The Expansionist: 'Nuclear Option' Nonsense

Wednesday, February 01, 2017

'Nuclear Option' Nonsense

The Constitution of the United States does not require — and thus FORBIDS — a supermajority to confirm any appointment to the U.S. Government. Apart from a small number of exceptions expressly written into the Constitution, EVERYTHING done by both houses of Congress is supposed to be passed by simple majority. That is what democracy is all about. New York Senator Chuck Schumer spouted nonsense today in saying that a 60-vote confirmation would yield a mainstream candidate. So what? Wouldn't a UNANIMOUS vote even better secure a widely acceptable candidate? We cannot allow minorities to overrule the majority, EVER, on any matter not expressly subject to a supermajority vote by the Constitution.

"We Democrats will insist on a rigorous but fair process," Schumer said in a speech on the Senate floor. "There will be 60 votes for confirmation. Any one member can require it. Many Democrats already have, and it is the right thing to do. On a subject as important as a Supreme Court nomination, bipartisan support should be a prerequisite. It should be essential. That's what 60 votes does."

The USA Today story from which I quote above introduced that paragraf with this explanatory note:

"Under Senate rules, the minority party has the power to insist on a procedural vote known as cloture that requires the approval of 60 senators to end debate and proceed to an up-or-down vote on a high court nominee. Republicans have 52 seats in the Senate."

That, too, is undemocratic. The minority does NOT have the right to overrule the majority! It is a lot worse than people appreciate, as this sentence from the first quotation above indicates: "Any one member can require it [a 60-vote supermajority]." That is an OUTRAGE, and that rule must be abolished forever.
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When did this country get so CRAZY?

- posted by L. Craig Schoonmaker @ 7:45 PM

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