There have been several press accounts lately outlining Democratic plans to hold off on taking difficult votes before November, and then to have a robust “lame duck” session in November and December, where they can get the rest of their liberal agenda and pork passed. I couldn’t think of a worse idea for America. Not only are cap and trade, card check, and ratification of the START being thrown around as possibly getting legislative action during the lame duck , there will also be a need to wrap up the …
Recent reports indicate that House and Senate leaders are considering using reconciliation as a means to pass Obamacare (again). The reconciliation process is a fast-track way to bypass the normal legislative process and to speed up consideration (and passage) of such a bill. And The Hill reports that there are political reasons to go with reconciliation: “reconciliation is enormously appealing to Democratic lawmakers and the White House because it would let them finish up health care reform by a simple majority in the upper chamber, where passing major bills usually …
Yesterday Thomas Geoghegan argued in The New York Times that the Senate filibuster is “at worst, unconstitutional and, at best, at odds with the founders’ intent.” However, the most rudimentary reading of the Constitution suggests that the Founders wanted the passage of legislation to be exceedingly difficult in order to prevent a slim majority from ruling the country with impunity. If the Founders were so against supermajorities (as the author suggests), then why is a “two thirds” vote in Congress required no less than 5 times in Article I of …
