Hello:

Do right wingers really think Democrats control the Senate?

excon

Yes ;nothing gets on the floor for debate without Reid allowing it .

Hello again, tom:

Ok, then it doesn't get past the right wing without 60 votes.

Apparently, NOBODY is in charge.

excon

Yes but even with a fillibuster ,the Senators are on record. With a bill on Reid's shelf ;no Dem has to be accountable for the vote they take.

While Ted Cruz is grilling Holder (http://www.mediaite.com/tv/ted-cruz-goads-eric-holder-into-admitting-that-killing-americans-with-drones-on-u-s-soil-is-unconstitutional/) and getting him to admit that the constitution does not permit the killing of an American citizen on American soil who is not an imminent threat, we got ourselves a good ol' fashion real - and bipartisan - filibuster going on over the drone thing...


Rand Paul filibuster against CIA nominee gains strength in Senate

Sen. Rand Paul's old-fashioned filibuster Wednesday against CIA nominee John Brennan has gained strength, with several Republicans and one Democrat joining him on the floor.

Paul began the filibuster at 11:45 a.m. to prevent Senate Democrats from ending debate on Brennan and moving to a final vote. The Kentucky Republican spoke on the floor for more than three hours by himself before he was joined by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) — who, like Paul, is a favorite of the Tea Party Movement.

Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) also spoke about the need for more oversight of the administration’s drone program, as did Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), the only Democrat to join the effort so far.

Paul's effort is aimed at drawing attention to the administration's drone program, which Brennan played a key role in administering as White House counterterrorism chief.

“I’m here to filibuster John Brennan’s nomination to be director of CIA,” Paul said on the Senate floor Wednesday as he began a long afternoon of speaking. “I will speak for as long as it takes.

“I will speak today until the president says 'no,' he will not kill you at a café.”

Read more: Rand Paul filibuster against CIA nominee gains strength in Senate - The Hill's Floor Action (http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/286533-paul-launches-talking-filibuster-against-brennans-nomination#ixzz2MncDZXe4)

I may have to get me some popcorn.

Yeah ,not a high water mark. I could've saved Paul a lot of words.. . Yes the President has the authority to wack an American waging war on the United States on American territory . He does not have the authority to do so in a law enforcement scenario. But... to give a practical example... on 9-11 if a drone was flying over NYC ;and had to time to put a hellfire into one of the jets before they approached the WTC ,yes the President could've ordered the strike.

While the Paul side show was going on ;and before the President and Senate Repubics dined out ; the feckless Congress funded Obamacare ,including the contraception mandate through the year.
Are Congress and Obama moving toward a budget deal? - CSMonitor.com (http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2013/0306/Are-Congress-and-Obama-moving-toward-a-budget-deal)

You mean the WH had the money to take people to dinner but not let kids take a tour?

Hello again, Steve:

It was Obama's PERSONAL money.

But, I wonder WHY you think there should be NO drop in services, when the money is cut. I don't understand WHY right wingers don't UNDERSTAND how money works.

excon

It's just Obama's version of the Washington Monument ploy . Who in the White House is getting furloughed ?

Hello again, tom:


Who in the White House is getting furloughed ?Why did the congress makes themselves IMMUNE from the Sequester?

Excon

Did the President take a paycut ? Why is it that the Capitol can still have tours (which involve hundreds of people daily ) ;but the White House can't (even though very few people are admitted to the self guided tours and are prescreened ) .
Tours & Events | The White House (http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/tours-and-events)
The total money saved is the equivalence of 2 hrs on Air Force One.

Let's face the facts .The President is intentionally picking cuts that have high impact so he can get a public reaction to the cuts.

Hello again, tom:

The President is intentionally picking cuts that have high impact so he can get a public reaction to the cuts.OMG! What a bastard.

Excon

Hello again, Steve:

It was Obama's PERSONAL money.

But, I wonder WHY you think there should be NO drop in services, when the money is cut. I don't understand WHY right wingers don't UNDERSTAND how money works.

excon

You seem to be having trouble missing things this morning, like chastising me for responding to Clete calling Chavez a dictator and responding to what the article said, "The administration and lawmakers offered few details about the dinner, which the White House paid for."

I dunno about you, but I know the difference between "Obama paid for" and "the White House paid for."

I know the White House tours are largely run by volunteers, which means they don't get paid. So unless those underpaid (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/sequester-spin-obamas-incorrect-claim-of-capitol-janitors-receiving-a-pay-cut/2013/03/01/3407535c-82a9-11e2-b99e-6baf4ebe42df_blog.html) janitors (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/capitol-janitors-making-ends-meet-with-overtime-nope/2013/03/05/f07a4f8c-85f9-11e2-9d71-f0feafdd1394_blog.html) quit cleaning the place I see no reason why to cancel the tours. Oh I know, you got to turn the lights on for them, so maybe he can axe his 3 calligraphers (http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/chief-white-house-calligrapher-gets-paid-96725-year_706521.html) or have turkey hot dogs for a while. Did he really need to have 24 holiday parties for over 14,000 guests (http://www.kitchendaily.com/read/white-house-2012-holiday-menu)? Maybe the USDA can nix the wine tastings (http://dailycaller.com/2013/03/05/coburn-to-usda-halt-wine-tastings-focus-on-food-safety/)and stick to inspecting your food?

I know how money works, he can stop wasting ours and stop the juvenile antics.

If you had cut a sensible deal LAST year we wouldn't be here, so to late to start crying. Opps! Sorry guys, its never to late, or to early for you guys to start hollering... and crying.

If you had cut a sensible deal LAST year we wouldn't be here, so to late to start crying. Opps! Sorry guys, its never to late, or to early for you guys to start hollering.......................and crying.

Still in denial I see.

Its not denial to recognize that you TParty guys do not compromise, so why waste time trying?

No chance that we would have a mature sensible Chief Executive to make responsible cuts. If it's not a crisis du jour ,it's an" I'll show you "moment... how dare we don't toe the line!
The President inviting Repubics to dinner is a little late to the game .But perhaps he's realizing that he can do more with negotiations than "my way or the highway" .
Here is Obama 2008...

Kroft :Why do you think you'd be a good president?

OBAMA: Well, I think that when you think about the challenges we face, these are challenges that require us to look forward and not backwards.

(CROSSTALK)

KROFT: Why you? I mean, why do you think you would be a good president?

OBAMA: Well, I was going to get to that.

KROFT: Go ahead.

OBAMA: You know, I'm a, I'm a practical person. One of the things I'm good at is getting people in a room with a bunch of different ideas who sometimes violently disagree with each other and finding common ground and a sense of common direction. And that's the kind of approach that I think prevents you from making some of the enormous mistakes that we've seen over the last eight years.

Well that was then... this is now

Yellin: Mr. President, to your question, what could you do--first of all, couldn't you just have them down here and refuse to let them leave the room until you have a deal?
Obama: I mean, Jessica, I am not a dictator. I'm the President. So, ultimately, if Mitch McConnell or John Boehner say, we need to go to catch a plane, I can't have Secret Service block the doorway, right?
The fact is that the President never tried until recently when he started getting his butt kicked by Bonehead and McConnell.

Its not denial to recognize that you TParty guys do not compromise, so why waste time trying?

The basis for your argument is firmly grounded in your own fantasies. I am not a "TParty guy" and the sequester was Obama's plan, so until your arguments are reality based there's no basis for compromise.

Truth is Tom, that after 4 years of trying to kick his butt, and failing, you have a chance to actually work with the guy to get the job done, or get YOUR right wing butts kicked.

America has spoken, and whether you listen is up to you guy's.

Truth is Tom, that after 4 years of trying to kick his butt, and failing, you have a chance to actually work with the guy to get the job done, or get YOUR right wing butts kicked.

America has spoken, and whether or not you listen is up to you guy's.

Yep, they heard him being childish and dishonest about the sequester so now he needs to do something since only the WH tours and not the world came to an end.

The President inviting Repubics to dinner is a little late to the game .But perhaps he's realizing that he can do more with negotiations than "my way or the highway" .
here is Obama 2008 ......

.

The president invited them to dinner, what's on the menu? Hamburger?

This on a day when the government shut down over the blown prediction by meteorologist who predicted a blizzard for the Capitol. Let's call it a furlough day.

Was that an over blown prediction, so you can afford a day off for bad weather while the rest of the coutry goes to hell in a hand basket, I hear these predictions are talking about inches of snow, not feet

Amid furloughs, D.C. workers paid to stay home - Mar. 6, 2013 (http://money.cnn.com/2013/03/06/news/economy/snow-day-federal-workers/index.html?source=yahoo_hosted)

While the storm was dumping plenty of snow in other places, Washington was getting just fractions of an inch, said CNN meteorologist Sean Morris.

In fact, the National Weather Service dropped its winter storm warning for the Washington area Wednesday afternoon.

"It's just not panning out to be the storm we'd thought it would be," Morris said.
'Snowquester' doesn't pan out in DC; situation nastier in Virginia - CNN.com (http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/06/us/winter-weather/index.html)

Hello again,

Harry Reid HAD the chance to get rid of the filibuster. He didn't. I don't know WHY?

If the right wing takes over the Senate, should THEY get rid of the filibuster? Then they can have their way with us.

excon

No .the filibuster has survived throughout the history of the Senate because it has worked . I do prefer that they go back to the way Rand Paul conducted his .It makes for great drama
Reid did not get rid of it for the same reason that the Repubics won't .It is a valuable tool for the minority party ,and sooner or later ,both parties are in the minority .

Amd here I thought libs were for protecting minorities.

Harry protected your minority in the senate through great opposition I might add.

Harry realized that one day he would want it back.

For today, right now you have it to use as you will, so do so. No big deal both sides have used it in the past and got talked about. So what? Nothing new here although you guys have stretched it further, but we have pushed hard on other things so nothing new.

What goes around comes around, and what you keep pushing around keeps coming back around. Such is life.

For today, right now you have it to use as you will, so do so. No big deal both sides have used it in the past and got talked about. So what? Nothing new here although you guys have stretched it further, but we have pushed hard on other things so nothing new.

What goes around comes around, and what you keep pushing around keeps coming back around. Such is life.

So in others it shouldn't bother you if Republicans obstruct since that was the core of Dem strategy under Bush, and Reid's approach to the budget. Glad we got that settled.