The media needs to get the story right: A Republican minority is subverting the will of the majority

[marmar]

from OurFuture.org:



Subverting Majority Rule
Submitted by Robert Borosage on September 20, 2007 - 12:38pm.


The Republican obstruction campaign continues. Yesterday, the Republican minority in the Senate filibustered and blocked two measures that had majority support in the House, and bipartisan majority support in the Senate. Republicans continue to filibuster at a pace three times anything ever seen before, in a systematic effort to block popular reforms.

Fifty-six Senators, including six Republicans, supported the resolution offered by Sen. James Webb, D-Va., and Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., to guarantee the soldiers fighting in Iraq adequate home rotations. This sensible bill – vital to the mental health and readiness of the soldiers on the front line – was blocked because the remaining Republican senators lined up with their leadership to filibuster it.

Similarly, 56 Senators, including six Republicans, supported the legislation introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Sen. Arlen Spector, R-Pa., to restore the fundamental right of court review for those detained under suspicion of terrorism. Once more the will of the bipartisan majority was subverted by the filibuster strategy of a partisan minority.

Republicans are filibustering so many bills that the press has begun to cover this extreme tactic as business as usual. The front-page Washington Post story covering the Webb proposal is headlined “Senate bill short of sixty votes needed.” The article says the proposal “failed on a 56 to 44 vote, with 60 votes needed for passage.” The article never tells the reader that the reason majority rule was frustrated was because of a Republican filibuster that requires 60 votes to overcome.

The New York Times coverage – “GOP minority prevails” is the subtitle – was somewhat better. In its fourth paragraph, the article reports that the proposal “fell four votes short of the 60 needed to prevent a filibuster.” In fact, the 60 votes are needed to overcome a filibuster, not prevent it. Both papers reported the filibuster correctly on the habeas corpus legislation.

It is vital that the press get this right – and that the media expose the extraordinary scope of the Republican strategy of obstruction. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, has announced that Republicans will filibuster every “controversial measure.” They are making majority rule the exception rather than the routine in the Senate. Never has any party been so brazen or systematic in using the filibuster to block the majority. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://commonsense.ourfuture.org/subverting_majority_rule?tx=3

[WCGreen]

1. Don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen....

Well, they wouldn't threaten a filibuster if they didn't have the votes so...

The problem we have is too many of our guys supported their stuff and will do it again in a New York Minute if, god forbid, the GOP wins control of the Senate...

[Bitwit1234]

2. This is what they are trying to do..

They want to obstruct everything this congress does so they can get republicans elected in 2008. To them it doesn't make any difference about the country, we have seen that the last seven years. All they want to do is make bush look good. If the bills passed and bush vetoed them, then what do you think the public would know. This way they are throwing all the blame on the democrats in congress,,,WITH THE HELP OF THE MEDIA.

[AuntPatsy]

3. So how is that working out for them? Regardless of what the msm throws out there

any more I think they have lost the majority of citizens trust, perhaps they continue to watch them for pure entertainment value but do you honestly believe they hold sway with the majority considering they no longer have the trust of the majority?