in an unprecedented move to help Democrats avoid voting on tough amendments, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) changed the rules and precedents of the Senate with a simple majority vote.
The Washington Examiner’s Philip Klein has a good explanation of what happened: “The buildup to this point started on Tuesday, when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., tried to force a vote on President Obama’s jobs bill as well as other Republican priorities by offering them as amendments to the China currency bill. Reid blocked the move. . . . McConnell made what’s called a ‘motion to suspend the rules,’ to allow a vote on the amendments. Such motions are almost always defeated, because they require a two-thirds majority to pass. But they’re another way for the minority party to force uncomfortable votes. Even though the minority party doesn’t get a direct vote on the amendment, how somebody votes on the motion becomes a sort of proxy for such a vote. In this case, for instance, if Democrats had voted down a motion for a vote on Obama’s jobs bill, it would have put them in an awkward spot. Though it’s been the standing practice of the Senate to allow such motions by the minority, tonight Reid broke with precedent and ruled McConnell’s motion out of order, and was ultimately backed up by Democrats. So, the end result is that by a simple majority vote, Reid was able to effectively rewrite Senate rules making it even harder than it already is for the minority party to force votes on any amendments. Should Republicans retake the Senate next year, it’s something that could come back to haunt Democrats in a major way.”
Frustrated, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell told senators assembled on the floor last night, “[T]he fundamental problem here is the majority never likes to take votes. That’s the core problem. . . . We’re sitting around here when we ought to be passing trade bills. The president’s asked us to vote on his jobs bill. I wanted to give him an opportunity to have his vote the other day. You guys [Democrats] didn’t want to vote on what the president was asking us to vote on–without any changes.”
The Hill adds, “The surprise move stunned Republicans, who did not expect Reid to bring heavy artillery to what had been a humdrum knife fight over amendments to China currency legislation. The Democratic leader had become fed up with Republican demands for votes on motions to suspend the rules after the Senate had voted to limit debate earlier in the day. McConnell had threatened such a motion to force a vote on the original version of President Obama’s jobs package, which many Democrats don’t like because it would limit tax deductions for families earning over $250,000. The jobs package would have been considered as an amendment. McConnell wanted to embarrass the president by demonstrating how few Democrats are willing to support his jobs plan as first drafted.”
Indeed, an amendment that contained President Obama’s stimulus bill, which the president used a rare news conference yesterday to berate Congress about a lack of action on, was among those that Democrats changed the rules to avoid voting on last night. Votes also dodged by Democrats included amendments to block burdensome EPA rules on businesses and farmers and right to work legislation.
Writing at Townhall.com, Guy Benson explains, “This all may seem rather insignificant and boring, but the precedent is anything but. Harry Reid employed a ‘nuclear’ procedural tactic to strip the minority of a long-standing, modest tool to exert a modicum of influence over the legislative process.”
Leader McConnell blasted Reid and Democrats for the move, saying, “[I]f you look back at this bill, what we’ve had in effect is no amendments before cloture, no motions to suspend after cloture, no expression on the part of the minority at all. . . . [W]e are fundamentally turning the Senate into the House. No amendments before cloture. No motions to suspend after cloture. The minority’s out of business.”
McConnell warned Democrats, “This is a bad mistake. . . . This is a free-wheeling body, and everybody is better off when we operate that way. Everybody is. Whether you’re in the majority or the minority, because today’s minority may be tomorrow’s majority.”
The Washington Post writes today, “As they head into the 2012 campaign, Democrats are changing their definition of what it means to be rich. Forget about families making $250,000 a year. Today, the party is only interested in millionaires. In speeches across the country, President Obama has vigorously demanded that ‘millionaires and billionaires’ pay ‘their fair share’ in taxes. Last month, the White House said tax reform should ensure that billionaires such as Warren Buffett pay at least as much of their income to the Internal Revenue Service as middle-class taxpayers do.
“And on Wednesday came clear evidence of this shift: Senate Democratic leaders scrapped Obama’s proposal to cover the cost of his jobs bill by raising taxes on income over $250,000 a year, the old Democratic standard for defining the wealthy. Instead, they are proposing a 5.6 percent surtax on annual income of more than $1 million. Democrats say their new focus is intended to bolster support for Obama’s jobs package. But its more important purpose is to clarify the party’s economic agenda heading into next year’s election.”
Indeed, Roll Call points out that this new tax Democrats are proposing to pay for Obama’s latest stimulus package is based on politics. “[Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid’s decision to pay for the $447 billion package with a 5.6 percent surtax on income of more than $1 million starting in 2013 gives Democrats a poll-tested package that most can run on for the next year — even though the surtax itself is dead on arrival with Republicans. Indeed, Reid appears to be setting the stage for a major floor battle that will raise the specter of ‘class warfare’ and Obama recently called himself a ‘warrior for the middle class.’”
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell elaborated on Democrats’ latest partisan plan in a floor speech this morning: “What this week has shown, beyond any doubt, is that Democrats would rather talk about partisan legislation that they know won’t pass, than about actually passing legislation we know would create jobs. This week it was revealed that there wasn’t enough support within the Democrat ranks to pass the President’s so-called Jobs bill — it was simply too partisan.”
“So yesterday,” Leader McConnell said, “instead of making it less partisan, they made it more so. By adding a tax on small business owners, they made it even less attractive to job creators, rather than working with Republicans on legislation that would actually help create jobs. I mean, what’s our goal here? If the goal is to create jobs, then why are we even talking about tax hikes? The President himself has said that raising taxes is the last thing you want to do in a weak economy — even the White House predicts the unemployment rate will be high when this tax would kick in. So the real goal here for the Democrats, as far as I can tell, is entirely political — by arguing for a permanent tax hike to pay for a temporary stimulus, they essentially admitting they’re not interested in creating jobs–because proposing a partisan tax hike 13 months before an election won’t create a single job.”
And despite Democrats’ latest political posturing, it’s not clear that many Democrats will support the president’s stimulus bill, even with their new tax hike proposal. In 2009 some Democrats warned that a similar surtax would “negatively affect small businesses.” Meanwhile The Daily Caller reports that Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) “is a ‘no’ vote right now with either the surtax or offsets on the table.” And Politico’s Manu Raju reports Democrat Nebraska Senator “Ben Nelson says he’ll vote against cloture on motion to proceed to Obama jobs plan.”
As Leader McConnell said, “Republicans, along with some Democrats, have pro-growth solutions to help solve this crisis, but we will not stand for a permanent tax hike for a temporary stimulus that is largely a rehash of the same failed stimulus ideas this administration has already tried. This bill is the same wasteful spending, the same burdensome union giveaways, and the same temporary tax policy that has failed the American people the last two years.”
Sen. McCaskill Tweet:“If I’d gone to Pres’ fundraiser in STL opponents would say that I’d rather hobnob w/big donors than do my job.” #damnedifudodamnedifudont”
WTF????? McCaskill must have a case of selective amnesia, because yesterday evening, she was hobnobbing with big donors at a $5,000/plate fundraiser for her campaign hosted by New York liberal Sen. Chuck Schumer in the heart of Washington DC.
First, her office claimed that she would not attend because she would be voting and working in Washington. (Note: no roll call votes were taken yesterday.) Then her office recanted and claimed that she hopes to appear with Obama, but that she might have to attend a fundraiser in DC instead. Now McCaskill says she wishes she could have attended the event.
Yesterday, President Obama again demanded of his $447 billion stimulus proposal, “Pass this bill.” Directing his remarks at Capitol Hill, the president said, “[A]t least put this jobs bill up for a vote so that the entire country knows exactly where members of Congress stand.” He told his Texas audience, “I need you to call and tweet and fax and visit and email your congressperson and tell them the time for gridlock and games is over. The time for action is now.” So, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, despite his opposition to the legislation, decided to offer the president an opportunity to get a vote on his bill. Yet Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) blocked the move, saying, “‘Right away’ is a relative term… I object.”
National Journal elaborated, “Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., forced Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to block a vote on President Obama’s $447 billion jobs proposal on Tuesday. The legislative gambit will not bar a Senate vote on the bill later this month, but it blunts a Democratic effort to maneuver the GOP into accepting sole responsibility for blocking the package . . . . In a surprise move intended to highlight Democratic divisions over the bill, McConnell asked Reid for unanimous consent to vote on the bill, which Reid introduced last month, as an amendment to legislation cracking down on Chinese currency manipulation that is currently on the floor. McConnell noted that Obama has asked Congress for an immediate vote on the measure at least 12 separate times. ‘I want to disabuse [Obama] of the notion that we are somehow unwilling to vote’ on the bill, McConnell said. Reid objected to McConnell’s request. He used a procedural tactic to block amendments to the bill.”
And Yahoo News noted, “Talk about poor timing. Moments after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, blocked a Republican motion in the Senate to vote on President Obama’s jobs bill, the president’s re-election campaign sent out an e-mail blasting House Republicans for not voting on the proposal.”
But today, Reid reiterated that the Senate would take up President Obama’s stimulus bill (although not until it’s finished with a China currency bill that apparently takes precedence for majority Democrats). Democrats won’t vote on the original bill, though. They want to add tax hikes to it. The AP reports today, “Senate Democrats are scrambling to rewrite portions of President Barack Obama’s jobs bill, even as Obama tries to blame Republicans for Congress’ failure to act. . . . In the Senate, Democrats made plans to jettison provisions that Obama recommended to pay for the $447 billion jobs bill, substituting them with a tax increase on millionaires, officials said.”
The AP added, “The parliamentary dance aside, the day’s events underscored that, as submitted by the White House, Obama’s bill would not only fail in the Republican-controlled House, but faced enough opposition from Democrats to endanger its prospects in the Senate, as well. ‘There’s the good, the bad and the ugly. The ugly was $447 billion,’ Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said of the bill’s price tag.”
It’s far from clear, though, that the new taxes on “millionaires” that Democrat leaders are calling for will even attract Democrat votes. Not long ago a number of Senate Democrats warned against raising taxes in a recession. Joe Manchin, who thinks the original taxes in the Obama bill are “ugly,” once said, “I wouldn’t raise any taxes.” Last year at this time, Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) said, “I don’t think it makes sense to raise any federal taxes during the uncertain economy we are struggling through.”
As Leader McConnell said this morning, “[N]ow I understand our Democrat friends want to jettison entire parts of the bill altogether — not to make it more effective at growing jobs, not to grow bipartisan support. No, they want to overhaul the bill to sharpen its political edge. So my suggestion to the White House is that if the President wants to keep traveling around the country demanding a vote on this second stimulus, that he focuses his criticism on Democrats, not Republicans. Because they’re the ones who are now standing in the way of an immediate vote on this legislation.
“But, of course, the President knew as well as I did that many Democrats in Congress don’t like this bill any more than Republicans do. Despite his rhetoric, he knew Republicans weren’t the only obstacle. Which means one thing: the President is not engaged right now in a good-faith effort to spur the economy or create jobs through legislation. He’s engaged in a reelection campaign.
“There are 1.7 million fewer jobs since the President signed his first stimulus, and his idea of a solution is to propose another one. Even Democrats know it’s a non-starter, which is why so many of them don’t want to have to vote for it. That’s what we all witnessed yesterday.”
“This full bodied, deep reddish-amber lager is strong and malty with a distinctly hopeful aftertaste.’
Sounds like the beer honoring the president and the hate speech of his supporters was a lot stronger than the leadership he’s been offering the country!
The second St. Louis event is at the elegant home of Tom and Robin Carnahan, and includes Tom’s brother, Rep. Russ Carnahan.
Approximately 45 people are in attendance, seated in close quarters in the dining room. Each contributed at least $25,000 to be here, according to the DNC. President paced back and forth in front of a grand fireplace as he delivered remarks. Pool was ushered out as the Q and A was about to begin. Read more….
Kansas City based consultant Jeff Roe seems to think so:
“This completely changes the race. Missouri’s never had a self-funder like this at a high-level office.”
Jeff City consultant James Harris is not so sure:
“John Brunner is untested,” said Missouri-based GOP consultant James Harris, who is also not affiliated with any Missouri Senate campaign. He noted that wealthy self-funders did not do well during the last cycle.
Good Missouri Senate race analysis in Roll Call today
According to the AP, President Obama will travel to Texas today to push his $447 billion stimulus bill and Politico reports that Vice President Joe Biden will similarly be stumping for the bill in Florida.
And yet Senate Democrats continue to show little interest in the president’s bill. This week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has chosen to work on a bill about Chinese currency rather than the legislation President Obama has been travelling around the country, saying, “Pass this bill!”
The New York Daily News reports today, “New York’s senior senator said even the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate was balking at paying for President Obama’s jobs bill. ‘The main hangup is not the jobs bill itself,’ Sen. Charles Schumer said Sunday. Obama has been calling on lawmakers to pass his $447 billion jobs bill in nearly every speech for almost a month and proposed paying for it with spending cuts, tax hikes on the wealthy and closing corporate tax loopholes. ‘After [Obama] announced the jobs bill … he proposed ways of paying for it that are probably not the best way to garner the votes,’ Schumer said.”
And Reuters wrote last night, “The bill appeared to be in trouble in the Democratic-controlled Senate as well, where aides from both parties said it will likely fail when it comes up for a vote later this month. . . . Prospects for passage in the Senate appeared doubtful as most legislation needs support from both parties in order to advance. All but a handful of Republicans will vote against it, according to a Republican aide, and several Democrats are likely to oppose it as well. Moderate Democrats in the Senate have objected to some of the tax increases Obama has proposed to pay for the bill.”
Reuters added this kicker: “‘Nobody is all that excited about the president’s jobs bill,’ a senior Democratic aide said.”
Now that Solyndra has gone bankrupt, and the president’s green jobs initiative has been a monumental bust, it’s amazing that the president will attend a fundraiser hosted by Tom Carnahan. Carnahan’s windfarm “luckily” received a $100 million subsidy during the stimulus frenzy. The Obama campaign announced earlier this year that they planned on raising $1 billion dollars for the upcoming campaign, tomorrow’s event will be another step towards that lusty goal.
President Barack Obama will raise money in early October with a Missouri businessman whose company benefited from a $107 million federal tax credit to develop a wind power facility in his state.
Tom Carnahan, a scion of Missouri’s most prominent Democratic political family, is listed on Obama’s campaign website as a host of a $25,000-per-person fundraiser to be held in St. Louis on October 4.
His energy development firm, Wind Capital Group, was helped by a sizable credit authorized in the stimulus, for an energy project in northwest Missouri. Read more….
The AP wrote on Saturday, “The White House and congressional Republicans just can’t agree on the best prescription for the economy, with President Barack Obama demanding passage of his $447 billion jobs bill and the GOP pushing to cut government red tape. . . . ‘It is time for Congress to get its act together and pass this jobs bill so I can sign it into law,’ he said in his Saturday address. The president has mounted a steady public campaign on behalf of his bill, trying to cast Congress and Republicans in particular as obstacles. With a populist flair, Obama has barnstormed across the country to prod Congress, so far to no avail. The stops have come in contested election states such as Ohio, North Carolina, Colorado and Virginia, and the president has taken his message directly to the districts of leading Republicans. On Tuesday, he will go to the Texas district represented by GOP Rep. Jeb Hensarling, co-chairman of a special deficit reduction committee in Congress.”
However, the AP points out, “Three weeks after Obama submitted his legislation, the Democratic-controlled Senate has yet to consider it.”
And the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Jamie Dupree reports, “President Obama is certain to again demand action this week in Congress on his jobs creation package, but for now, there is no rush by Democrats in the Senate to even bring the measure up for floor debate.”
Durpree explains, “The President will have the chance to make [his] point in a full day of campaign travel on Tuesday, as he goes to Texas and Missouri, which the White House told reporters has a clear goal. . . . But while the White House will again be calling for action by lawmakers, the first order of business in the Senate this week – that would the Senate which is controlled by the President’s own party – will be a measure on China’s currency.”
Further, Dupree notes, “At this point, Democrats probably don’t have 50 votes for the underlying Obama jobs bill, as Democrats are split for a variety of reasons. Some Senate Democrats don’t like the way the plan is paid for with higher taxes; others don’t like higher tax levies on the oil and gas industry as well as other details. . . . So, while you may hear President Obama say, ‘Pass this bill’ again this week, that jobs bill is not going anywhere fast in the Congress as the month of October begins.”
