The Senate Has Essentially Shut Down

[applegrove]

The Senate Has Essentially Shut Down

May 13, 2019 at 4:51 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 39 Comments

https://politicalwire.com/2019/05/13/the-senate-has-essentially-shut-down/


"SNIP....

David Bernstein: “Barring something unexpected, this Tuesday will mark two months since the U.S. Senate held a roll call vote on passage of any type of legislation. That was a joint resolution to nullify President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the Mexican border (which Trump later vetoed).”

“It’s been three months, as of Sunday, since the Senate last took yeas and nays on a genuine, full-fledged bill: the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act. It passed, 92 to 8, and was later signed into law.”

“So there was some eye-rolling last week when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell harshly criticized House Democrats, telling them to ‘move on’ from investigating the Trump administration, and get back to the business of legislating for the country… The United States Senate, that great deliberative body, has effectively ceased legislating this year. It has shut down. Closed for business until 2021.”

.....SNIP"

[applegrove]

1. No doubt the Senate is shut down because democrats won the House.

[UniteFightBack]

2. Well you can't have a live body if you have a dead head. nt

[Perseus]

17. Excellent!

Very well put.

[erronis]

23. And a dead heart.

I'm not sure what keeps those occupants alive. It can't be normal red blood. Is there some body-snatching going on here?

[malaise]

3. The turtle is a disgrace

to the Senate

[Freethinker65]

5. Nope. They are open for business to rubber stamp conservative lifetime judicial appointments

[lagomorph777]

48. You are correct: McConnell is conducting only dirty business.

[gratuitous]

6. Some eye-rolling at Mitch McConnell? Boy, that had to hurt the guy

I wonder why the national media haven't quite picked up on the Senate's empty schedule? Instead, they parrot McConnell's "case closed" nonsense, listen to bobble-throated slapdick Tom Cotton, and pretend that every other Senate Republican isn't actively selling out the country and its citizens by their supine acceptance of the Trump administration's shenanigans.

[orangecrush]

39. EXCELLENT points.

[brush]

7. I want turtleman gone as much as I do trump. He's just a trump enabler and has...

entirely too much power. All he is is a roadblock to anything worthwhile getting passed.

[Perseus]

20. If there is a God, his family business with the Chao (his wife) will be affected big time

thanks to the tariffs.

[erronis]

24. Doubt it. Chao/McTurtle are wired into dump's plans to flip the sanctions.

They know how to profit from rapid stock market moves. And dump will let many of the (R)epuglicons know when to buy/sell.

Or maybe its just coming directly from the master in USSRussia.

[barbtries]

46. wouldn't be surprised at all

if they were exempted. wasn't Ivanka's stuff exempted? the corruption is so rife and so obvious and it just goes on. i hope i live long enough to see a better day.

[spanone]

8. On orders from the don.

[Farmer-Rick]

33. Or orders of Putin

[Amaryllis]

40. Is there a difference between the two? Well, maybe so, since Putin is the puppet master.

[awesomerwb1]

9. The Dems are bad at framing things/issues

They should use the gist from the article: "Mitch McConnell and the republicans shut down the Senate months ago...etc etc...." , "no roll call votes on passage of any type of legislation since".....

"If they don't want to fulfill the duties they were elected for they need to step aside and let us Democratic elected officials work for our constituents"..... etc etc.

[ehrnst]

19. Maybe you missed this?

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2019/05/07/nancy_pelosi_to_mitch_mcconnell_the_case_is_not_closed_on_mueller.html

[awesomerwb1]

30. You provided -one- example which had nothng to do with my post about framing an issue.

[ehrnst]

31. I don't understand...

What is it you are looking for, then?

[Panich52]

10. McConnell shut it down decade ago.

The only thing he uses it for is destroying a rational federal judiciary.

[BigmanPigman]

11. Ditto!

[Saviolo]

12. Mitch McConnell is the gravedigger of democracy.

I've said this before, and it only ever gets more true:

As long as he's getting what he wants, he's going to keep going. If Trump's voted out, he'll continue to obstruct as he did with Obama. He rushed dozens and dozens of judge nominations through when he knew he could get his friends from the Federalist Society on the bench, and withheld nominations for years under Obama until there was a shortage and a crisis. This is all in addition to his blatant theft of Merrick Garland's seat on the SCOTUS.

He's super rich, insanely powerful, completely out of touch with any constituency that doesn't include other extremely wealthy and powerful people like himself. He will actively harm the poor, women, POC, LGBTQ+, and immigrants, because none of those people even exist in any meaningful way for him. They're (we're) an abstraction. He will suppress votes, gerrymander, lie, cheat, block Senate votes, obstruct, whatever he thinks he needs to do to give his party the tiniest edge. Not even because he believes in the party, but because it will keep him in power.

[kimbutgar]

25. He needs a microscope on him to expose that he is a destroyer of democracy

The Democrats should start like yesterday to highlight how McConnell doesn’t care about the people of Kentucky and he uses his power to advance his own interests. And he is the one who kept President Obama from talking about Russian interference in our election. An intent reporter could win a Pulitzer if he investigated the traditional Mitch. Go deep down and start from the beginning, find out why he left the navy so abruptly.

Destroy him like he’s destroying our democracy.

[Quemado]

49. As Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires, so is the Senate the graveyard of democracy

Time to get rid of it.

[ETStevens]

13. Why do we not see Democratic Senators calling out McConnell to his face?

If it happens, I rarely see it.

I have hated this Asshole for many years, but when he blamed President Obama for Russian interference and said, "maybe if we had leadership more like Ronald Reagan and less like Jimmy Carter", when it was HE who blocked Obama from going public in 2016, I would have been hard pressed not to lunge at him.

He should be ruthlessly attacked by all Democrats!

[Evolve Dammit]

14. Totally agree. Moscow Mitch. How much cash was funneled his way? Traitor.

[ehrnst]

18. Agree that Democrats aren't calling him out?

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2019/05/07/nancy_pelosi_to_mitch_mcconnell_the_case_is_not_closed_on_mueller.html

[ETStevens]

21. How about this:

McConnell is a traitior, who got Russian money and is a key part of the coverup. THAT is true and forceful!

[ehrnst]

32. So nothing other than a Democratic leader accusing McConnell of "being a traitor"

will make you happy? How about pistols at dawn?

[ehrnst]

16. I guess you don't see it, because it's there.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2019/05/07/nancy_pelosi_to_mitch_mcconnell_the_case_is_not_closed_on_mueller.html?jwsource=cl

[liberal N proud]

15. republicans are killing democracy

[VOX]

22. Dereliction of duty.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

26. McConnell is 77.

Maybe Jesus will send him home.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

27. Do nothing, the Republian motto

[Ohiogal]

28. Dock their pay!

No work, no pay!

[FakeNoose]

45. Yep - their paychecks & benefits should be cancelled

Retroactively!

[The Wizard]

29. The Senate has been an enemy

of democracy since McConnell became Republican leader.

[patphil]

34. My first attempt to reply went into lala land.

But basically I said that I don't think the Republican Senate has a clue how to legislate.
They are too busy kissing Trump's ass and worrying about how his base will judge them.

[applegrove]

37. They know very well how to legislate. They are trying to not govern or make

things better. Plus not legislating protects the crown Prince, Sen Marco Rubio, from having to do anything that could go on his record so he can be the 5th dyslexic in a row to be President for the Republicans.

[AllaN01Bear]

35. i want the entire upper repubican crust of the senate , the entire executive

branch , and some of the u.s supreme ct impeached . the entire lot good bye alvetersain. adeau. poof.

[tclambert]

38. They're still approving judges.

[Wounded Bear]

41. They sure as shit have been busy 'approving' Trump appointees...

to courts and to positions in the government.

The damage will take decades to fix...if we get the chance.

[dlk]

42. Mitch McConnell Burned Senate Norms to the Ground

He is, as Pelosi has said, the grim reaper.

[Marcuse]

43. That's because a hibernating turtle can still breathe through his asshole.

https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2325/is-it-true-turtles-breathe-through-their-butts/|Many species have a pair of sacs (bursae) opening off the cloaca (combined digestive and urogenital chamber). These are heavily vascularized to facilitate the uptake of oxygen.

[anarch]

44. they're no longer needed; we have a King now...

all they have to do is keep the lights on and approve his judges; the rest of the time they can go schmooze with their campaign supporters and "friends from industry" and such.

[cp]

47. McTurdle is the Worst person and/or alien life form (apologies to ALFs)

And every Republican Senator is the Treason caucus, wrecking our country.
We gotta take back the Senate in 2020.