Hans von Spakovsky
The Foundry
Heritage.org
3/13/2014
The latest salvo in the Senate’s procedural war was fired yesterday when Senator Chuck Grassley (R—Iowa) introduced a resolution to limit abuse of the cloture rule—a practice frequently employed by Sen. Harry Reid (D–Nev.). Grassley was joined by at least 25 other GOP senators in sponsoring the “Stop Cloture Abuse Resolution.”
Most Americans have a limited understanding about the use of cloture in the Senate. Indeed, any familiarity with cloture comes from the claim that Republicans have been filibustering the president’s nominees. Taking advantage of this misconception, Reid recently barreled through a change in the cloture rule. As a result of Reid’s gambit, ending debate and a filibuster on executive branch nominees now only requires 51 votes; previously, 60 votes were needed.
In the past, cloture motions were usually filed only after a nomination or a bill had been debated on the floor of the Senate and members wanted to end the debate. Sen. Reid, however, has been filing cloture motions on bills and nominations the moment the Senate takes them up—before a single word has been spoken or any amendments have been proposed or discussed.
In other words, Reid has been filing cloture motions to prevent debate, not end it…
The article continues at Heritage.org
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Update: “He is a menace and a destructive force” – Mark Levin RIPS Harry Reid over Climate Scam remarks… (audio)
Last night Mark Levin had a great show, talking about how the Left never stops in trying to control our lives which amounts, leaving only devastation in their wake. If you missed it I highly recommend you download his podcast from last night. It’s simply too much to post here but it is well worth the listen.
But what I did want to post Levin’s rippage of Harry Reid over remarks he made in the Climate Scam all-nighter they had on Monday night. It’s fantastic…
