Longtime Congress watcher TPM Reader JB chimes in …
A couple of things for you to consider in the wake of the President’s speech to Congress tonight:
First, though I worked in the House of Representatives only briefly and a long time ago, I’m pretty sure Rep. Wilson exposed himself to a motion of censure tonight. But judge for yourself: House Decorum
On a different issue, involving the other body, it was customary for a couple of hundred years for Senators to argue, and vote, against bills they opposed without seeking to obstruct their passage. This wasn’t merely a matter of tradition; all sorts of legislative issues broke down on regional rather than partisan lines, for instance, and using Senate rules to their fullest extent on every bill one opposed meant that nothing one favored would ever get passed. On issues of the most monumental significance — the civil rights legislation of the 1960s is an obvious example — the custom was honored in the breach, but this was the exception.
As the Senate has become more like the House in recent years, this custom has faded. Senators know that in today’s campaign environment, merely voting against a bill will not appease interests that oppose it; therefore, every thing that can be done to prevent that bill’s passage within the rules and the law must be done. Very well — you’d have to expect former Congressmen particularly to act as if they were still in the House serving two year terms and always up for reelection.
There are several Republican Senators, though, who don’t come from that background. Some of them are nearing the end of their careers. No doubt Senators like Richard Lugar (R-IN) and George Voinovich (R-OH) will dislike several provisions of whatever health care reform bill makes it to the Senate floor. They might feel they have to argue against the whole bill, and vote against it. But why would they seek to prevent it from being voted on by the full Senate?
That question has an answer, for sure, but it’s also a question that hasn’t been asked. Maybe it should be. Specifically, maybe the Obama administration should send out one of its people, ideally a longtime member of the Senate, and ask it. Getting to 60 votes with a bill health reform bill President Obama is happy with will be tough. It seems worth it to try to find a way to get a bill through with less than 60 that doesn’t depend completely on Olympia Snowe.
