TPM Reader SM asks just what serious consequences Harry Reid can possibly threaten …
If you guys will keep my name out of this (used to work in DC, probably will again), I have some thoughts and questions I wanted to share.
What am I missing on the Hagel filibuster? How has Harry Reid not screwed the pooch here?
Chuck Hagel’s confirmation was never seriously in jeopardy – if it came down to a simple majority vote on the floor of the Senate. But with key Republicans now filibustering the nomination, we’re told Harry Reid lacks the 60 votes necessary to break the filibuster. It’s an unprecedented move by either party to impose a 60-vote threshold on a key cabinet position like secretary of defense. Reid took to the Senate floor to decry the move this morning, but the unspoken subtext of his speech was that he doesn’t have the votes to overcome the GOP filibuster. Hagel’s fate is not sealed yet, but as of right now, the votes are simply not there. So something will have to change.
Reid warns of “serious consequences” if Republicans filibuster Hagel.
TPM Reader PT asks whether Rubio or Republicans at large are able to propose anything more than abstractions.
I don’t think that any of the commentary on the SOTU and its response has quite grasped the point which came home to me sometime this morning: that because of its ideology, the Republican Party is reduced to arguing against the Democratic Party policies, and for its own, entirely on the basis of abstractions.
For a promotional video that was eventually never shown, the Tea Party group FreedomWorks got two female interns to impersonate then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and a Giant Panda having sex.
It looks like the Geraldo for Senate campaign may be over.
The Obama administration is shooting down a new NRA ad which claims administration has a secret plan for gun confiscation and a national gun registry.
To counter the President’s push for gun regulation, NRA chief Wayne LaPierre presses the needs for assault weapons for the danger Americans face from Latin American drug gangs, hurricanes, riots after the coming collapse of the American economic system and terrorists.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court justice who was allegedly grabbed around the neck in her chambers by a fellow justice has broken her public silence.
The NRA’s Wayne LaPierre lets loose with another howl from his bunker.