Harry Reid and the blockage in the Senate
Here are some things to consider when discussing the current budget impasse in Washington, D.C.
1. Last year, when Democrats held the majority in the Senate at 59 to 41, Harry Reid, the Majority Leader failed to bring up a budget resolution, and failed to bring a single appropriations bill to the floor. Appropriating the funds to keep the government operating through the next fiscal year is the minimum task of Congress each year, but this did not happen in 2010, in spite of the fact that Reid called the Senate back into session after the elections and even had the Senate working on weekends until Christmas. He just never got around to doing the one thing he and the Senate had to do. That failure by Congress to appropriate funds for Fiscal Year 2011 is the reason why this crisis exists.
2. In early January 2011 the House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution (CR) to appropriate funds to cover the expenses of the Federal government through Sept. 30,2011 - the rest of the 2010-2011 Fiscal Year. That CR (H.R.1) included some effort toward addressing the fiscal crisis our nation faces by reducing expenditures by $61 billion – a very modest reduction in light of the promise the Republican House leaders made to the public to reduce expenditures by at least $100 billion. House leadership scaled back its original budget reduction plans in an effort to achieve a consensus that would be good for the whole country and to prevent any hold-up of government operations.
3. Here is the rub. H.R.1 has never been brought to the Senate floor. No alternative to H.R. 1 has been brought to the Senate floor. There has been no debate in the Senate on funding the rest of this fiscal year. Instead, short-term, emergency stopgap measures have been presented to the Senate at the last possible moment and were passed with virtually no debate and no amendments since failure to pass them would have resulted in a government shutdown. This has been Harry Reid's modus operandi.
4. Last week the U.S. Senate took exactly one vote – on the confirmation of a non-controversial judicial nominee. This week – with a shutdown looming on Friday – the Senate voted to revoke 1099 reporting requirements as well as an amendment to a Small Business bill. Even now, just hours from a shutdown, the matter of funding Federal operations has not come to the floor.
5. Therefore, there is no Senate position on this subject. John Boehner can speak confidently for a majority of the House because the House has voted numerous times on this question. Harry Reid can speak only for Harry Reid because he has not allowed the Senate to express its will by voting on a specific measure.
Gives a whole new meaning to democracy, doesn’t it?
Call your Senator to confirm this if you have any trouble appreciating what is going on.
It's all about abortion.
1. Last year, when Democrats held the majority in the Senate at 59 to 41, Harry Reid, the Majority Leader failed to bring up a budget resolution, and failed to bring a single appropriations bill to the floor. Appropriating the funds to keep the government operating through the next fiscal year is the minimum task of Congress each year, but this did not happen in 2010, in spite of the fact that Reid called the Senate back into session after the elections and even had the Senate working on weekends until Christmas. He just never got around to doing the one thing he and the Senate had to do. That failure by Congress to appropriate funds for Fiscal Year 2011 is the reason why this crisis exists.
2. In early January 2011 the House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution (CR) to appropriate funds to cover the expenses of the Federal government through Sept. 30,2011 - the rest of the 2010-2011 Fiscal Year. That CR (H.R.1) included some effort toward addressing the fiscal crisis our nation faces by reducing expenditures by $61 billion – a very modest reduction in light of the promise the Republican House leaders made to the public to reduce expenditures by at least $100 billion. House leadership scaled back its original budget reduction plans in an effort to achieve a consensus that would be good for the whole country and to prevent any hold-up of government operations.
3. Here is the rub. H.R.1 has never been brought to the Senate floor. No alternative to H.R. 1 has been brought to the Senate floor. There has been no debate in the Senate on funding the rest of this fiscal year. Instead, short-term, emergency stopgap measures have been presented to the Senate at the last possible moment and were passed with virtually no debate and no amendments since failure to pass them would have resulted in a government shutdown. This has been Harry Reid's modus operandi.
4. Last week the U.S. Senate took exactly one vote – on the confirmation of a non-controversial judicial nominee. This week – with a shutdown looming on Friday – the Senate voted to revoke 1099 reporting requirements as well as an amendment to a Small Business bill. Even now, just hours from a shutdown, the matter of funding Federal operations has not come to the floor.
5. Therefore, there is no Senate position on this subject. John Boehner can speak confidently for a majority of the House because the House has voted numerous times on this question. Harry Reid can speak only for Harry Reid because he has not allowed the Senate to express its will by voting on a specific measure.
Gives a whole new meaning to democracy, doesn’t it?
Call your Senator to confirm this if you have any trouble appreciating what is going on.
It's all about abortion.
posted by Jakubczyk on Life | 3:09 PM
