I reported yesterday that Mitch McConnell is expressly blocking a vote on a conservative backed measure to repeal Obamacare, but there is news this morning that the situation is far worse than even I thought.
Alexander Bolton reports Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell intends to avoid any votes on repealing Obamacare this entire year lest he anger Senator Harry Reid.
Obstensibly, McConnell says a vote on the DeMint authored legislation would give the Democrats cover to vote against Obamacare headed into the election. But this makes no sense because McConnell intends to offer up Senator Blunt’s amendment tomorrow on religious liberty, also letting Senate Democrats get on record defying the President on a controversial issue related to Obamacare.
In fact, however, Senate Republicans are willing now to go on record and offer up an even more damning reason — they don’t want to upset Harry Reid.
Believe it or not, Senator McConnell also perversely appears to want to “shield his Senate GOP colleagues from voting to repeal popular portions of the healthcare law.”
One lawmaker who spoke on background said McConnell is concerned that repeated efforts to force votes on amendments to repeal healthcare reform will lead to procedural stalemate with Democrats.
The senator said McConnell wants to schedule votes on other GOP-sponsored amendments on energy and jobs. McConnell, the senator said, anticipates that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) would shut down those opportunities if Republicans insist on votes to repeal healthcare reform.
Why would Senator Harry Reid take action against the Republicans if such votes were hurting the Republicans? Answer: he would not. Democrats are well versed in the art of staying out of the way when Republicans hurt themselves.
Reid would take the actions Republicans fear because he knows that a majority of Americans still oppose Obamacare, it is one issue that unites independent voters with Republicans, and his anger would stem from Republicans reminding the American people which Democrats must go this pivotal election year in order to repeal Obamacare.
But hey,
Some of the healthcare law’s biggest critics in the upper chamber do not think another vote is necessary.
“People are on record,” said Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), one of McConnell’s deputies.
Why the hell do we even need a Democratic Party when Senator McConnell does their bidding for them?
Moe Lane
Dan McLaughlin
Dan Spencer
Jeff Emanuel
Neil Stevens
Have We Given ANY Thought Yet
spinoneone Thursday, March 1st at 7:29AM EDT (link)on how to get Mitch out of that chair? Anyone? Any thing? Ideas? Just out of the chair mind you. Is there a party caucus vote or something possible? Some sort of internal “coup d’senate?”
How about a petition, spinoneone?
fredflintlock Thursday, March 1st at 8:15AM EDT (link)It could be circulated at the monthly GOP club meetings and sent to The Party with a demand for his, and Boehner’s, removal. It shouldn’t be difficult to find signatures. McConnell is not popular with the folks who attend regularly.
The Party needs to be reminded that publicly distancing itself from the base, while taking its votes for granted come election day is not a smart fund raising strategy.
McConnell has bungled the clearest mandate any minority has received from the voters to be the opposition and not play nice with the majority.
They can indeed take our votes for granted
sharrondeer (Diary) Thursday, March 1st at 10:03AM EDT (link)As long as Tea Party members vote Republican no matter what the candidate’s positions and values are, the Republicans own us. That’s the bottom line. And why I, for one, will not vote for Romney.
If Tea Party members can settle on a candidate that reflects our values, we need to organize a write-in vote for the general election. Otherwise we’re proving to the establishment that they don’t have to listen to us.
Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence. — John Adams.
Dividing the conservative vote
dyarbrough Thursday, March 1st at 10:56AM EDT (link)assures that Obama will be in for AT LEAST four years – more when he throws the Constitution into the fire and declares himself President for Life.
McConnell, however, is a total disaster. I agree with a campaign to replace him with Jim DeMint.
Maybe the nation needs to hit rock bottom.
ghostship Thursday, March 1st at 4:00PM EDT (link)The Democrats aren’t going to cut spending and shrink government and sadly neither are the Republicans. Both parties are intent upon driving this nation over the cliff and the only difference between them is how much they’re willing to step on the gas.
Maybe we need to stop fighting it and just get it over with because apparently nothing is going to change until this nation crashes and burns.
Reagan tried to starve the beast . Maybe we should try and stuff its face until it’s belly explodes.
This is what kills me
wantthegopback Thursday, March 1st at 11:21AM EDT (link)I want to vote republican. But I don’t want to enable either. Torn
I’m a punk. Email me at ryantboyd@me.com
A prevailing attitude is,"What have you done for me lately?", but...
fredflintlock Thursday, March 1st at 12:07PM EDT (link)eight years is too long and too much time for transformation. I know this is a point of friction, but a vote for none of the above, or for our version of Ralph Nader in the general is still a vote for Obama.
The Party needs to put the old guard leadership out to pasture. McConnell and his cohorts formed their habits before the Pelosi extemists took control of the democrats, and they refuse to counter-attack against the dems end game strategy. Total obstruction is the only option until this president is put on a bullet train and headed for Chicago. Permanently. And after that, put somebody else in charge of The Party, please.
"Party Unity" led us to McCain and Romney in the first place
redcal Thursday, March 1st at 5:15PM EDT (link)As long as true conservatives continue to (lightly) grumble but eventually fall in line with the moderate centrists that the establishment puts forth, we will ALWAYS get taken for granted. That is predictable political fact. It’s not wrong or evil — it’s what you would do if you were the moderate, unprincipled establishment.
As I’ve said before, accepting McCain in 2008 got us Romney in 2012. If we had rejected McCain and pushed forth (for example) Huckabee, even if he’d lost, the more conservative and better-funded candidates (Jeb Bush, Mitch Daniels) wouldn’t have been afraid of the Romney Machine this year. They would have assumed that we would have been there for them. But looking at 2008, they realize that wouldn’t be, and so far, they’ve been absolutely right.
Romney is on his way to the nomination — Santorum squandered his chance with that terrible AZ debate and imprudent comments about JFK. And he’ll get crushed by Obama, because he’s clearly Obama-lite; Obama on policy but with crowds that are one-tenth as passionate.
Ditch Romney now, in fundraising and/or voting, and we may actually get a real conservative in 2016. Keep on thinking ‘Party Unity’ and the next cycle, the establishment moderate will again get the (half-hearted) nod.
Jim DeMint's Senate Conservative Fund
joecollins (Diary) Thursday, March 1st at 10:53AM EDT (link)Send Senator DeMint some $$$. He’s supporting conservatives for the Senate.
McConnell is a weak pansy
independentconservative (Diary) Thursday, March 1st at 4:07PM EDT (link)Jim DeMint, Rand Paul, someone with some guts and some backbone. McConnell is part of the problem in the Senate.
Do not underestimate your enemy, independentconservative.
acat (Diary) Thursday, March 1st at 4:33PM EDT (link)McConnell is not “weak”, nor have I heard rumors that he’s “a pansy”.
McConnell is simply not “conservative”. He’s a statist, a big-government guy who has an R after his name. He likes the power and prestige that come with being a Senator and now majority leader, and he works to get other like-minded folk (Murkowski (I-AK)) put in place to do the same.
Mew
——
Caveat Suffragator
Call McConnell
tokm908 (Diary) Thursday, March 1st at 7:29AM EDT (link)His DC office number is: 202.224.2541
When a man assumes a public trust he should consider himself a public property.
–Thomas Jefferson
what is the opposite of act of valor
swi2522 Thursday, March 1st at 7:45AM EDT (link)MITCH MCCONNELL ACT OF COWARDNESS
MCCONELL=OBAMA
mikelindell2 Thursday, March 1st at 8:04AM EDT (link)So many Republicans are either totally inept or more in line with Democrats’ agenda than they would like us to know.
I wonder how the candidates would have handled this:
Romney-Same as McConell
Santorum-Too preoccupied fighting with high school kids over their desire to attend college
Gingrich-Craft a strong, articulate and relentless case for repeal of this disastrous bill that would rally the country behind him to get it done.
No more Kool-Aid
bwilliamson (Diary) Thursday, March 1st at 8:28AM EDT (link)I sincerely hope that the GOP leadership of Congress stops drinking whatever Kool-Aid they are guzzling and listens to their constituents that sent them up there. Actions like this are what gets people removed from places of authority. We need strong leadership that does what needs to be done. Statesmen that have a love of country and view their position as a burden and obligation, not a place to be self-important and ineffective.
I called Senator McConnell’s office and emailed expressing my displeasure and desire for him to support Senator DeMint’s Legislation S.192. I wish I could do more right this moment to open their eyes to how important this is.
I suppose I’ll do the strongest thing I can think of at this time.
Get on my knees and pray.
I just dialed 202-224-2541 -- McConnell's office...
zollistar (Diary) Thursday, March 1st at 9:36AM EDT (link)…and expressed EXTREME displeasure for his failure to support Senator DeMint’s Legislation S.192 (“What is WRONG with him??” I asked the sweet young thing who answered the phone after stating the reason for my displeasure).
Then I posted this comment.
Now I’m going to follow bwilliamson’s example and do something truly useful: Get on my knees and pray, not just for this but also for the repose of the soul of Andrew Breitbart.
May Andrew rest in peace.
Leadership!
CarolT (Diary) Thursday, March 1st at 8:35AM EDT (link)McConnell has to go, he is a wimp. We need a strong senate leader, I nominate Senator DeMint but I’m sure my voice doesn’t count. I will call McConnell’s office today. Who cares if he angers Reid? An angry Reid wound thrill me, along with an angrier Obama.
This just shows, in spades,
tnguy Thursday, March 1st at 8:48AM EDT (link)that voting conservative is the answer, not (R).
Look at the Bush years. For what, 5 of his 8 years, (R) controlled both houses of congress? We did get a nice tax cut, but otherwise, we got runaway government spending and the biggest federal program (long-term) since the Great Society, and the largest increase in public debt in history, at that time.
(R) is leading conservatives around by the nose. We make up the bulk of the party but ultimately, appear to have very limited influence in what the party does. And those conservatives we do send, are shunned or set aside by McConnell and his ilk.
We’ve got to try something new. Obama, Reid and Pelosi are not the real enemy of conservatives. The real enemy is inside our own party.
“Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined.”
It was 6 years
sharrondeer (Diary) Thursday, March 1st at 10:05AM EDT (link)Congressional session are two years long, so it’s always a multiple of two. GWB had a Republican Congress for the first 6 years of his presidency, who acted like his lapdog.
I strongly agree with your main point: The real enemy is inside our own party.
Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence. — John Adams.
6 Years? What about Jumpin' Jeffords?
tnguy Thursday, March 1st at 7:45PM EDT (link)nt………
“Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined.”
Sad to Say Matt Taibbi Predicted Your Response Just One Week Ago...
la2000 Thursday, March 1st at 10:23AM EDT (link)This is a quote from his February 23 blog on the republican debate:
“Here at home, all liberals, gays, Hispanic immigrants, atheists, Hollywood actors and/or musicians with political opinions, members of the media, members of congress, TSA officials, animal-lovers, union workers, state employees with pensions, Occupiers and other assorted unorthodox types had already long ago been rolled into the (republican) enemies list.
Given the continued troubles and the continued failure to return to good old American values, who else could possibly be to blame? Where else could they possibly point the finger?
There was only one possible answer, and we’re seeing it playing out in this race: At themselves! And I don’t mean they pointed the finger “at themselves” in the psychologically healthy, self-examining, self-doubting sort of way. Instead, I mean they pointed “at themselves” in the sense of, “There are traitors in our ranks. They must be ferreted out and destroyed!”
This is the last stage in any paranoid illness. You start by suspecting that somebody out there is out to get you; in the end, you’re sure that even the people who love you the most under your own roof, your own doctors, your parents, your wife and your children, they’re in on the plot. To quote Matt Damon in the almost-underrated spy film The Good Shepherd, they became convinced that there’s “a stranger in the house.”
This is where the Republican Party is now. They’ve run out of foreign enemies to point fingers at. They’ve already maxed out the rhetoric against us orgiastic, anarchy-loving pansexual liberal terrorists. The only possible remaining explanation for their troubles is that their own leaders have failed them. There is a stranger in the house!”
Can posting that much Taibbi get
wantthegopback Thursday, March 1st at 11:24AM EDT (link)You banned. Cause I’m ill.
I’m a punk. Email me at ryantboyd@me.com
Smart
mikefromny Thursday, March 1st at 8:49AM EDT (link)All of you who are criticizing this move are completely forgetting that Obama would veto it in a second. No way he would say, well, this is my signature piece of legislation, but, oh well, lets repeal it.
He doesn’t want to give Democrats who may benefit from a vote against Obamacare the chance to go on record against it… because that’s all this vote would accomplish.
I'd be happy to see republicans go on record against it!
fredflintlock Thursday, March 1st at 9:02AM EDT (link)They might benefit from it too.
Most of them have
mikefromny Thursday, March 1st at 9:33AM EDT (link)A lot of them already have, and I don’t doubt they need to prove it to the random voter walking down the street.
That was early last year and memories are short, mikefromny.
fredflintlock Thursday, March 1st at 10:06AM EDT (link)Recent rumblings from the swamp indicate that the concept of tinkering, rather than full repeal, is gaining support inside the beltway. That will only aid Obama in his campaign of confusion on Romney’s commitment to repeal, should Romney be the nominee.
Rumors of questions about Willard’s resolve have already surfaced.
And if voters can be convinced the republicans won’t commit to full repeal, it’s just one more reason for the muddled middle to not throw out the incumbent, while tamping down enthusiasm on the right. It’s a twofer.
What is Wrong With Stalemate?
edintexas Thursday, March 1st at 9:12AM EDT (link)If the politicians aren’t passing legislation, they aren’t mucking things up for the people. Only Democrats and the MSM (but I repeat myself) are opposed to Gridlock or Stalemate – oh, and Olympia Snowe and apparently Mitch McConnell.
Kowalski
edintexas Thursday, March 1st at 9:13AM EDT (link)Sorry that started as a separate comment, don’t know how it wound up as a reply.
Why do we care
dyarbrough Thursday, March 1st at 11:15AM EDT (link)that Obama would veto the bill?
The issue is McConnell toadying to Reid.
Goes to show there's one Party, except at the edges.
Viet71 (Diary) Thursday, March 1st at 9:43AM EDT (link)My left-leaning friends say there’s only one party. They feel sold out by Obama and Reid, big time. They hate the mandate.
Reinforces my belief that adults on the Right and Left edges should work together to try to find common ground. Getting rid of people like McConnell and Reid is going to take a joint effort.
The Right, I suspect, would accept a few Bob Kerrys in exchange for getting DeMints and Ryans into power positions. Just a fantasy, perhaps.
Most of my left-leaning friends say the same thing
sharrondeer (Diary) Thursday, March 1st at 10:08AM EDT (link)About there being only one party, that is. The reason they say that is because of money: they believe that most of Congress has been purchased by very wealthy people, large corporations and lobbyists.
It’s Bob Kerrey, by the way.
Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence. — John Adams.
Bob Kerrey (thx for spelling) is a Dem because of his war injuries.
Viet71 (Diary) Thursday, March 1st at 10:36AM EDT (link)He has said he believes in government (i.e., big government) because of the way he was brought back to health following his wounds in Viet Nam. Haven’t been able to make heads or tails about his statements re his Viet Nam service.
John Kerry, OTOH, has been a pol all the way. Only guy I ever knew had himself filmed supposedly charging into jungle combat. He was a schemer from Day 1. The Swift Boat veterans had it right, IMO.
pansy much?
mwsasser Thursday, March 1st at 10:02AM EDT (link)I mean seriously, is he a born wuss or does he work for Harry Reid? Pick a side McConnell and tell us which it is.
The Democrats
DerKrieger (Diary) Thursday, March 1st at 10:14AM EDT (link)…are dragging us kicking and screaming down the long road to socialism at a quickening pace and the GOP is helping them. WTH!
I can’t take it anymore. Our liberties aren’t being chipped away, the Left is taking a jackhammer to them and our guys are still trying to play like this is a gentemen’s game. This shoud be all out politicl warfare.
I feel as though We the People are Africans and the Leftists are slavers tracking us down with every intent to enslave us to government.
I will continue to make the case in my diary for federalism as I believe that only the states, Red states, acting together can protect us from a hostile federal government.
“In questions of power, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.” – Thomas Jefferson
“I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents.” – James Madison
Whenever the legislators endeavor to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any further obedience.” — John Locke, 1690
Do we need to send this guy more balls?
Xasteius (Diary) Thursday, March 1st at 11:33AM EDT (link)no text
Don’t leave the party, hijack it back!
The only poll that counts is the one at the ballot box.
I don’t want to be Reagan. I want to be a Chance/Soros hybrid.
We could send him some neuticles, the extra large size.
larueladue (Diary) Thursday, March 1st at 6:03PM EDT (link)But, sadly, they are only cosmetic, not functional…
Send Newticles instead. NOT cosmetic in any size!
fredflintlock Thursday, March 1st at 7:03PM EDT (link)n/t
Where in the hell do these people come from?
Mars the Avenger Thursday, March 1st at 12:13PM EDT (link)Doesn’t this just beat all…… I have never seen such cowardice, such BS….. Why do people keep voting for these jerks? (question rhetorical….because they keep bringing home the goodies, which is now bankrupting our country) They are content with the scraps from Reid’s table than taking over the whole kitchen.
Either these fools are voted out, or they marched out at the point of a pitchfork!
Άν τις, φησίν, ένίστηται προς τα άγαν έκφανη, προς τοΰτον ού ‘ράιδιόν έστιν εύρεϊν λόγον, δί ού μεταπείσει τις αύτόν. “If a man opposes evident truths, it is not easy to find arguments to make him change his opinion.” – Epictetus, Greek Stoic Philosopher, A.D. 55 – 135. Discourses, 1:5.
or,
Mars the Avenger Thursday, March 1st at 12:15PM EDT (link)they’re marched out at the point of a pitchfork!
Άν τις, φησίν, ένίστηται προς τα άγαν έκφανη, προς τοΰτον ού ‘ράιδιόν έστιν εύρεϊν λόγον, δί ού μεταπείσει τις αύτόν. “If a man opposes evident truths, it is not easy to find arguments to make him change his opinion.” – Epictetus, Greek Stoic Philosopher, A.D. 55 – 135. Discourses, 1:5.
Blunt Amendment has just failed in Senate
tngal (Diary) Thursday, March 1st at 1:29PM EDT (link)For those not familiar with the amendment, it would not repeal Ocare. Instead it was designed to amend it so religious employers weren’t forced to pay for birth control or abortion inducing drugs for their workers.
Final vote 51-48.
A few dems voted for it. The only R to vote against it was Olympia Snowe.
Its obvious we can’t take this silly law out piecemeal. So the whole thing has to go.
http://www.lifenews.com/2012/03/01/senate-defeats-blunt-amendment-to-stop-obama-hhs-mandate/