Originally Posted by donquixote99 (Post 329980)

It isn't bullshit. Your article is bullshit. Unlike you, I'm not just going to namecall. I'm going to explain why.

The article says basically that the Democrats are as bad as the Republicans when it comes to preventing action in the Senate, because the Dems are in the habit of 'filling the tree,' that is, filing lots of meaningless amendments on their own bills so that the amendment limit is reached and the Republicans can't offer any. It goes into detail about how meaningless and silly these amendments are.

But this is false equivalency, typical of modern monopoly newspapers who don't what to offend a single reader, including in this case the many supporters of the popular Republican Senator Portman. Attentive readers will note what sort of Republican amendments are prevented by this maneuver. Here's one example: "Among the proposed amendments was one by Sen. David Vitter, R-La., that would slash federal subsidies for congressional staff members forced to buy individual health insurance through the federal exchanges created by the 2010 health-care law."

This is what is known as a 'poison pill.' A senator voting for the bill with that tacked-on would be voting for a big pay cut for his own staff. That's an amendment designed to be a bill-killer. With Republicans pulling stuff like this, the maneuver of 'filling the tree' can be seen as necessary.

With poison pills and truckloads of filibusters, it's Republicans that have broken the Senate. This article that bends over backwards to find false equivalency is bullshit.

Originally Posted by whell (Post 329999)

You've convinced yourself that "the Republicans have broken the Senate". If that helps you sleep better at night, well, I'm happy for you. Fine. I've presented a more balanced perspective, and it can't be denied that Harry Reid and company are blameless in this process.

Here's another more balanced perspective. There are any number of bureaucratic parlor tricks that are being used on both sides to keep each other in check. Both sides appear to want the issue of gridlock so that they can blame the other side. But I'm sure you'll find a reason to reject it out of hand. :rolleyes:

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-me...-nothing-sena/

Originally Posted by whell (Post 329999)

You've convinced yourself that "the Republicans have broken the Senate". If that helps you sleep better at night, well, I'm happy for you. Fine. I've presented a more balanced perspective, and it can't be denied that Harry Reid and company are blameless in this process.

Here's another more balanced perspective. There are any number of bureaucratic parlor tricks that are being used on both sides to keep each other in check. Both sides appear to want the issue of gridlock so that they can blame the other side. But I'm sure you'll find a reason to reject it out of hand. :rolleyes:

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-me...-nothing-sena/