The Broken Congress. Who is truly responsible.

[Siete]

.

The system.

Because of a system that no one seems to want to change, these professional politicians are far more preoccupied with fundraising and re-election than with anything else. They are under the influence of something other than the best interests of those they represent.

But, no one appears to be interested in fixing the system.

Thus, WE are responsible for this.

So, tough shit.

.

Aye ... +1

 

[Mustang]

One person.

Harry Reid.


It's not that phantom boogeyman of the left, the "Tea Party". They don't have control of the legislative process.

Harry Reid does.

Harry's rules: Reid dominates crippled Congress - Washington Times

Harry Reid is one of 100 senators, but so far in 2014, he’s been responsible for one-third of all the amendments proposed on the Senate floor — a number that underscores just how much one man has come to dominate the legislative process.

::::::::

His control has been of incalculable benefit to both Mr. Obama, who is able to avoid embarrassing legislative rebukes, and to Senate Democrats, who are sometimes able to avoid having to take tough votes that could cost them the support of voters back home.

:::::::

Since the beginning of this year, Republicans have been granted roll-call votes on just seven amendments, or an average of one per month. Democrats are doing even worse, at just five.

By contrast, in the House, where the minority is supposed to be at an even bigger disadvantage, there have been roll-call votes on 163 amendments, and a majority of those have been on proposals from Democrats.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas Democrat, has had roll-call votes on nine of her amendments — or more than all 45 Senate Republicans combined. She did lose every one of those votes

Here's a suggestion. Read a book about it.

I've read better books on the subject in general, but I recommend this one because it was written as a partnership between Norman J. Ornstein from the American Enterprise Institute, and Thomas E. Mann of the Brookings Institution who are two Congressional scholars, one on the right and one on the left. They've been studying the workings of Congress for decades which means they have the benefit of years of experience, who also have seen how Congress once worked and how it no longer seems to function as an effective governing body. It's a small book of only about 225 pages, probably less once you subtract acknowledgments and appendices.


https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13622997-it-s-even-worse-than-it-looks

 

[mamooth]

There are something like 145 nominees that are out of committee and waiting for a senate vote. And the Republicans are using their allotted 4 hours of debate on every single one of them. Mind you, there's never any actual debate. The Senate just has to sit and do absolutely nothing for 4 hours. After that, the nominee is usually confirmed unanimously.

That is, the Republicans aren't blocking any nominees. They're just deliberately making it so the senate can essentially not function at all. That's 100% a Republican problem. If someone is blaming a deliberate Republican strategy on Harry Reid, it paints that person as either delusional or dishonest.

 

[rightwinger]

Here's a list which claims there are 291 bills stuck in the Senate: Bills Passed by the House

Here are some of those bills:


https://cosponsor.gov/details/hr444-113


Notice the date. This was a bill passed in the House 17 months ago. It is plainly obsolete. Continuing resolutions have been passed in the House and Senate, rendering this bill completely unnecessary and obsolete.

Why is it still being counted as Reid obstructionism? Bogus!

If you go down the list, you find a great number of such bills which are obsolete.


Look at this one: https://cosponsor.gov/details/hr3350-113



As we all know, health insurers have received a two year extension for selling policies which do not meet the ACA minimum standards. Many such bills die this way due to redundancy.


https://cosponsor.gov/details/hr1797-113



This is a ban on abortions beyond 20 weeks except in cases of rape, incest, or endangerment to the life of the mother.


https://cosponsor.gov/details/hr2231-113


Drill, baby, drill!

https://cosponsor.gov/details/hr4899-113

Love the title: LOWERING GASOLINE PRICES TO FUEL AN AMERICA THAT WORKS ACT OF 2014



Drill, baby, drill!

This one was just passed a couple weeks ago.



https://cosponsor.gov/details/hr2754-113

How many "Kill Obamacare" bills are included?

Whats wrong with that?

Polls show the majority of Americans do not favor the ACA.
Numbers show the president was wrong when he promised it would be deficit neutral.
Rates for those that do not get tax payer subsidies have increased at a much greater rate than promised.
There is an issue in being able to confirm data as it pertains to those that warrant a subsidy.
The IRS has its own "data" issues and they are the ones who are to handle the ACA.

SO is it wrong for congress to want to repeal a law that is not working as expected?

20 million people are now covered under some form of Obamacare

Republicans need to work to make it better not repeal it and replace with nothing

 

[longknife]

.

The system.

Because of a system that no one seems to want to change, these professional politicians are far more preoccupied with fundraising and re-election than with anything else. They are under the influence of something other than the best interests of those they represent.

But, no one appears to be interested in fixing the system.

Thus, WE are responsible for this.

So, tough shit.

.

The system is simple and worked well for 200 years.

The House could quickly debate and deal with any piece of legislation it wished.

The Senate was clearly more obstructionist with a few being able to smother or prolong debate upon any and all matters.

Then, along came Harry Reid and his cohorts. On his own whim, he "pockets" legislation from the House without ever letting it come up for debate. Then, when he does decide to allow something to be voted upon, the rules he changes no longer permits the minority to force debate and when, it is voted upon, the minority has no chance of delaying it.

This is NOT what the Founding Fathers and millions of others laid their lives on the line for.

 

[longknife]

Only Harry Reid blocks legislation. John Boehner NEVER does that.

291 House bills stuck in the Senate.......thanks to Senator Palpatine Reid, the subhuman roadblock.

Bills Passed by the House

Find me a list of 291 Senate bills waiting on Boehner.

How many of those are bills to repeal ObamaCare? Around 40 by now, isn't it?

How many others are similar gigantic wastes of time?


Why is Boehner blocking immigration reform?

What the hell about immigration needs to be reformed?

There are laws on the books dealing with the subject - but Obama and his administration refuses to uphold and enforce them.

The only reform immigration needs comes from replacing the Chief Executive and his minions who are criminally ignoring them.