Harry Reid on giving President Obama fast-track authority: "Hell no"

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The Hill ‏@thehill 39s40 seconds ago
Harry Reid on giving President Obama fast-track authority: "Hell no" http://hill.cm/6mtPeeE

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid on Tuesday said he is emphatically against the new trade powers legislation that is moving through Congress.

"I have never, ever ... supported a trade agreement, and I'm not going to start now," the Nevada Democrat told reporters. "So the answer is not only no, but hell no."

Reid said that he won't be actively trying to sink the trade bill, but added that "Ron Wyden knows how I feel."

Wyden should "slow this thing down a little bit,” Reid said.

read: http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/239550-reid-im-a-hell-no-on-trade-bill

[Sherman A1]

1. K&R!

[SamKnause]

2. K&R

Give em hell Harry !!!!!!!!!!!

[MissDeeds]

3. Thank you, Harry!

K&R

[mopinko]

4. harry unchained?

[Enthusiast]

5. K&R! This post should have hundreds of recommendations!

Way to go, Harry!

[Dont call me Shirley]

6. Thank you, Harry.

[PoliticAverse]

7. "Reid said that he won't be actively trying to sink the trade bill". n/t

[appal_jack]

14. i.e.- Kabuki Theater

Any Senator saying "Hell NO" should be threatening a filibuster.

Anything else is empty rhetoric.

k&r for every bit of fight we can muster though,

-app

[MADem]

17. Explain how Harry can make that happen, please. Who will support him in that endeavor?

Which Senator should he pick to read from Dr. Seuss?

[appal_jack]

18. You want me to explain to you how a Senator might mount a filibuster? Really?

Really?




-app

[MADem]

21. Yeah--I want you to identify his compatriots, and how he's going to get it on the schedule..

I don't see him even making an attempt. So please--do tell us how he'd do it, and who would stand with him.

He's pushing eighty and ill, it won't be him standing and speaking for hours....so do tell us who will carry this out?

[appal_jack]

22. That's not how things worked when Reid was majority leader.

I seem to recall Republicans mounting filibusters with just a memo. Reid's response then was "Oh well, we don't have the votes to over-ride, so..."

But keep on excusing weakness and passivity on the Democrats' side, and then blaming voters for insufficient enthusiasm. I predict splendid returns in 2016 on this strategy.

-app

[MADem]

23. Reid WANTED them to make asses of themselves. Good grief, that was always obvious.

Except, apparently, to you.




He's a smart guy. He knows what sells...and what doesn't. What's clever strategy (avoiding any appearance of being an impediment in the majority OR refusing to act like an ignorant ass in the minority) to most people is apparently "weakness and passivity" to you.

[BrotherIvan]

38. See: The First Rule of Holes

[Mojorabbit]

31. He could help Bernie who is also elderly make a stand

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026549089 There is more than one way to approach this. making excuses for politicians is not one of them.

[MADem]

40. No one knows the rule book better than Harry. But even though the article called it

'kind of filibustering' it wasn't that. Not at all. Not even close. It was using the rule book to his advantage. It's a very different thing than sitting up there like a fucking idiot, reading Green Eggs and Ham.

Who's "making excuses for politicians?"

[sabrina 1]

24. 'Hell No!' is good enough for me.

[raindaddy]

8. Give em hell Harry!

[MADem]

9. A pity our man Harry didn't have more help staying "MAJORITY" leader--it would give him a bit more

say in the matter.

Funny how people who hated him and couldn't say a nice thing about the man are now cheering him on. Would that he'd gotten some of that help during the last election cycle to stay in the catbird seat. Oh well--he will, as he always does, do the best that he can.

[MaggieD]

10. That's how Dem voters roll

Sadly. Sit home because of their purity test that 99% of politicians can't pass. Then bitch when bad things happen.

[MADem]

16. When will they realize that it matters more than, say, Big Time Wrestling, or the

outcome of a reality show?

I guess we do get the government we deserve, but I wish more of us were on the "We Deserve BETTER!!!" team!

[MaggieD]

33. You nailed it

I often think, "well, dang it, we DO get the government we deserve!" But then I immediately think, dang it, we deserve better!

In my mind, we always have to deal with the political reality we find ourselves in. And the political reality just gets worse when people sit home either through apathy or some misguided notion that they will drive the party to the left by not voting.

To my way of thinking, politicians barely care about the people who DO vote for them. They care nothing for the views of the people that don't vote.

[geek tragedy]

12. Just like McConnell went from tactical genius to bumbling oaf when he became majority leader.

Everything is upside down in the Senate.

[MADem]

15. Ain't that the truth. I, myself, prefer my Democrats in the majority...and I appreciate

them when they have to make tough tactical decisions! All we can do is support them and hope for a better day after Nov 2016.

[appal_jack]

19. A principled ACTUAL fight now might help the 2016 Democratic campaigns.

It only takes one Senator to filibuster. Repubs know how to do it when they are in the minority. Do Dems?

-app

[MADem]

20. Harry's done. He's retiring at the end of his term.

When the GOP did it when they were in the minority, they were mocked and derided because it was stupid and pointless.

I don't see holding them up as an example does any good or changes any hearts and minds.

The way to fight this is to do it in the media--not by reading horse shit on the floor of the Senate.

[yeoman6987]

29. And yet after all the ridicule and laughs

The American public gave them the Senate. I think it is worth a shot to do it. What's the worse that could happen? Late night fodder? So what!

[MADem]

30. It's not our way. We're the Party of Adults, not the party of crying whiners. nt

[yeoman6987]

32. If only the voters wanted the adults in office

[MADem]

41. Too many people bought the bullshit that "there's no difference between the two parties." And they

stayed home as a consequence.

Hell, I saw that "no difference" shit being shopped HERE....by people who are real good at complaining that nothing gets done, too.

And we wonder why we end up in these fixes...?

[sabrina 1]

25. What's funny about cheering for a Politician when s/he is RIGHT and criticizing them when they are

WRONG?

What is 'funny' to me are people who cheer blindly for their favorite politicians no matter how wrong they are sometimes. And opposing politicians blindly even when they do something right.

Too bad the Leadership of the Party lost us the House and Senate.

Reid is right on this, so I'm cheering for him. When he was wrong, and he was, I did not cheer for him.

[MADem]

26. What's funny about losing the majority? Nothing.

Some folk just can't see the forest for the trees, and they find that something to be proud about.

[sabrina 1]

27. I agree, tell it to the Party Leadership. We worked hard to get that majority for nearly

a decade. The Party Leadership threw it away. '

Let's hope they don't lose us the WH also.

We would have lost more if voters didn't take matters into their own hands and save most of the Progressive seats, many not supported by the leadership.

[MADem]

28. "We" didn't work hard enough to keep it, though. nt

[sabrina 1]

35. Maybe you didn't, but I know most Dems did. Without cooperation from the

party leadership, see NJ race for Governor eg, a Blue State, where the party, and a majority of NJ elected Dems abandoned the Progressive Dem, and went further, endorsed and voted for the Republican, it wasn't easy.

Happens a lot these days, so now the grassroots won't be depending on them to support good Dems, they are doing it themselves and succeeding so far.

[MADem]

37. I work every election--local, state and federal. nt

[DefenseLawyer]

11. Avoid small planes at all costs. n/t

[bayareaboy]

13. There was this other guy named Harry...

and it seems like he was there for the America labor and decent trade back in the forties.

[Faryn Balyncd]

34. Harry needs to actively sink it. Harry needs to LEAD a FILIBUSTER of Fast Track.

It's not enough to let Wyden know how you feel.

And Wyden needs to repent and defeat the bill.




K and R. Thanks for posting.

[rhett o rick]

36. Right. He is a lame duck like the President. nm

[tritsofme]

39. Reid is grandstanding, he knows TPA will pass the Senate.

The deal President Obama negotiates deserves an up or down vote, not obstructionism.