Senate Democratic leaders say they will block Illinois Democrat Roland W. Burris from taking his seat next week, but how they will do it is still up in the air.
Senate Republicans, meanwhile, are formulating a strategy to keep Minnesota Democrat Al Franken from being seated if the state's Canvassing Board ultimately declares him the winner over incumbent GOP Sen. Norm Coleman .
Burris, a former state comptroller and attorney general, was appointed Tuesday by Illinois Democratic Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich to serve the remaining two years of the Senate term of President-elect Barack Obama .
Senate Democratic leaders say they will not seat anyone appointed by Blagojevich, who was arrested Dec. 9 on federal corruption charges, including allegations he tried to auction Obama's seat to the highest bidder.
How the Senate keeps Burris from being seated will depend in part on the validity of the documents that certify his appointment. On Tuesday, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White refused to sign Burris's credentials - a move that could prevent the appointment from ever becoming the Senate's business
(CQ Politics)
The pusillanimous Reid has rolled over so many times and in so many ways for the Republicans that I completely do not trust the man.
The Republicans are certain to threaten a filibuster when the Senate considers certifying Franken as the junior Senator from MN. There is a gentleman's agreement in the Senate that when one party threatens to filibuster, to keep the Senate in an endless, 24/7 session, the other side then calls a vote of cloture. It takes 60 votes to then break the filibuster. This way nobody is actually inconvenienced by having to actually filibuster.
In the just-ended 110th Congress, obstructionist Senate Republicans, led by human roadblock Mitch McConnell, mounted a record 104 filibusters (and that was with Bush in the White House; imagine how much more intransigent they would be with Obama). To put that number in context, in the previous Congress, the 109th, in which Democrats were in the minority, there were just 54 filibusters.
(Huffington Post)
Any time the Republicans have threatened to filibuster something the Democrats wanted to do, Reid rolled over. The There was only 1 occasion where Reid stood up to the Republicans and made them actually filibuster.
Conversely, Reid has a history of growing a spine and standing firm against his allies. From allowing the Senate to condemn MoveOn.org's ad criticizing Gen. Petraeus to standing up to Chris Dodd when he threatened to filibuster the FISA bill to standing up to Democrats who want Joe Lieberman kicked out of the Democratic caucus in the Senate.
Boy, do I hate Harry Reid and boy does he make me nervous. |
