From a New York Times Article today:
"On Capitol Hill, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, moved Thursday to vote on Mr. Obama’s proposal, in his broader deficit package, to permanently diminish Congress’s control over the federal government’s statutory borrowing limit, assuming that Democrats would break ranks and embarrass the president. Instead, Democratic leaders did a count, found they had 51 solid votes, and took Mr. McConnell up on what Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Senate majority leader, called “a positive development.”
Mr. McConnell then filibustered his own bill, objecting to a simple-majority vote and saying a change of such magnitude requires the assent of 60 senators."
Although kind of humerous, I do think it brings up some dismal pictures about the Senate. The attitude that McConnell brought to the debate seems like one of a man who is completely unwilling to compromise. In a time when the fiscal cliff is looming and we may need to raise the debt ceiling again by January or February, Sen. McConnell had to resort to back tracking in his own political games.
Compromise is so essential in getting things done, especially in a divided congress like we have. It can be dangerous to have politicians that have to constantly resort to filibustering threatening filibusters in a time when we desperately need to get things done. Keep in mind that McConnell is the same guy who stated 4 years ago that he wanted to make President Obama a one-term president.
How do you think congress should actually compromise? Is the filibuster and issue that should be looked at and reformed?
6 comments:
Sure, political gamesmanship is a problem in American government today. Sure, it seems unrealistic to need 60 votes to get something passed in the senate rather than a simple majority. Sure, in a hyper-partisan time, filibuster reform is important, but you know what else I think is important? The media not focusing on this sort of political “drama” as much.
There is so much worry right now about the fiscal cliff, and rightfully so. In a time like this, the media should be using their power to try and enlighten us, not amp up the drama factor by unearthing controversial quotes from Senator McConnell. Though this may seem like an overly-idealist view, the media should be describing this problem in a way that is easy to understand and talk about different viewpoints and potential solutions. This is what Americans need right now, in a time of extreme political polarization—to get more than the single-senator political drama story, but to gain a deeper understanding of the issues our country is facing.
I thought this was, if anything, a clever move by McConnell to garner more support for Obama's proposal, but as Carly said, games like these are certainly not appropriate during a time of such worry towards the impending fiscal cliff. Also, I doubt that a filibuster would do much to genuinely win the votes of more Senators, as the additional Senators who would halt the filibuster through cloture would not be directly supporting the bill, but simply voting to end the bothersome filibuster. During such difficult economic times where all the nation needs is progress and legislation to be passed, a filibuster to promote unity over a proposal is not what the nation needs. Overall, a clever move by McConnell, but hardly appropriate.
I completely agree with Carly and Samantha in that the media should not be focusing as much on McConnell's drama as they obviously are. I understand that these media outlets need the "ratings" that comes with stories filled with drama, but nonetheless, I would like to see some actual political commentary. Analysis of how we can avoid the fiscal cliff would be nice to see, but maybe I'm being a little too ambitious. Maybe the majority of Americans are attracted to these "drama" stories that have little to nothing to do with actual politics, and thus, the media has an obligation to these people to publish these stories. I hope this is not the case. I hope that most Americans realize that this McConnell story should not be given so much attention, especially in the critical legislative period that we are in right now...
I again believe with Carly, Samantha, and Brandon. Right now I feel that the media keeps focusing on little arguments and silly drama. To be honest, from the news I have been watching lately, it seems that the way they are portraying the government right now is quite like high school drama. The media keeps pinpointing individuals and focusing on things that are not as important. Though what McConnell did was smart on his part but not helpful to the overall cause, what Americans need right now is a media that is going to actually provide depth in a situation and not just schoolyard drama. There should be an emphasis on the major issues at hand and how the two parties can get past their differences and solve the issues at hand.
I think that's hilarious but it must be pretty embarrassing for Mr. McConnell. I think it's poor judgment of him to call for a vote on something he actually didn't want to pass, especially when he is in the minority party. He was basically asking to be laughed at. As for the bill, I don't think the government should just keep on raising their debt ceiling. It defeats the purpose of having a ceiling to begin with. I don't want the economy to collapse from taxes (if that really would happen) but at this rate the deficit will never go down.
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