The 34th Democrat joins the rest on the Iran deal
It was a foregone conclusion that the Democrats would amass at least 34 votes to block an override of Obama’s prospective veto of a bill that would disapprove the Iran deal and its lifting of sanctions by executive action. It was so much of a foregone conclusion that I’ve already analyzed it, here.
But still, the announcement brings with it a heavy weight.
As far as I can tell, the Senate could still vote on the deal as though it were a treaty and roundly fail to give its “advise and consent” to it. Unfortunately, that would have the force of big fat zero. And yet I think it should be done; I am unaware of any drawback to such a gesture.
But let’s not fool ourselves that would be more than a gesture. A president determined to go this far, and a Senate that does not have a 2/3 to either override his veto or convict him after an impeachment, can do pretty much whatever he wants. And even had the Republicans the will, there’s nothing they could do about it other than shut down the government.
That’s reality as I see it. It’s not a picture I like, but I try not to shy away from the truth. The truth, as I see it, is that even the nuclear option would not help here. The only thing it would do is make sure that the Democrats couldn’t get to 40 votes to block a vote on the merits. Then the bill would be vetoed by Obama anyway, and that would be that. Is it worth activating the nuclear option for that? I wrote here that I think so. Even though it’s just another gesture, it would at least show a certain toughness that the Republican leadership in Congress doesn’t seem to be able to muster.
Why are the Democrats so powerful despite their lack of numbers? It’s really quite simple: they can’t pass legislation they want without the numbers, but they can block it, and their blockage is successful only because they have the president on their side. Without the president’s veto, the nuclear option would “work” in the sense that it would get bills past the magical 40 number, and there would be no need to worry about overriding a veto.
Now we will get the usual crowing from the left, and outrage from the right. The full effects of the deal won’t show up for a while, probably years, although Iran will immediately grow stronger.
It will be very interesting to see whether the Senate now votes on the Iran deal as a treaty. I wish they would; I doubt they will. It will also be very interesting to see whether the Democrats in the Senate will get to 40 votes to block a vote on the deal, and how the Republicans will react to that—whether they will invoke the nuclear option to vote on it anyway. I tend to doubt it.
By the way, don’t mistake my usual even tone for a lack of outrage or bitterness.
Notice how JFK’s BIG speech on the Iran deal was AFTER the thing was in the bag.
Dems are ruling against the will of the people.
The immediate near term will mean Iran gets its billions back and some of that money will be used to kill Americans and Israeli citizens.
And, of course, Canada and the U.S. blew the opportunity to drive a stake in the heart of OPEC and completely crush the Iranian economy.
The idiot Greens and their fossil fuel fetish only helps our enemies.
As Rubio said on Fox this morning, this ‘deal’ is not a treaty. It is not binding beyond Obama’s Administration. It will be simple enough for the next President to start up the sanctions once again and bomb the hell out of whatever nuclear facilities Iran has built up to this point.
If the Democrats want to go along with this farce, they are more than welcome. But I’m not sure what they think they are getting out of this. I’m also not sure what Obama thinks he’s getting out of this. This will not be a ‘legacy’ moment if the agreement is scuttled the minute he walks out of the White House. All I can think of is, perhaps, there is a reason Obama (and his buddies?) want that money to go back to Iran and wanted to find an excuse to do it. Perhaps there are deals to be made if the sanctions are lifted that will benefit Obama or his cronies. That is the only reason I can think of that he even bothered with this agreement and pushed so hard to get it ‘passed’ by Congress.
K-E:
What they are getting out of it is this: the lifting of sanctions, effective sanctions, is probably not reversible. Europe is no longer on board, once they learned the US was not. And once Iran gets that money that’s released, it can’t be gotten back.
What’s more, the Democrats are pretty optimistic that the Obama presidency will be followed by another Democratic presidency. They think the demographics favor them no matter what weak candidate they nominate.
The immediate near term will mean Iran gets its billions back and some of that money will be used to kill Americans and Israeli citizens.
A lot of it is being kicked back to Dems. So they send Iran more money because it allows them to launder more money back for campaigns.
The progressive will to power is exhausting. Don’t these people have jobs? No. Their full time job is leveraging power to leverage more power. I despise every single one of these senators who allowed this to happen and that includes the hapless Corker. There was no reason to make it easy for these creatures to get this vile deal.
Of course, as the situation deteriorates and Iran grows more threatening, no matter which party is in power, rather than recognize how disastrous this “deal” has been, white racist republicans will blamed. The whole thing makes me sick.
I still contend VJ had a huge influence in arranging this ‘deal’. Back to the future of duck and cover, and fallout shelters. However, the likely attack from the mullahs will be an emp, no need to contaminate all that lush farmland and the Great Lakes. In which case it will be back to the 18th century.
I guess Corey Booker can now come out of the closet and express his opposition to the deal.
I still think there should be a vote, and Obama should have to veto it. That makes it entirely clear to everyone that the next nuclear war is on Obama. The Republicans should not just sigh and shake their heads regretfully. Even though it’s a futile gesture, it should still be made. It must be absolutely 100% clear that this disaster belongs entirely to the Democratic Party and Barack Obama. No way should Republicans make it even remotely possible for any blame to rest on themselves.
Tonestaple, YES!
Yeah. Get a vote on the record. Then we will know who to blame when Iran tests its nukes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_h4DZeBleLs
I wrote to my senator, Ron Wyden, who last I heard was still undecided. He’s generally liberal but not unprincipled. He’s famous here in Oregon for his service to constituents — and that proved true in my case about ten years ago when I had a completely irrational hard time with a bureaucrat named Fink. Fink. Only Wyden’s staff helped me out, and they were the last resort.
I also in my email to Wyden said that for the first time in my lifetime I worried about ending up on some list for opposing the president, and that I really hoped none of his staff were inclined in such a direction. I guess I’ll find out in time.
As good parents and therapists know, the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.
Given that Iran is the world’s Greatest terrorist sponsoring state – and actively undermining governments in no less than four other ME nations – who can doubt that Obama’s Great Acheivement will be other than some kind of shared suicide?
“Obamunists for Hari Kari!” Now that’s almost another Trumpist campaign slogan!
As Forest Gumo puts it, ‘stupid is as stupid does.’ Americans should never forget, and never forgive Obama’s treason.
Winston Churchill restated:
The Dems were given a choice between dishonor and war. They chose dishonor; they will have war.
Neo,
I felt the same way that this was forgone. And sadly so was the majority’s rolling over. The fact that this will never even see a vote is truly absurd
If the Republicans want to know why the establishment types are facing such headwind. This is a perfect example. They are preemptively surrendering. To then there are no battles worth actually fighting for. They dont even have the will to force a VOTE on this travesty.
I am ashamed of this. It is such an obviously bad deal that stupidity does not even begin to cover it.
Half of American Jews Support the Iran Deal. Why?
Why bother …
As Forest Gumo puts it, ‘stupid is as stupid does.’ Americans should never forget, and never forgive Obama’s treason.
Who voted for him TWICE!
In an age with much available info!
Obama voters have lost all standing.
That’s is all folks.
Me, American citizen be choice, will go down with the boat.
Stay away from the targets sheeple!
As others here have said:
Make the Dems vote on it.
Make them own it.
Let there be no doubt, later on, who pushed this and who fought it.
(Of course, there will be doubt, because SJWs Always Lie. How many people still think that Bull Connor and the KKK were Republicans?)
Daniel, people still think Lincoln was a Democrat and that Democrats freed the slaves, so that’s why blacks vote Democrat 95% of the time.
So if SJWs lie, it’s because they learned from a very solid foundation in the DemoNcrats.
I wish one Republican senator would have had the balls to say, during the hearings, “Secretaries Kerry, Muniz, Lew, on the day the Iranians announce their bomb I’m going to bring you back here and make you eat crow on national television.”