Category Archives: Government
Biden Unlikes Filibuster Relic of Jim Crow Era
President Biden has unliked the filibuster. He now thinks it’s a relic of the Jim Crow past.
However, he used to think the filibuster was a relic of “fair play.” He said so in a speech on the Senate floor in 2005. Senator Ben Sasse read Biden’s speech aloud on Wednesday night. But if you’d like to hear it from the crow’s mouth here’s Senator Biden himself.
By the way, Jim Crow is “Jim Eagle” compared to the Georgia voting law passed last week.
Scorched Earth Response to Filibuster Nuclear Option
Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell gave a “scorched earth” speech last week. Democrats have been threatening to end the filibuster which requires 60 votes to pass legislation. But McConnell said if they do that they’ll turn the Senate into a “100 car pile-up.” And nothing will get done:
Let me say this very clearly for all 99 of my colleagues: Nobody serving in this chamber can even begin — can even begin to imagine — what a completely scorched earth Senate would look like.
Mitch McConnell on the U.S. Senate floor
Senate rules require the consent of all its members to conduct business. So Republicans could easily grind the place to a halt. For example they could withhold consent to minor votes without quorum calls.
Harry Reid invoked the “nuclear option” in 2013 to kill the filibuster for approving most presidential appointments. But when the worm turned McConnell added Supreme Court nominees to Reid’s list and Trump landed three new justices.
More than Covid Relief in Covid Relief Bill
The $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill was about more than Covid relief. $350 billion went to state governments and another $129 billion to schools. Here’s a breakdown from the Tax Foundation.
No Love from Biden for Trump Vaccine Effort
President Biden isn’t showing his predecesor any love for the vaccines that have the pandemic on the run. Donald Trump flogged Operation Warp Speed. It was a Manhattan Project style effort to find a vaccine. Trump’s overexposure to daily press conferences may have killed his re-election. But Warp Speed was a big success.
Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson developed, tested and jabbed vaccines into people’s arms in less than a year. It’s a process that normally takes many years.
Trump Vaccine Effort
President Biden’s response? “We inherited a mess.” Biden said that when he took office there was no plan for a vaccine rollout. And he bragged that he would ramp up to 100 million vaccines in his first hundred days. But the country was already vaccinating almost 1 million per day when he took office. And President Biden himself had already received his two shots by then.
