Your US Senate at “work”
Just thought you should be reminded of what the do-nothing Dems are up to:
The US Senate is holding special one man sessions throughout Christmas and the New Year to prevent President George W. Bush from making appointments without the approval of the Democratic majority.
With the bang of a gavel, Democratic Senator Jim Webb declared the first session open on Sunday morning before closing it seconds later, without any of his colleagues present in the hall.The brief ceremony will be repeated every two to three days until January 18, when lawmakers resume their work after the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
The Democratic majority is staging the move to avoid any formal recess for Congress extending over several days. A recess would allow Bush to appoint ambassadors, judges and other top posts without seeking a Senate confirmation for his nominations.
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Jerks!
The Senate that works best is the one that works least. Fire all these fatted swine! We’re not in need a full-time legislative body, especially one so addicted to our money.
Seriously, though. When will these clowns actually do what the Constitution demands of them?
Better still, when will the voters begin demanding it?
As I said, Jerks!
…and one so consumed with their self-importance.
Fascinating…
We should remember this trick…
Never being one who wants to correct but it is:
The Democrat majority.
I was reprimanded for calling them Democratic and rightly so.
Michelle - I’m glad you put quotations marks around “works” in your title. Most of these so-called “Public servants” have never so much as held an honest job in their entire lives. An honest, hard-day’s work would probably put them in the hospital after a physical breakdown. No way they could suffer a mental breakdown.
I still think the few true conservatives amongst the Senate should take the Dems up on this. They should show up - and when Senator Webb gavels the session open, they demand action on bills. Since there would be more conservatives than Dems…guess what would happen.
Not sure of the Senate rules though exactly what would happen.
Note - I said true Conservatives (not most of the R’s who really couldn’t spell conservative if they had to, let alone be one.)
I actually saw this live on C-SPAN this morning. This entire Congressional session, from start to finish, has been a dog and pony show meant to raise money for Democrats in ‘08 cycle by embarrassing the President at every opportunity. That is all this is about, giving the campaign committees in both chambers lots of good copy for their fundraising letters to their MoveOn, Code Pink whacko idiot un-American base of support.
They also believe that we are all too stupid to see through this legislative charade.
Allahpundit-style exit question:
Are we collectively dumb enough for their strategies to work, or will this hurt them in the general election?
Now that is a contraction in terms: “US Senate” and “work”.
And it has backfired for all but the truly unhinged of the far-left.
A plumber lays pipe. An electrician wires. Our political class, they’re all liars. They produce nothing of worth, nothing to inspire. The fruits of their labor, we all bear until we retire. And even then the laws only multiply until we die.
It’s too bad that the republicans can’t counter with some kind trick of their own in response - such as bringing some number of members back to introduce some legislation or whatever, and then having it pass with only one outnumbered democrat present, or forcing them all to return while on vacation and vote the measure down.
I have no idea what that might be or what could be accomplished, but it would be a great way to counter what they are doing.
Yep. The Democrats should be forced to wear their kooky base as an albatross around their necks in the general election campaign, just as they are hoping to throw the drowning Republicans an anvil, President Bush/Iraq War DISASTER. That anvil ain’t as heavy as it once was, and getting lighter all the time.
It would be such a treat to watch all of the libs hysterical flailing the past year or two boomerang right back at them , right when it’s voting time!
Can’t wait for that!
A group of Republicans should show up every single day just in case and when they gavel it into session demand a “Quorum” be called … once that is done they could use a number of “tricks” themselves that could result in stopping this nonsense.
After they did this just one time the Dems would be afraid to call the session and they would effectively stop and the President could do whatever he wanted.
Other wise, I think the President should just go ahead and make the appointments on a day they are not pulling this BS and let the courts sort it out later.
That would at least keep the Dems tied up with trying to challenge his actions so they could have less time to push more of their socialistic BS.
Faux News Alert!!!
Meanwhile the surgery was a success.
“caption”
“Look what the pulled out of my rump!”
no film available, thank goodness
Harry Reid accomplishes as much of the people’s business in these 8 second sessions as he does the remainder of the year – zero.
You have to give them credit for figuring out this sneaky maneuver to keep Bush from doing anything because they have failed to beat him at just about everything else they’ve tried to pull.
I’m not happy with the move because Bush could have appointed a good judge or two that the SOB liberals had been blocking. On the other hand it shows just how desperate and childish the Dems have to be in order to make it look like they are in control.
Hey Nancy & Harry….Are you proud of yourselves now?????
The White House could send Darth Cheney! He is the President of the Senate after all, maybe there is some parliamentary power his presence could provide to the executive branch.
He also could tell Jim Webb to go do some things to himself that are still illegal in half the states
This, of course, will not garner coverage on the MSM.
What a bunch of pusilaminous stooges.
As mentioned earlier, a republican should show up and call for a quorum.
What goes around, will come around again
The sad thing about his childish move is that I bet they will run around pounding their empty chests claiming to the base that this was brilliant.
How can anyone with an ounce of self respect or human decency associate with the Democrat party? That party is noting but total slime and utter garbage.
This is typical political stunts and I hope everyone remembers that both sides pull this sort of nonsense. This is a great example of the cynicism that politicians on both sides show not necessarily the Democrats only. This is the sort of environment that we have now where even appointments need to be challenged so that there is an ever growing game of political gamesmanship.
I pointed out to folks that I personally was in favor of the Gang of 14 and many claimed that we should have fought. Well, keep in mind that fighting means pulling stunts like this and I have no doubt the Democratic base is very happy with this stunt.
This sort of thing doesn’t bother me that much.
If anyone wants to see total and complete incompetence on the part of the legislature, then they really only need to look at the AMT. This is an issue that affects millions in their wallets and it is due entirely to the incompetence. This isn’t merely a stunt. This is out and out incompetence and opportunism and as a result millions of hard working Americans get stuck with stealth tax bills.
Here is how I wrote about the AMT.
This is the last paragraph in the AP story. I hereby nominate this as the funniest quote of the year.
Beautiful.
There is slime..
and then there are the Dems of the 3rd Millenium.
No offense to slime everywhere for any inferences one might draw from this comment..
Notice also that they called Jim Webb of Virginia to do this goof-ball stunt. Nice and close to the Capitol. Why is Dingy Harry not there? Where are Boxer and Fienstien (sp?)?
Oh, almost forgot. DC in on the other side of the nation. Can’t waste too many fossil fuels, now, can we?
I say it for the third time in this thread: JERKS!
Wow, isn’t Jim Webb important?
Am I missing something here? What allows a single Senator to open the day and close it without a quorum present? And if the rules allow a single Senator to open and close, what keeps the a few Republicans from actually showing up and voting to end the session?
I know that this is political theater but I would hope that our President would have a couple of lawyers look over the rules and then call their bluff by making recess appointments regardless of whether some Senator shows up to open and close the day session.
Look at the legislative accomplishments of all the senators who are running for President (ok, Edwards and Thompson used to be among the elite Senate). Just what have Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Dodd, Biden, Thompson and McCain actually done that helped the country? I see McCain has been in Detroit bad mouthing US automakers and pushing the goracle’s message. He drives a Caddy, his wife a Lexus, but daughter has a Prius. And he has dumped his big house for a rental. Of course he also retains a house in N. Arizona. I’m not picking on McCain- hypocrites like Edwards have been talked about plenty. I’d like to know why any member of the pompous, arrogant Senate club should be qualified to be President? I recently looked at what I thought was a more sensible liberal blog and see that Kirsten Powers is gloating over Guliani’s poll woes. http://powers-point.com If the leftists are touting Huckabee and McCain and bashing Romney and Guliani, what could be the reason? Do they perhaps believe that their choices are more easily defeated or even that McCain and Huckabee would be good, compromising (read:kiss Teddy K’s fat asp) Rinos if somehow elected?
Anyway, just what has this Congress accomplished, other than raising minimum wage? Let’s impeach Bush and Hillary to see just what a woman Prez (Pelosi) is made of at last.
Webb is low man on the totem pole… jr senator…
We may return the favor someday.
Figures it would be Jim “hot head” Webb.
Unfortunately, Mike Volpe is right - the Republicans are guilty of this same kind of garbage. Maybe not to the same base low level, but of the same trash can.
Thing is though, true conservatives wouldn’t have to resort to this nonsense, in the battle of ideas, conservatism is the winning idea. ALWAYS HAS BEEN, ALWAYS WILL BE.
That’s the question I wonder about, and brought up last time. Why couldn’t one Republican be there, and ask for the floor? Once there, he can call for a quorum.
My guess is it’s because they don’t want to fight this fight, either because Bush has no appointments he feels are worth it, or because they want to preserve the ability to use this tactic themselves, or their own vacations are more important to them.
My guess is, it’s the last.
#30 kbiel
I was wondering about the actual rules myself (not that this bunch understands or cares out the constitution…God forbid)
Could Bush find (2) Senators willing to call the bluff and show up? The result would be a 2/3 majority present to overcome any move Webb could attempt to do to block the majority vote on whatever he wanted to get through!
If you think about the possibilities, it could be fun.
Does Paranoid come to anyone’s mind?
goes around comes around
Why can’t I get a job like this? Oh wait, I forgot, I’m not rich enough or connected enough to afford a job like this. So much for that whole public “servant” thing.
I don’t fault the democrats for pulling this stunt, I fault the republicans for their failure to show up when a session is gaveled open. If the democrats are going to keep the Senate in session, republican butts need to be in their seats.
… then why is only one democrat showing up, Sanddog?
Is there no quorum of members required present for the Senate to be truly in session? I’d hardly call one a quorum out of a body of 100.
Bingo, flute. No quorum, no session. Appoint away, Mr. President, and let the Senate protest. I’d be interested in hearing the defense of this idiocy.
I didn’t know that the New Years’ Holiday lasted until January 18th!
Wow….all these years I’ve been working when I could’ve had another 2 weeks off!
….to be a Congressman….
(and don’t forget they get full pay for life when they retire, currently around $160,000/yr, since they’re not on our Social Security program)
Dims always forget, what goes around comes around. Dingy is the dumbest of them all.
I’ll bet if one were to check the bottom of their shoes, that strange odor of something stepped in would smell of Chuck Schumer. This smells of his type of politics.
The republicans could fight back, there have been a number of excellent suggestions made, but they won’t. Remember always: republicans go to Washington D.C. to make deals with democrats. With a few, very few exceptions, they will do anything to avoid offending their moral betters — which is how they view democrats.
Ever been in an marriage in which you will do anything to avoid setting the other person off, because anything can set the other person off? Republicans are married to democrats. The republican base could press for a divorce, make phone calls, jump up and down in the streets, but for the most part are quiescent and except for one or two issues here and there, do not push the Republicans to be men.
Too bad, because this is but another test of strength by the democrats. Guess what — They win.
So far as I can recall, this stunt would be the ultimate in whining.
As Bugs Bunny would say, ‘what a maroon.’
Do you suppose they will use this as a campaign issue in 08???
“the democratic party is so serious about our job that we worked straigt thru our Christms break last year”
or somthing like that.
I’ve said this before.
1) Demand a quorum call and flood the chamber. Reorganize the Senate and pass the bills and appointments.
or
2) If Webb refuses to recognize the Republicans then Bush should refuse to recognize the sham session. He should make his recess appointments and dare the Democrats to challenge him before the SCOTUS.
I must apologize to the members of this blog, Michelle, and the nation as a whole, on behalf of the conservatives in the state of Virginia, and admit that Webb is our rookie senator, who represents (cough,cough) us here. Though I personally did not vote for him, I feel shame that such a person I must acknowledge as one of my Congressmen.
Gray…no need to apologize. I come from the state that brings you lovely Maxene Waters, Nancy Pelosi, Dianne Feinstein and Barb Boxer, along with the rest of the fruits and nuts from this state.
Need I say more?
graysonret… You could have Boxer and Feinstein like me. argh
Sorry, I see that BlameAmericaLast beat me to the punch and I could wait till the last message to post. Double Argh.
For those of you who haven’t seen this video before, you might be interested in watching this compilation of quotes about Senator Webb:
Jim Webb’s Dark Ride
It doesn’t suprise me that the Do-Nothing-Senate wants to keep their 2007 record intact by doing nothing. But I’ll bet the next time they’re up for re-election, they’ll take credit for working all through the holidays for the benefit of their constituents. They’ll probably even collect overtime pay.
Jim Webb is the clown of this circus, but Harry Reid is the ringmaster. This is the same man who made the following promise about how he would lead in 2007:
His utter lack of intelligence has been transparent this past year, so I guess I’ll have to give him 1 out of 4.
Yeah, and living only 40 miles from the NV border, I have Harry Reid. Lucky me. Squeezed in by two states full of liberal idiots.
It’s because of stunts like this that Congress [English language training, I had to capitalize it] has approval ratings in the sewer. I’m almost afraid to vote for fear that I’d only be encouraging them.
I have read a lot of President Bush bashing articles on this but not a single one that talks about the failure of the Senate to do it’s job and vote on the nominations. Media bias and agenda here? You decide.
So,not only do we have a” do-nothing” Congress,we have a”don’t let
anyone else do anything either”Congress.
Who are these people,and what are they doing in my country?
My question is:
Whoi is going to be changing their diapers for them while all this is going on?
If this isn’t the biggest, most childish stunt I have ever heard of. God forbid the President of the United States be allowed to put into place people he would like to have without the do-nothing obstructionist congress and Senate making it impossible for him to do. Especially since they have made it perfectly clear with statements to the effect that they will not allow him to appoint anyone between now and when he leaves office next year. How dare Harry Reid waste not only Tax payor time and money with this stunt, but also waste peop;e’s time in the Senate who actually should be home in their districts doing what they should be doing instead of sitting in Washington for some sort of stupid political stunt for this sad, pathetic, little man who has blown his only chance at fame and real power in Washington.
There was a time when the Democrats leading the Senate was a force to be reconed with. Now, it is nothing more than watching Tutor Turle and waiting anxiously for him to cry out “Help me mr. Wizard”, and wait until they all go away and things can go back to normal and things can actually get done.
“(and don’t forget they get full pay for life when they retire, currently around $160,000/yr, since they’re not on our Social Security program)”
Umm, no. Since 1986 Congress has paid into Social Security AND has been part of the same retirement system as every other Federal employee.
http://www.opm.gov/retire/html/library/fers.asp
I followed your links, and it’s true, Congress does pay into Social Security, but they get an average of 2 to 3 times as much back when they retire. Plus they receive COLA increases every year, which ends up making their retirement pay greater than their salary in just a few years. Plus they get the following very sweet conditions on retirement that the rest of us don’t get:
I would love to get a full pension from Social Security after 25 years. I can’t even get a reduced benefit until I’m at least 62. And I certainly wouldn’t get a full pension at age 62 if I had only worked for 5 years. I pay the same percentage to Social Security as members of Congress, why can’t I get the same benefits?