Robert Parry: The Ultra-Radical Republicans

[babylonsister]

The Ultra-Radical Republicans

By Robert Parry
February 13, 2009

Sixteen years ago, when another new Democratic President was trying to enact an economic package, the Republicans were entrenched in opposition, too. But there was a striking difference between those Republicans and today’s: the 1993 Republicans still showed some respect for democracy.

In the Senate, Minority Leader Bob Dole whipped 100 percent of his troops into line opposing President Bill Clinton’s “deficit reduction plan.” With the help of six Democrats, Dole managed to deny Clinton a majority on the bill and forced Vice President Al Gore to break the 50-50 tie.

Yet what’s remarkable about that 1993 case – at least in contrast to today – is that Dole and his Republicans did not filibuster Clinton’s economic package. If they had, they almost surely would have killed it, since Clinton would have had little chance of mustering a 60-vote super-majority.

In those “old days” – covering all of U.S. history except for the present – the filibuster was reserved for disputes over core principles (i.e. Southern senators fighting to protect segregation in the 1950s and 1960s) or for issues that were particularly sensitive to one of the parties (i.e. in 1991, Dole blocked a full investigation into President George H.W. Bush’s role in secret deals with Iran).

Otherwise, most legislation passed the Senate and the House by majority votes. It wasn’t always easy but that’s how democracy worked. The voters sent their representatives to Congress and simple majorities enacted the vast bulk of the people’s business.

Even as recently as 2006, this principle held sway as a bipartisan group, called the “Gang of 14,” agreed to block filibusters of President George W. Bush’s right-wing judicial appointments, except in “extraordinary circumstances.” That agreement enabled Bush to push through the Supreme Court nomination of Samuel Alito despite 42 senators voting against such a radical choice.

It wasn’t until the Republicans lost their majorities in the House and Senate in 2007 that today’s promiscuous use of the filibuster (or threats to launch a filibuster) became a regular feature of the U.S. Senate, so much so that many reporters covering Congress now act as if it’s always been this way.

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http://www.consortiumnews.com/2009/021309.html