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Goodheart

(5,264 posts)
Sat Dec 22, 2018, 02:12 PM Dec 2018

My prediction: McConnell will go nuclear.

And the Senate will forever have lost its dignity as a deliberative body.

I just don't see how a supreme narcissist could ever admit to being wrong. And I can't see, either, how wise or moderate voices could ever have more sway over him than do fawning idiots like Limbaugh and Ingraham and Hannity, who as rich people have little if anything to lose by a government shutdown.

This will be a long disaster, but in desperation McConnell will sacrifice the Senate.

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My prediction: McConnell will go nuclear. (Original Post) Goodheart Dec 2018 OP
It's not just his decision. Low odds. Nt BootinUp Dec 2018 #1
The odds will grow with each passing day. Goodheart Dec 2018 #2
is it legal if budget is involved? i thought i heard it wasnt samnsara Dec 2018 #3
The Senate can make its own rules. Goodheart Dec 2018 #4
And those rules can Wellstone ruled Dec 2018 #11
I think the odds actually just grew that we may get 20 for removal. roamer65 Dec 2018 #5
I just made that point in another post. I agree! Goodheart Dec 2018 #6
Especially when polling shows they are going to lose their jobs. roamer65 Dec 2018 #16
I suspect he doesn't have the votes to pass such a rule change. tblue37 Dec 2018 #7
I think you are correct- Senate only has 48 votes for rule change which falls short of majority wishstar Dec 2018 #12
current Senate is too tight qazplm135 Dec 2018 #8
No. He doesn't have the GOP votes to change the rules, even if he wanted to, and he doesn't. highplainsdem Dec 2018 #9
How often have we heard that before...? regnaD kciN Dec 2018 #20
The filibuster has no value in 12 days so he would need a lot of pressure to kill it. LonePirate Dec 2018 #10
A hell of a lot of the votes he needs to make a rule change know THEY will need the rule in 2 years RockRaven Dec 2018 #15
The filibuster will have no value in 12 days, because we'll have guaranteed gridlock... regnaD kciN Dec 2018 #19
He needs a majority. He doesn't have one unblock Dec 2018 #13
I dare him to and once repukes do standingtall Dec 2018 #14
Yes!!!! populistdriven Dec 2018 #18
I hope so, make it that much easier to delete everything Trump and GOP did populistdriven Dec 2018 #17
I can't see it. Adrahil Dec 2018 #21
He doesn't have the votes. bitterross Dec 2018 #22
I don't think he'll do it. ReformedGOPer Dec 2018 #23

Goodheart

(5,264 posts)
2. The odds will grow with each passing day.
Sat Dec 22, 2018, 02:14 PM
Dec 2018

On the plus side, so will Republican willingness to impeach him.

 

Wellstone ruled

(34,661 posts)
11. And those rules can
Sat Dec 22, 2018, 02:26 PM
Dec 2018

and will be written by McConnell's Leadership Team. Remember the Supreme Justice Nominations,that was the same process.

Caught Schumer's speech,listen closely if you have a chance. He just teased McConnell to go that route. Schumer knows if McConnell goes there,Schumer will eat his lunch for the next two years.

roamer65

(36,739 posts)
5. I think the odds actually just grew that we may get 20 for removal.
Sat Dec 22, 2018, 02:16 PM
Dec 2018

Dump screwed the Turtle over good on this CR shitshow.

The Turtle just may release Repuke senators to vote their conscience on removal.

roamer65

(36,739 posts)
16. Especially when polling shows they are going to lose their jobs.
Sat Dec 22, 2018, 02:30 PM
Dec 2018

The main goal of any Congress critter is to get re-elected.

wishstar

(5,267 posts)
12. I think you are correct- Senate only has 48 votes for rule change which falls short of majority
Sat Dec 22, 2018, 02:27 PM
Dec 2018

Senate needs 50 votes plus Pence as tiebreaker and that hasn't happened to move forward with changing rules to approve the wall bill with just 50 instead of 60 votes since only 48 have agreed to move ahead.

Probably one reason Repubs don't like that option is because they and Trump could no longer use the wall as a political football and cannot blame Dems for the stalemate. They want to either force Dems to cave on the wall or else blame Dems for shutdown. Otherwise Repubs and Trump get blamed for the mess because people will wonder why they created all this chaos if they could have simply made a procedural change and got a majority in favor of wall funding all along during the entire past 2 years.

qazplm135

(7,447 posts)
8. current Senate is too tight
Sat Dec 22, 2018, 02:23 PM
Dec 2018

with too many fundamentally opposed to the idea. The retiring ones alone won't do it.

Then it won't matter when Dems take House.

The reality is, once the Dems take the House here shortly, a new bill will be passed for the Senate to consider, and this one will be dead...the Republican senators know that, so the hit won't be for very long.

regnaD kciN

(26,035 posts)
20. How often have we heard that before...?
Sat Dec 22, 2018, 02:36 PM
Dec 2018

That “principled, moderate” Republicans would block Trump’s wishes? How often did they wind up folding like a house of cards, when it was the only way to achieve the reich-wing wishlist? The only Republican with the guts to actually defy Trump on principle was McCain, and he’s dead.

RockRaven

(14,783 posts)
15. A hell of a lot of the votes he needs to make a rule change know THEY will need the rule in 2 years
Sat Dec 22, 2018, 02:30 PM
Dec 2018

and they're counting on running for re-election in 4 or 6. GOP Senators KNOW they'll be in the minority in 2020 or 2022 with a Dem House and Dem POTUS. Only ones who plan to retire before 2022, or very dumb ones, would be okay with losing the filibuster.

regnaD kciN

(26,035 posts)
19. The filibuster will have no value in 12 days, because we'll have guaranteed gridlock...
Sat Dec 22, 2018, 02:32 PM
Dec 2018

All the more reason for Republicans to grab all they can now, while they still have one-party rule. The after-effects of going nuclear won’t come due unless and until Democrats retake the Senate somewhere down the road.

unblock

(51,974 posts)
13. He needs a majority. He doesn't have one
Sat Dec 22, 2018, 02:28 PM
Dec 2018

Zero democrats will support it and many republicans aren't keen on it because they know they'll be in the minority in 2 or 4 years.

They're not eager to consign themselves to irrelevance at that point.

standingtall

(2,785 posts)
14. I dare him to and once repukes do
Sat Dec 22, 2018, 02:28 PM
Dec 2018

They better hope Democrats never get unified control of the government again. The first thing we should do then is repeal the 1860s law that limits supreme court justices and stack the court. Then vote to make 5 U.S. territories States giving us control over the courts for probably the next 100 years and then pass medicare for all.

 

Adrahil

(13,340 posts)
21. I can't see it.
Sat Dec 22, 2018, 02:38 PM
Dec 2018

He will not blow up the filibuster for THIS.... partial funding for a useless fucking wall 60% of the country does not want.

There is NO political advantage for him.

 

bitterross

(4,066 posts)
22. He doesn't have the votes.
Sat Dec 22, 2018, 03:05 PM
Dec 2018

Two problems there. He doesn't have the votes to do it. There are more senators retiring than he can cover with Mike Pence's tie-breaking vote.

Second problem: There are plenty of GOP senators who don't want the wall. Who think it's a stupid boon-doggle and so does their constituency. They're more than happy to stay silent in public right now and allow this to be an issue of the filibuster. They are most likely telling McTurtle in private they cannot vote to change the rules because then, they'll be on record for the wall. Which everyone outside Trump's Cult knows is a stupid thing. They don't want to have to defend their vote later to the independents and the "rational" GOP voters.

ReformedGOPer

(478 posts)
23. I don't think he'll do it.
Sat Dec 22, 2018, 04:12 PM
Dec 2018

Trump is too short sited to realize that once it's activated, it will also apply to the other party when they come into power.

Harry Reid went "nuclear" in 2013 out of frustration at the cons blocking Obama's nominees. So he eliminated the filibuster for Presidential nominees only. The the cons took over the Senate and that's how Gorsuch got through on a simple majority. Ditto Kavanaugh. The senate has a good chance of flipping in 2020 and McConnell knows that.

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