Iraq vote bought, not bullied. Herb Kohl spills the beans.

[Ben Masel]

Many have speculated that Bush blackmailed our Democratic Representatives and Senators to get the supplemental through. Others point to cowardice, but the truth is more prosaic. The votes to pass the supplemental were bought, with his agreement to sign a package with domestic appropriations dear to our respective delegations.

Senator Kohl, who sat on the Conference Committee, explains how the Wisconsin delegation was bought, including Senator Feingold's decision not to wage a "Mr. Smith" style filibuster.

Kohl's Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Emergency Supplemental Spending bill that is expected to pass both the House and Senate today includes a two-and-a-half year extension of SeniorCare, allowing Wisconsin's popular senior drug coverage program to continue through December 31, 2009.

U.S. Senator Herb Kohl and U.S. Senator Russ Feingold negotiated for inclusion of the provision in the Senate bill, while Congressman Dave Obey (WI-07) served as the principal House negotiator for the final package that includes it. President Bush has indicated that he will sign the bill into law, which also includes funding for disaster aid, veterans’ health, agricultural disasters, and other emergency funding.

Repeat the process with enough other delegations, and you've bought the occupation.

[Doremus]

1. Good tradeoff. You get war, we get senior healthcare.

:spank:

Welcome to the new BushWorld, DLC-style.

[jgraz]

2. Explain how one stages a "Mr. Smith" style filibuster with a 60% cloture vote

I agree with most of what you're saying, but how does someone stage a one-man filibuster without 41 votes to hold the floor?

[Ben Masel]

4. "Mr. Smith" filibuster

Doesn't work to kill a bill, but a single Senator still gets to finish a speech, and a cloture vote can't take place until they've relinquished the floor by exhaustion, so it can be held up for a day or 2, depending on the Senator's endurance.

[jgraz]

5. Then couldn't 3 or 4 Senators hold off a vote for much longer?

If so, why didn't any of them try this? Sad.

[Ben Masel]

8. Don't think so

I'm not sufficiently expert in the Senate rules to offer an explanation.

[orleans]

3. durbin's office told me that people don't understand that you CAN'T

filibuster a supplemental

[radfringe]

6. yeah, but as GOPers demonstrated a couple of years ago

you can hold the vote open longer to allow sufficient time to do some arm twisiting, and you can refuse to bring a bill to the floor

the Dems let their subscription to Balls-Monthly run out and their spines were recalled.

I'm fed up with the whiney excuses. There comes a time when it's better to stand up and be knocked down than it is to rollover for a belly rub.

[Ben Masel]

7. Modern vs oldschool filibuster

Difference between the modern filibuster, which can kill a bill, not available for appropriations, and the old-fashioned filibuster, which can only hold it up for as long as 1 Senator can speak.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

9. Don't think anyone could filibuster this even if they wanted to.

I'm pretty sure it would be covered under reconciliation rules that prevent filibusters on bills affecting budget issues, but I'm not 100% certain on that.