Senate Reconciliation was established in 1974 under the Democrat-controlled 93rd Congress. Reconciliation exists for a very specific purpose: to eliminate the threat of a minority party filibuster on budget bills. It has been used 22 times since its inception, and I’ll trust Senator Reid’s figure that 16 of those were by Republicans—most recently to pass the “Bush Tax Cuts.” However, Reid is incredibly misleading when he says Republicans should “stop crying about Reconciliation as if it’s never been done before.” While it has been used to pass budget-related legislation, it has never been used to create a new program—though not for lack of trying.
From the category archives:
Obama
Could the Democrats Lose “Obama’s Seat?”
There is no doubt Scott Brown’s “Massachusetts Miracle” dealt a stunning blow to Obama and the Democrat leadership’s far left agenda. With Roland Burris’ announcement that he will step down at the end of his term–apparently he was only able to raise $20,000 for his re-election election campaign–the GOP has awoken from its coma to campaign against “Chicago Politics” in Illinois. The Illinois GOP has taken center stage with aggressive campaigns for both the Senate and the Governorship. Even more astounding, the candidates have a legitimate chance if there’s a less than enthusiastic turnout among mortuary voters.
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Obama Didn’t Get the Message
At over an hour in length, President Obama’s State of the Union address revealed one thing: he hasn’t been paying attention to the will of the American people. The President was quick to remind us of the dire economic conditions he “inherited” from his predecessor. He failed to acknowledge that his policies have produced no demonstrable economic recovery as evidenced by continued job losses, even in the holiday season, and 10% unemployment. While the stimulus failed to keep unemployment below 8%, the President touted the measure as a success, and called for another “jobs bill” to be delivered to his desk as soon as possible.
The President continued blaming former President Bush by asserting that the trillions of dollars in deficit spending racked up over the past year were the result of his predecessor’s “tax cuts” and failing to “pay for two wars.” The “Stimulus bill” and spending hikes by the Democrat controlled Congress are the more accurate contributors to our current fiscal woes. The TARP bill also played a role, and was signed under the former President. However, it had the full support of Obama and his transition team and was touted–wrongly–as a necessary measure to save our financial systems.
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Who is Obama Talking To?
The above clip is from the President’s “meeting” with the twelve-member “Middle Class Task Force” headed by Vice President Joe Biden, but you’d be easily forgiven for being unable to deduce the context from the video alone. Where are the questions? Where is the free exchange of ideas between the various representatives? And if the President needs neither, if the President doesn’t even need to attend the meeting to know what to do for our nation, the why not just “get it done?”
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“Biparitsanship” Returns
Apparently Republicans aren’t the only ones who have been reminded of the power of 41. Scott Brown’s victory in arguably the most liberal state in the union has sent a shock-wave through the Democrat party. It appears that once again Washington can hear its employer, the citizens. It’s also amazing how fast the left-wing soundtrack has changed. Just days ago, the Democrats were defending their backroom bribery and threatening to ram Health Care through before Brown was seated. After breaking his C-Span promise on the basis that completing his monument was more important than writing quality legislation, after refusing to listen to Republican suggestions or even meet with GOP leaders, are we expected to believe Barack Obama is suddenly willing to compromise? I certainly hope the GOP remembers how it has been treated this past year, and recognizes that if a Republican can be elected in Massachusetts by campaigning on a Conservative platform focused on being the 41st vote against ObamaCare, then cooperation on Health “Reform” or any other parts of Obama’s far-left agenda ought to be off the table.
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