How are Republicans being obstructionists if the Democrats have control of Congress?
The Democrats are accusing Republicans of obstructing the passage of the stimulus bill and tying up things in Congress so that the bill doesn’t get passed.
Yet, how can this be when the Democrats have large majorities in Congress? They don’t need the GOP to pass this thing. Or are they just trying to get the Republicans on board so that when the thing (most likely) fails to work they don’t have to take all the blame for it?
Discuss.
Cheers!
Barring the possibility of fillibusters, of course.
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Obama wants Republicans on board for “confidence” reasons pertaining to consumer confidence.
IF this thing fails after its inception it will look bad on Obama no matter who votes for it. It wont matter.
Exhibit A: war in Iraq
Do you know of any democrats that take the blame for the war in Iraq? What about republican legislators? Nope…only Bush.
The buck stops with the President…its just it is in our pop culture.
Because Obama wants to show that he’s 100% better than Bush by being bipartisan. He’s talking to the other party (something bush did maybe once) and he’s trying to get their ideas incorporated. The problem there is that the Republican party has no idea where it stands on the issue. The governors want the bill to be passed while the House Repubs voted against it. So which side is the republican party on?
Yes, the Democrats do need the GOP to pass things. Under Senate rules, even one senator can start a filibuster and block a bill. Ending a filibuster requires 60 votes, which the Democrats do not have.
Obama has tried very hard to compromise with the Republicans but they continue to deny that the American voters want a different economic policy than the one we have had for the last 8 years. What will ultimately happen is that the Democrats will now pass all the legislation they want over the next 4 years without including the Republicans.
After all, as you say, the don’t need the GOP to pass anything and they are now irrelevant.
the democrats need the republicans to hold their hand they are afraid to stand on their own 2 feet
I think they need a 60 majority in the senate.
While the House Republicans don’t have the ability to prevent the Democrats from enacting their agenda, the Senate Republicans have enough votes to filibuster (prevent cloture) on a bill under consideration.
Per Senate rules, there must be 60 votes to invoke cloture, which ends debate and discussion on a bill. Only then can the bill go to a vote. The Democrats do not have 60 votes, so if the GOP act in concert, they can filibuster the bill.
Now, whether the Senate GOP has the grit to stand against this bill is debatable. But, theoretically, they can do so. And they can hold it off until it is acceptable to them. If they can take the heat.
The bill needs 60 votes two thirds majority senate vote
The Republicans are using their filibuster to block the bill
Republicans voted 59 to 0 against the stimulus plan. What better example of obstructionists do you want?
Possibly… Politics is all about the blame game if you are the minority or majority…