In 2005 then-Sen. Barack Obama said, I rise today to urge my colleagues to think about the implications of what has been called the nuclear option... [I]f the majority chooses to end the filibuster, if they choose to change the rules and put an end to democratic debate, then the fighting, the bitterness, and the gridlock will only get worse. … I fear the partisan atmosphere in Washington will be poisoned to the point where no one will be able to agree on anything. That does not serve anybodys best interest, and it certainly is not what the patriots who founded this democracy had in mind. The talk of the nuclear option is more about power than about fairness. In 2005 then-Sen. Joe Biden said, This is the single most significant vote any one of us will cast… This nuclear option is ultimately an example of the arrogance of power. It is a fundamental power grab by the majority party... designed to change the reading of the Constitution…It is nothing more or nothing less. In 2005 Sen. Harry Reid said: The threat to change Senate rules is a raw abuse of power and will destroy the very checks and balances our Founding Fathers put in place to prevent absolute power by any one branch of government. ... The filibuster is not a scheme and it certainly isnt new. … Its part of the fabric of this institution we call the Senate. …the filibuster has been employed hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of times. Its been employed on legislative matters, its been employed on procedural matters relating to the presidents nominations for Cabinet and sub-Cabinet posts, and its been used on judges for all those years. The roots of the filibuster are found in the Constitution and in our own rules.
Posted on: Mon, 25 Nov 2013 14:43:42 +0000
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