Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Fillibusters

A lot of people have been covering the unique phenomena that is the MSM coverage of politics. The assumption by the press to say that a Republican fillibuster is a debate-killer and a Democrat(ic) one is a debate-enhancer.

With the 'stalemate' in the Senate raging on, Pelosi decides that if the Democrats in the Senate can't do their job correctly, the House will have to show them how:

House Schedules Vote on Iraq Resolution

Feb 06 3:12 PM US/Eastern



WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Democratic-controlled House will vote next week on a nonbinding measure opposing President Bush's decision to dispatch additional troops to Iraq, officials said Tuesday, hastening a postelection clash between Congress and commander in chief.

The precise nature of the measure remains to be determined, the officials said, although Brendan Daly, a spokeswoman for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said, it will be "our opposition to the surge" in troops.

The Pentagon is in the midst of implementing Bush's order to raise troop levels by 21,500, part of a plan to help quell sectarian violence in Baghdad.

Bush's revised strategy has sparked strong opposition among Democrats, and officials said that Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., had both pledged to their rank-and-file that next week's vote would merely be the first attempt to pressure the president to shift course in the war. Other legislation will be binding, they said.

Under House rules, Democratic leaders have the authority to advance a measure to the floor for three days of debate and a vote.

That stands in contrast to the Senate, where Republicans have so far blocked an attempt by Democrats to hold a full-fledged debate on a war that has claimed the lives of more than 3,000 U.S. troops.

House Democratic leaders charted their course as Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a Senate committee that U.S. forces might be able to start leaving Iraq before the end of the year _ if daunting conditions including subdued violence and political reconciliation are met. (link)

Notice the bolded paragraph. The AP is actually claiming that the Republicans are thwarting debate by fillibust'ing the vote on a senate bill. Before the current congress was installed, any fillibuster by Democrats was called opening up debate (as it is truthfully), so what gives? I'll leave that question to you, if you don't know the answer, you probably don't like what I write anyway.
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Reason to go hmmm
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