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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsUgh... I Think I'm Gonna Throw Up... GOTFV
What Happens When Republicans Take the Senate?By Annie Lowrey - NYMag
10/22/14
<snip>
It seems nearly certain that Democrats will lose the Senate in two weeks, returning Congress to Republican control. The topic of conversation in Washington has now shifted to what the next two years might look like. And the short answer is, Not pretty.
Thankfully, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky who will likely become Senate majority leader has not been shy about previewing the Republican strategy. Were going to pass spending bills, and theyre going to have a lot of restrictions on the activities of the bureaucracy, McConnell told Politico. Thats something he wont like, but that will be done. I guarantee it.
Speaking with a group of donors, he was even blunter: In the House and Senate, we own the budget, he said, according to a recording obtained by The Nation. So what does that mean? That means that we can pass the spending bill. And I assure you that in the spending bill, we will be pushing back against this bureaucracy by doing whats called placing riders in the bill. No money can be spent to do this or to do that. Were going to go after them on healthcare, on financial services, on the Environmental Protection Agency, across the board.
Lets unpack what McConnell is saying. Republicans winning the Senate does not mean that they will be able to pass any legislation they like. For one, Democrats would be able to filibuster bills in the upper chamber. More important, President Obama would be able to veto any legislation that ended up on his desk something he has seen need to do just twice thus far in his presidency. In other words, Democrats would be able to obstruct most Republican legislation, and will have to compromise if they want to construct any of their own.
What could Republicans and Democrats come together on? There is a short list. Trade promotion authority easing the way for the White House to pass two gigantic new pacts under negotiation seems like a strong possibility, as does the passage of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. Corporate tax reform is less likely, but potentially doable. Republicans also might pass a pared-down version of immigration reform, expanding visas for skilled immigrants and beefing up border security without touching the thorny question of what to do with the 12 million undocumented individuals already here. Democrats might not like it, but they might find such legislation hard to filibuster or to veto.
Many other Republican priorities Democrats seem set on blocking: a 20-week abortion ban, dismantling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, gutting the Environmental Protection Agency, repealing the Affordable Care Act, block-granting Medicaid, slashing food stamps, trimming Pell Grants, and on and on. Were the Senate to try to pass stand-alone bills to accomplish any of those priorities, Harry Reid and his fellow Democrats would simply filibuster.
But theres still a way for Republicans to get those priorities onto President Obamas desk, the way that McConnell was referencing in his earlier comments. They can attach them to budget legislation and pass it through a process immune to the filibuster known as reconciliation.
Et voilà. President Obama is faced with the choice of approving a budget larded with Republican priorities he hates, or using his veto power and thus potentially shutting down the government or even precipitating another debt-ceiling crisis.
<snip>
More: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/10/what-happens-when-republicans-take-the-senate.html
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Ugh... I Think I'm Gonna Throw Up... GOTFV (Original Post)
WillyT
Oct 2014
OP
muntrv
(14,505 posts)1. C'mon, Grimes! Beat Mitch!
muntrv
(14,505 posts)2. Grimes needs to linke Obamacare with Kynnect, thus showing Mitch's pledge to
repeal Obamacare would repeal the state exchange.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)3. Looks Like She Has... Sort Of...
strawberries
(498 posts)4. it's not over
until it is over. More reasons for everyone to get out an vote
Wella
(1,827 posts)9. Thank you! We all need to get to the polls.
If you're in a state like mine where anyone can vote absentee, get that ballot in the mail!
MiniMe
(21,714 posts)5. Cruz came out with the repubs will blame the dems for obstruction if they filibuster bills
This cracked me up since the repubs have been filibustering bills for 4 years
Initech
(100,054 posts)6. If Mitch McConnell is the Senate Majority Leader we're fucked.
Go Grimes!!!!!!!
Rex
(65,616 posts)7. The desperation by the M$M paymasters has me elated!
Tells me we are going to CRUSH the GOP next month!@ CRUSH!
blue neen
(12,319 posts)8. Gloom and doom of the day.
Right on time.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)10. Really ??? - If THIS Doesn't Get One To Vote... I Don't Know What Will...
Or do you just like happy talk ?