This is the way Democracy ends. Not with a bomb but with a gavel. -- Max Baucus 5/19/2005
President Obama and his Democrats, are so desperate to pass their unpopular partisan Obamacare legislation, they are now willing to pass it via reconciliation. A parliamentary trick considered so toxic it became known as the nuclear option.
In 2005, Senate Democrats Obama, Biden, Clinton, Baucus, Dodd, Feinstein, Reid and Schumer, railed against the proposed use of reconciliation to end Democrat filibusters.
Watch the following Naked Emperor News video:
Transcript courtesy of Human Events:
Barack Obama 4/25/05: “The President hasn’t gotten his way. And that is now prompting a change in the Senate rules that really I think would change the character of the Senate forever…what I worry about would be that you essentially still have two chambers the House and the Senate but you have simply majoritarian absolute power on either side, and that’s just not what the founders intended.”
Hillary Clinton 5/23/2005: “So this president has come to the majority here in the Senate and basically said ‘change the rules.’ ‘Do it the way I want it done.’ And I guess there just weren’t very many voices on the other side of the isle that acted the way previous generations of senators have acted and said ‘Mr. President we are with you, we support you, but that’s a bridge too far we can’t go there.’ You have to restrain yourself Mr. President.
Barack Obama 4/25/05: “The President hasn’t gotten his way. And that is now prompting a change in the Senate rules that really I think would change the character of the Senate forever…what I worry about would be that you essentially still have two chambers the House and the Senate but you have simply majoritarian absolute power on either side, and that’s just not what the founders intended.”
Hillary Clinton 5/23/2005: “So this president has come to the majority here in the Senate and basically said ‘change the rules.’ ‘Do it the way I want it done.’ And I guess there just weren’t very many voices on the other side of the isle that acted the way previous generations of senators have acted and said ‘Mr. President we are with you, we support you, but that’s a bridge too far we can’t go there.’ You have to restrain yourself Mr. President.
Charles Schumer 5/18/2005: “We are on the precipice of a crisis, a constitutional crisis. The checks and balances which have been at the core of this Republic are about to be evaporated by the nuclear option. The checks and balances which say that if you get 51% of the vote you don’t get your way 100% of the time. It is amazing it’s almost a temper tantrum.
Harry Reid 5/18/2005: “Mr. President the right to extended debate is never more important than the one party who controls congress and the white house. In these cases the filibuster serves as a check on power and preserves our limited government.”
Dianne Feinstein 5/18/2005: The nuclear option if successful will turn the senate into a body that could have its rules broken at any time by a majority of senators unhappy with any position taken by the minority. It begins with judicial nominations. Next will be executive appointments and then legislation.
Joe Biden 5/23/2005: This nuclear option is ultimately an example of the arrogance of power. It is a fundamental power grab.
Harry Reid 5/18/2005: “But no we are not going to follow the Senate rules. No, because of the arrogance of power of this Republican administration.”
Chris Dodd 5/18/2005: “I’ve never passed a single bill worth talking about that didn’t have a lead co sponsor that was a Republican. And I don’t know of a single piece of legislation that’s ever been adopted here that didn’t have a Republican and Democrat in the lead. That’s because we need to sit down and work with each other. The rules of this institution have required that. That’s why we exist. Why have a bicameral legislative body? Why have two chambers? What were the framers thinking about 218 years ago? They understood Mr. President that there is a tyranny of the majority.
Dianne Feinstein 5/18/2005: “If the Republican leadership insists on forcing the nuclear option the senate becomes ipso facto the House of Representatives where the majority rules supreme and the party of power can dominate and control the agenda with absolute power.”
Hillary Clinton 5/23/2005: “You’ve got majority rule and then you have the senate over here where people can slow things down where they can debate where they have something called the filibuster. You know it seems like it’s a little less than efficient -- well that’s right it is. And deliberately designed to be so.”
Joe Biden 5/23/05: “I say to my friends on the Republican side you may own the field right now buy you won’t own it forever I pray God when the Democrats take back control we don't make the kind of naked power grab you are doing.”
Charles Schumer 5/23/2005: “They want their way every single time. And they will change the rules, break the rules, and misread the constitution so that they will get their way.”
Hillary Clinton 5/23/2005: “The Senate is being asked to turn itself inside out, to ignore the precedent to ignore the way our system has work, the delicate balance that we have obtain that has kept this constitution system going, for immediate gratification of the present President.”
Max Baucus 5/19/2005: “This is the way Democracy ends. Not with a bomb but with a gavel.” “We are on the precipice of a crisis, a constitutional crisis. The checks and balances which have been at the core of this Republic are about to be evaporated by the nuclear option. The checks and balances which say that if you get 51% of the vote you don’t get your way 100% of the time. It is amazing it’s almost a temper tantrum.
Harry Reid 5/18/2005: “Mr. President the right to extended debate is never more important than the one party who controls congress and the white house. In these cases the filibuster serves as a check on power and preserves our limited government.”
Dianne Feinstein 5/18/2005: The nuclear option if successful will turn the senate into a body that could have its rules broken at any time by a majority of senators unhappy with any position taken by the minority. It begins with judicial nominations. Next will be executive appointments and then legislation.
Joe Biden 5/23/2005: This nuclear option is ultimately an example of the arrogance of power. It is a fundamental power grab.
Harry Reid 5/18/2005: “But no we are not going to follow the Senate rules. No, because of the arrogance of power of this Republican administration.”
Chris Dodd 5/18/2005: “I’ve never passed a single bill worth talking about that didn’t have a lead co sponsor that was a Republican. And I don’t know of a single piece of legislation that’s ever been adopted here that didn’t have a Republican and Democrat in the lead. That’s because we need to sit down and work with each other. The rules of this institution have required that. That’s why we exist. Why have a bicameral legislative body? Why have two chambers? What were the framers thinking about 218 years ago? They understood Mr. President that there is a tyranny of the majority.
Dianne Feinstein 5/18/2005: “If the Republican leadership insists on forcing the nuclear option the senate becomes ipso facto the House of Representatives where the majority rules supreme and the party of power can dominate and control the agenda with absolute power.”
Hillary Clinton 5/23/2005: “You’ve got majority rule and then you have the senate over here where people can slow things down where they can debate where they have something called the filibuster. You know it seems like it’s a little less than efficient -- well that’s right it is. And deliberately designed to be so.”
Joe Biden 5/23/05: “I say to my friends on the Republican side you may own the field right now buy you won’t own it forever I pray God when the Democrats take back control we don't make the kind of naked power grab you are doing.”
Charles Schumer 5/23/2005: “They want their way every single time. And they will change the rules, break the rules, and misread the constitution so that they will get their way.”
Hillary Clinton 5/23/2005: “The Senate is being asked to turn itself inside out, to ignore the precedent to ignore the way our system has work, the delicate balance that we have obtain that has kept this constitution system going, for immediate gratification of the present President.”
Max Baucus 5/19/2005: “This is the way Democracy ends. Not with a bomb but with a gavel.”
Comments
Reconciliation and the nuclear option are two completely different things. The nuclear option refers to changing Senate rules which is NOT reconciliation. Out of the last 22 times reconciliation has been used in the Senate, the Republicans have used it 16 times to the Democrats 6.
Reconciliation and the nuclear option are totally different.
Gee Robin, it's great to see that you don't know what you are talking about.
And holy cow ADR, I guess that means Democrats get to use it 10 more times so that they'll be "equal", right?
Of course you fail to mention that reconciliation is ONLY supposed to be used for BUDGET and appointments, not to pass SWEEPING LEGISLATION that will affect hundreds of millions of Americans!!!!!!!
Hey, can I get a job at the Examiner? At least I know what I'm talking about. GEEEZUSSSSS! Just imagine a country where qualified people actually get the jobs they're qualified for...
republicans will allow any democrat member of congress to run unoposed if he will vote against obama care and it is defeated.it is a hard thing to do but the future of our democracy is at stake and anything that will stop this process before it cripples our country forever is acceptable and indeed required. waiting to win in november is a step too late.it is more important to save the united states of america than to win the congress in the upcoming election. Many democratic members of congress do not favor this legislation,but the pressure being put on them by their leadership is intense. this proposal definetely mitigates against the extreme liberal bias being imposed on more center members of congress
Utter tripe, this column. The nuclear option the Dems complained about was the possibility of changing rules about filibuster. It had nothing to do with reconciliation. Is constant disinformation all the Republicans have these days?
"President Obama and his Democrats, are so desperate to pass their unpopular partisan Obamacare legislation, they are now willing to pass it via reconciliation. A parliamentary trick considered so toxic it became known as the nuclear option."
You're either stupid, or lying. "The nuclear option" was to kill the filibuster, and had nothing to do with reconciliation.
Sorry but isn't reconciliation a budget specific procedure and hasn't it been used a lot in the past, but both sides.
If you're comparing it to the nuclear option you're either foolish or disingenuous.
Of course, any serious follower of politics would know the truth (and difference) about the "nuclear option" and reconciliation.
That you don't know the simple facts on these marks you as a simple repeater of what others tell you, not bright enough to discover things out for yourself.
To prove my point, if you choose to reply, and you may want to consider that carefully, you will disregard what I've said and attack me personally. At no time will you attempt to look into this and determine your mistake.
After all, facts are too tricky a thing to use when making a point. Talking points and opinions are much easier to write, and disprove.
Regards.
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