Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Rules change comes back to bite Dems

"Democrats are eager to make Donald Trump pay a political price for nominating staunch conservatives to fill out his Cabinet, hoping to exact revenge for the GOP's stubborn opposition to President Barack Obama's nominees.
But there is little they can do about it -- and some top Democrats are now coming to regret it.
    That's because Senate Democrats muscled through an unprecedented rules change in 2013 to weaken the power of the minority party to filibuster Cabinet-level appointees and most judicial nominees, now setting the threshold at 51 votes -- rather than 60 -- to overcome tactics aimed at derailing nominations.
    With the Senate GOP poised to hold 52 seats next Congress, some Democrats now say they should have thought twice before making the rules change -- known on Capitol Hill as the "nuclear option.""

    21 comments:

    Calypso Facto said...

    Fits with the Democrat motto: "Fire, aim, ready!"

    Eric the Fruit Bat said...
    This comment has been removed by the author.
    Eric the Fruit Bat said...

    Turns out there's research on whether playing tit-for-tat is evolutionarily adaptive.

    Computer modeling. That sort of thing.

    Some iteration required.

    Leland said...

    They were warned.

    edutcher said...

    I love it when a plan comes together.

    Dust Bunny Queen said...

    Democrats now say they should have thought twice.....

    Heck. They don't even think once. Liberals and Democrats are like toddlers, emotionally and intellectually. They don't think about the consequences of their actions. They just want what they want and they want it NOW!!!! Or a big tantrum, like the ones they are throwing now that Hillary lost. Waaaah.

    Seriously. It is as if they thought that they would always always be the ones in charge. That they could beat on the dog and he would have to take it. Surprise. The abused dog is now in charge. Woof.

    If the Republicans go back on this and don't use the nuclear option they deserve to be castrated....oh wait. The GOPe are already ball-less fools.

    deborah said...

    "Seriously. It is as if they thought that they would always always be the ones in charge."

    Witness the early crowing on election day.

    ricpic said...

    The sad reality is that unless the nation is suffering deep economic distress, as it is now, the Democrat strategy of appealing to identity while bloviating about equality, fairness and compassion, beats the Republican strategy of we're for slightly smaller government every time. Trump is an outlier. I thank God with every atom of my being that he was elected and pray he'll bring prosperity and be reelected. But I have no illusion that the American People is quits with the liberal lie.

    Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

    that's a shame.

    :-) !!!

    edutcher said...

    oopsy, you nailed it. This is what Tippytoes' Permanent Democrat Majority was all about; not governing, but ruling, with an iron fist.

    ricpic said...

    The sad reality is that unless the nation is suffering deep economic distress, as it is now, the Democrat strategy of appealing to identity while bloviating about equality, fairness and compassion, beats the Republican strategy of we're for slightly smaller government every time. Trump is an outlier. I thank God with every atom of my being that he was elected and pray he'll bring prosperity and be reelected. But I have no illusion that the American People is quits with the liberal lie.

    Maybe. I think we've seen a lot of evidence that the ruling class has lost the ear of the American public and the post election tantrum, a month and counting, is driving home the message these people can't be trusted.

    Maybe Pissy was the outlier, a one time fluke because of his color.

    PS The markets have jumped 250 points, possibly on the news Gen John Kelly has been nominated for DHS, possibly that OK AG and Global Warmijng skeptic Scott Pruitt has been picked to head the EPA, or that the MI recount has been halted on news Detroit ballots were counted 6 times (and, yes, there are witnesses).

    Amartel said...

    They were so sure they were going to win. Clinton would have locked in all the stuff Obama introduced, all the executive orders including that shitty Iran deal, Obamacare would have morphed to single-payer, open borders automatic citizenry, global warming regs to shut down industry entirely, (etc. etc.) and that would have been the end of us barring revolution. They were so sure they had it locked in institutionally, through the media, academia, and deep government, that they ran a corrupt fraud life-long grifter with no accomplishments and openly showed their hand (to anyone who was paying attention). The one true constituency of the modern Democrat Party are wealthy international globalist cronies. That's it. Everyone else loses.

    Amartel said...

    Warning: Don't get too excited about the economy. The market's having some exuberance right now but we are super-screwed from years and years of government meddling in the private sector. Bubbles are going to burst.

    Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

    Indeed, Amartel. One other thing I'd add - Hillary would have taken a hammer to the 1st amendment with her crusade against Citizens Untied. A court case based on a film that criticized her. The left turned the whole thing into "we must stop dark money..." bullshit campaign. It was an opening created by the left and the hack press to give the left what it wanted - the ability to clamp down on free speech - and hide behind a false narrative and a lie.

    Amartel said...

    Yes, how dare the peasants speak poorly of Her Majesty? Unseemly! And Unacceptable! Shut it dowwwwnnn! Make it stawwwwp!

    She probably would have also imposed rules through the FEC that would have been the end of talk radio and other conservative news outlets. Not to mention, gutting and taxing the internet.

    Progressives are not liberals. Liberals respect free speech and know its value. They understand that civil rights are inalienable and innate and fundamental. Progressives and their fake news, not so much.

    edutcher said...

    Amartel said...

    Warning: Don't get too excited about the economy. The market's having some exuberance right now but we are super-screwed from years and years of government meddling in the private sector. Bubbles are going to burst.

    Trump talked a lot about that during the campaign and said often how he wished the market would crash before the election. The markets are highly speculative and certainly have been grasping at straws the last 8 years. What may be different now is that companies seem a lot more willing to invest all that money they've been sitting on .

    bagoh20 said...

    The Repubs would be wise to change the rule back to 51 for the same reason it was dumb of Dingy Harry in the first place, but not yet. There needs to be some repair work done first - quite a bit of it.

    Amartel said...

    Nothing wrong with a little payback to even things up somewhat. Slippery slope argument to follow.
    Also, FCC, not FEC. Or FTC. Or FBI. Or FDIC. Etc.
    My bad. Must distinguish politicized agencies that start with the letter "F."

    edutcher said...

    MI is pushing a law that would make Jill Stein pay for her recount. Now that's a bite.

    PS One point that was made regarding the markets is that there's very little selling, almost all buying, which is viewed as a very good sign.

    On that note, Trump has picked wrestling magnate Linda McMahon to lead the Small Business Administration.

    bagoh20 said...

    "... there's very little selling, almost all buying..."

    Trump makes the impossible happen.

    Methadras said...

    Democrats are going to have to wonder if they are really now nothing more than a party of a confederacy of regional special interests. They really aren't a national party anymore. I can't see how they could be. They have so many SJW special interests they cater to from a psycho-sexual/racial point of view as a function of representation, that they really do not have national interests in mind, much less in heart.

    Chuck Schumer is basically going to be the hoarse voice of opposition and Pelosi is the rickety lunatic fuck that she will be in the house, so someone tell me again, how the leftists are going to make this loss into lemonade? It's just hissy fits all the way down as far as I can see from my reclining sofa.

    Methadras said...

    Oh, on another front. Harry Reid will be a private citizen soon. Oh yes, I hope he meets another 'accident' with another piece of his 'exercise equipment'.