Wait!! Teaparty Senators Will Have No Power in U.S. Senate

[DemocracyInaction]

When have first term senators ever had power/influence/voice in the US Senate (they are lucky they are allowed to fetch coffee for the "real" senators)! The media is hyping that when the Tea Party lunatics pick up several senate seats (and they will), that their party, the Senate and all creatures on God's earth will tremble at their power----bullshit. The senior senators of the Repuke party will never let them open their mouths and stuff them on a back bench. They will not let them define/control/write legislation. Dem will still be in the majority and they won't even recognize their existence. If they try to defy that recognized "order" in the Senate and hold sensational news conferences, their party leaders will make them offers they can't refuse. They will be required to learn "power 101" first.

[JuniperLea]

1. They'd be the Pubbie's bitches...

They'd be licking Pubbie boots... voting Pubbie... they are Pubbie.

[tridim]

2. Franken is one of the first, but he's a real Senator.

[gateley]

3. They'll have power because they're another voice/vote to threaten a filibuster (their

curent fave MO).

They certainly can't HELP us, but I honestly appreciate your glass-half-full approach! :pals:

[AlabamaLibrul]

6. Oy. The "not a filibuster but if we say we'll do it you'll cave a million times anyway" filibuster

Seems to me the Dems don't want to make use of their power in the Senate, like... making them pull a Strom Thurmond, which IMO is worse than holding no power at all.

[emulatorloo]

15. All they have to do is vote against cloture. That's it, that is the modern day version of fillibust

[Hawkeye-X]

7. If Reid wins his election, he has a plan that is 100% backed by Obama

to lessen/eliminate the use of the filibuster - Reid (finally) has realized that the filibuster has been abused for too long and wants to make some necessary changes to it to make it easier for critical legislation to be passed.

[SlimJimmy]

13. "Be careful what you wish for", said a wise man.

"You just might get it."

[DaveinJapan]

19. What plan? nt

[DemocracyInaction]

8. Gately---same difference

If the Senate stayed exactly as it is now, we still couldn't get a "Jesus for All" bill through the Senate. The only hope, of course, to get that Senate moving again was to up the number of Dems....and even then our dirt-bag Blue Dogs would still make sure nothing passed. What I am trying to point out is that the media is dead wrong if they think Sharon and company are going to come in and redecorate the Senate in "Early Jesus"..if you know what I mean.

[stray cat]

4. they vote on bills and that is what decides their passage

[DemocracyInaction]

11. soooo??

Repubs haven't voted for anything yet----it changes nothing in getting things done in the Senate BUT the idea that they will dictate the Senate is a made-up fairy tale by the media.

[Ozymanithrax]

5. What that have is a vocal violent group of suporters who will primary...

anyone tht doesn't toe their line. Republican Senators don't want to be primaried on the right in a Presidential eleciton year when all the crazies will come out of their bunkers to make Palin their Candidate.

Republidans will have to be careful and play as far right as possible.

[Gold Metal Flake]

9. Tea party = Republican party.

There is no difference. This has just been rebranding. The new puke Senators and reps will simply do as they are told by their leadership. The media is owned by Republicans so they say what the Republicans tell them to say and so they push the false narrative (created by the Republicans) that the Tea party is some sort of alternative.

[county worker]

10. They are just toadies like Bush was.

[AlinPA]

12. My understanding is that one senator can put a "hold" on any senate legislation and stop it.

This is called a "secret hold". This also goes for any appointments being proposed.

[DemocracyInaction]

18. Alin--they have done that for 2 years

and they will continue. My point is that the Tea Party is not going to walk into the Senate, push the present Senators into a corner and "rule the school". They will quietly sit and wait until spoken to. They are the newbies. They have no power and the big boys will make them understand that from day one.

[AlinPA]

21. McConnell, DeMint, Coburn, Boehner, Cantor, Pence are for all practical purposes teabaggers.

Your point is that the new teabaggers will not take over from the older senators, no problem with agreeing on that. The way the teabagger senatorial candidates have ruled the party though, they could easily seize the control from the senate old timers by blocking everything and anything.

McConnell just said that his job is to stop Obama from being elected. They have said "no compromise". So there would be zero progress on anything in the senate.

[Johonny]

14. Power they don't want power. These people ran to make $$$

The primary thing these Teabaggers appear interested in is making money off their office. In that I imagine they will be a great success. This election was about them enriching themselves at the expense of unfocused blind voter anger.

[LynneSin]

16. You know what they'll do with someone like Sharon Angle...

they'll basically tell her to keep quiet and here's how you will vote. What's worse, Nevada loses a senior senator that would actually give the state some ability to bring home project money to their state. Angle will be lucky she gets scraps to return to Nevada.

[emulatorloo]

17. OF course they will have power. Their vote. Their wonderfully positive exposure by the media

[dgibby]

20. They will have power.

It will be derived from their mentor, Jim DeMint, who has already established himself as a power broker and king maker. Underestimating this group would, imo, be a serious mistake.

[Skidmore]

22. Well, damn, let's just go make sure we get a bunch of those cute little varmints

elected next week.

I sure hope you aren't being sincere about what you said. If you are, then you'll deserve the government we get.

[stopbush]

23. Yep. Yet Nevadans are supposedly ready to vote out the Senate Majority Leader

who represents their state in favor of a crazy woman who will be an embarrassment in the Senate and who will be relegated to making the coffee for the R Senators (forget fetching the coffee - she won't have enough standing for that job). Oh, and she'll be in the minority party in the Senate as well.

Having lived in Vegas for a couple of years, I'd ask the voters of my former state to take a look at how funding has worked out for S Dakota after voters there got rid of Tom Daschle. Then, I'd ask them to think how they'll fare on getting Federal funding when they have 2 R Senators sitting in a D-controlled Senate, one a crazy person and the other a soon-to-be-indicted jerk.

Yep, that's worth a roll of the dice, isn't it?