Comments on: What goes around comes around: they don’t call it the “nuclear option” for nothing

By: Mumu Bobby

Mumu Bobby — Thu, 02 Feb 2017 19:49:43 +0000

“A wiser president faced with such circumstances would govern with humility and a respect for the views of all Americans”

W tried that and all he got for the effort was a Selected Not Elected bumpersticker.

By: Beverly

Beverly — Wed, 01 Feb 2017 22:15:52 +0000

Orrin Hatch has actually said “crap” out loud: He rewrote the committee rules so that the nominations committee can vote on nominees WITHOUT the Democrats present (since they were pouting in the hallway and refusing to come in). So now Mnuchin and Price have been passed by the committee for a floor vote.

It takes a lot to get ole Hatch riled up, but the Dims have done it. Their next act?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTMjbkjsL5g

By: TommyJay

TommyJay — Wed, 01 Feb 2017 21:27:26 +0000

I can’t see the other comments, even though I can for other Neo posts. (Another MS Edge bug?)

I thought the big McGilla for Harry Reid’s mini-nuke was the DC circuit court, and that it is now chock-full of toxic judges. Neo’s excellent work, as usual, reveals that 19 of these judges were confirmed BEFORE the nuke was dropped. Why drop it indeed?

My first thought is that you cannot simply take these congressional votes at face value. In the last hour the news is that Sen. Susan Collins will not vote to confirm Betsy DeVos. But with VP Pense’s vote she will be confirmed anyway. So would Collins have postured in this manner had the vote been even closer??

Is it possible that some of those 19 DC judges confirmed with Republican votes were gotten with behind-closed-doors threats to go nuclear? That would still leave the question: Did Harry go nuclear for just one judge? Maybe he/she was a key toxic ring-leader?

By: n.n

n.n — Wed, 01 Feb 2017 21:17:24 +0000

The exquisite optics of Republicans as Daisies surviving the Democratic nuclear option. It’s self-defense!

By: Geoffrey Britain

Geoffrey Britain — Wed, 01 Feb 2017 21:14:37 +0000

Credit should be given where credit is due. On this issue, McConnell certainly deserves it.

I agree that today’s politics are reminiscent of pre-civil war politics. Other than Obamacare, I don’t see any indication of Trump being willing to compromise with democrats.

Vanderluen,
Yes, that is the consequence the democrat establishment faces. Hopefully, he’ll filibuster. The more radical the dems, the better.

By: Ray

Ray — Wed, 01 Feb 2017 20:15:18 +0000

I can’t figure out why they call it the nuclear option. Shouldn’t it be the Harry Reid option?

By: Vanderleun

Vanderleun — Wed, 01 Feb 2017 19:07:03 +0000

If they need the option and don’t go for it then those that didn’t act will be primaried out of existence in two years.

By: DirtyJobsGuy

DirtyJobsGuy — Wed, 01 Feb 2017 19:04:59 +0000

I’m forced to return to my feeling that we are seeing a rerun of the pre-civil war politics. The Southern democrats were terrified that the non-slave states would forever hold the Senate so they contrived every stunt possible to forestall debate. The Presidents at the time both Whig and Democrat were weak compromisers. The Democrats tactics made it easy to convince Southern voters that the national government was dysfunctional and thus secession was the only choice.

Trump is no Lincoln and would probably compromise on most things with the Democrats after the SCOTUS nominations and Muslim ban are done. The Democrats are no fans of free trade after all. But it may be too far for them to think right now

By: T

Wed, 01 Feb 2017 18:59:01 +0000

“(. . . I don’t think he’s gotten enough credit from the right for this) McConnell stood firm against pressure to confirm Garland, . . .”[Neo]

I agree. Given the historic fecklessness of the Republican establishment and the fact that McConnell stood his ground at a time when the election of Trump (especially Trump as a conservative) was not a given, he should be given major credit for this.

All the more reason for the Republican establishment to remain strong and not fold now against any pressure from Dems on any issue. It would render McConnell’s success a Pyrrhic victory.

By: Geoffrey Britain

Geoffrey Britain — Wed, 01 Feb 2017 18:56:41 +0000

Over at American Thinker, Thomas Lifson has a very astute analysis of how and why Trump;s nomination of Gorsuch is, in his opinion a political masterstroke and, why it presents Schumer with a lose-lose proposition. "Gorsuch nomination a lose-lose for the Democrats"

"First of all, keep in mind that the stakes in the Gorsuch nomination do not include alteration of majority control. A conservative justice would replace a conservative justice if he is confirmed. Second, remember that the filibuster is the sole legislative weapon available to the minority Democrats to halt this and any subsequent nomination. If they use the filibuster to try to stop Gorsuch, they risk Republicans using the so-called nuclear option and ending the filibuster entirely for the Supreme Court. They are in no position to object on principle, having used the nuclear option themselves to enable President Obama to fill the district and appellate courts with liberal-left judges. The most pressing concern of the Democrats is stopping Trump’s next nominee, in the expectation that another vacancy could be on the way, either through mortality or resignation."

Lifson goes on to explain how and why this presents Schumer with an impossible choice. One in which either choice bodes ill for the democrats. If he calls for a filibuster, it triggers the nuclear option which smooths the way for Trump's next nomination, when it really counts. But if Schumer doesn't filibuster, it pisses off the activist democrat base big time with entirely predictable consequences.