Thread: Time For Republicans to Step Up

Wall Street Reform stalls in Senate

In the wake of Monday’s failed vote on Wall Street reform, Democratic leaders are planning a series of votes on the same bill until it passes — confident that Republicans can’t hold together for long.



And Democrats believe they’ve got an ace in the hole: Lloyd Blankfein, the Goldman Sachs CEO. Blankfein is sure to face a barrage of criticism over his company’s actions in a Senate hearing Tuesday — and shine a light on some of the very practices that Democrats say the regulatory reform bill is meant to abolish.



Votes could come as early as Tuesday and Wednesday, Senate Democratic aides said, adding that they’ll keep voting until they can peel off at least one or two moderate Republicans who won’t want to take a PR hit over blocking the reform bill. But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had promised to hold his members together against the Democratic bill — and he succeeded Monday, blocking a Democratic effort to open debate on the bill.



And one of the most likely targets of the Democrats’ effort to keep voting until they flip a moderate — Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) — made clear that she didn’t appreciate Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s tactics.

The Republicans have taken an admirable first step in their unified opposition to a bad Democrat Bill. However, the American People want regulatory reform. Whether this is good or bad is irrelevant at this point. With this much support for strict regulation of Wall Street and anger over the scandals surrounding the Housing Crisis, the Congress has been pushed to act by The People. That makes Financial Reform quite different than Health Care.



The Republicans need to come back at the Democrats with a strong bill of their own and they need to hit the streets to try to sell it. The Bill needs to be serious enough that it doesn't appear weak or overly sympathetic to the clowns that took advantage of the lax environment manufactured by the Democrats in Congress. The government did create the environment in which all this irresponsible financial activity took place, but the big firms that participated, did so at their own expense. We've proven that we are unwilling to allow disaster to hold our largest companies accountable, which means that regulation is going to have to strengthen.



However, it is important that the Republicans address this from a responsible point of view. Aim all this regulation at the biggest firms. We need a Bill that will not make it easier for Large Firms to maneuver the markets simply because they have the capital to do so, making it nearly impossible for smaller, more responsible firms to compete. If Finance Reform leads to less competition, then we are going to be worse off than we were in 2008. The Republicans in the Senate have shown an ability to be against something, but now it is time for them to demonstrate real leadership and stump hard for what they are for. The Republicans in the House have proved they are willing to fight for their own legislation, in spite of the fact that Nancy Pelosi has killed every bill and idea they've brought to the table. Put Harry Reid in the same position. Make him compromise or force him to marginalize the opposition in the open.

I'm not familiar with your system. Can they not tell the Democrats what changes would be necessary for them to vote for the bill? Rather than vote down the Democrat's bill and then in the same breath start planning their own bill on the same subject with the same goal in mind.. which Democrats will in turn vote against so they can come back with the same bill again with their name on it, which Republics will vote down and come back with their own bill etc etc etc until finally some President gets fed up and writes a shitty half-way bill and rams it down the oppositions throat by force becasue that's the only way anything can get done?



Wouldn't it make more sense to say what they want in the bill, listen to what the Democrats want in the same bill, compromise on the key issues and negotiate over the others... then pass the fucker?



What is the ultimate goal? Wall Street regulation, or the Republicans 'winning' some kind of pissing contest?



If it's the second, then that's a non-neogitable stance and can be fairly ignored. It will do nothing but marginalize them from any real discussion on policy. Like it did on health care. They can either seriously consider the issues and contribute to the debate, or keep on with the 'humiliate the President any way possible by any means necessary, and do so by squashing any bill that comes along until the voters get our scripted message that he's a lame duck who can't get anything done. If anything changes then he's kept his campaign promise so for God's sake don't let anything change... not one tiny detail of legislation or one cent of spending can change or else he wins and we lose"

[quote name='michaelr' date='27 April 2010 - 10:38 AM' timestamp='1272379093' post='144494']

i say let the system crash, and start new, else it doesn't mater what "party" does what, the results will be the same.

[/quote]



See, I was getting the feeling you were looking forward to the crash. You just haven't said it before. The one problem is that it won't ever be the same. If you lose your liberty Michael, neither you, nor generations that follow you will see freedom again. The technology and weaponry we now possess would make defeating our own government impossible.

[quote name='Dr.Knuckles' date='27 April 2010 - 11:12 AM' timestamp='1272381167' post='144505']

I'm not familiar with your system. Can they not tell the Democrats what changes would be necessary for them to vote for the bill? Rather than vote down the Democrat's bill and then in the same breath start planning their own bill on the same subject with the same goal in mind.. which Democrats will in turn vote against so they can come back with the same bill again with their name on it, which Republics will vote down and come back with their own bill etc etc etc until finally some President gets fed up and writes a shitty half-way bill and rams it down the oppositions throat by force becasue that's the only way anything can get done?[/quote]



The Democrats have told the Republicans that they aren't going to work with them. Harry Reid is on his way out. Right now, all he cares about is trying to make the Republicans look Obstructionist on Wall Street Reform, the same way he did with Health Care. The Strategy looks something like this:



The Democrats Offer a radical bill that addresses an issue the American People legitimately want addressed. The Republicans will come out against the bill. The Democrats will respond by saying that Republicans are against addressing the issue the American People legitimately want addressed. This is the way a majority manufactures political capital, by creating false perceptions amongst ignorant voters. The Republicans, in the House, offered many solutions during the health care debate that never saw their way out of Committee, so the Media refused to talk about them and it made the debate look one-sided, which allowed the President to get away with pushing a crappy mongrel bill through Congress to his desk.



They want to do the same thing on Finance Reform as well. The Republicans, however, have hopefully learned their lesson. They need to introduce legislation in the Senate and then all 41 of them need to go out on the streets and stump for their Bill. This will get the American people talking about the parts of the Republican plan they like and the parts they don't like. THEN and only then will the Democrats be willing to include popular Republican ideas in their legislation.



President Clinton was a master at including popular Republican ideas into his own rhetoric, whether he agreed or not, because he learned that he couldn't get any of his agenda passed by completely ignoring half of America's citizenry.

[quote name='Burning Giraffe' date='27 April 2010 - 05:47 AM' timestamp='1272361675' post='144433']

Wall Street Reform stalls in Senate

The Republicans need to come back at the Democrats with a strong bill of their own and they need to hit the streets to try to sell it.[/quote]



What makes you think they're going to do a damn thing now?

[quote name='Burning Giraffe' date='28 April 2010 - 05:58 AM' timestamp='1272452307' post='144891']

The Democrats have told the Republicans that they aren't going to work with them. Harry Reid is on his way out. Right now, all he cares about is trying to make the Republicans look Obstructionist on Wall Street Reform, the same way he did with Health Care. The Strategy looks something like this:



The Democrats Offer a radical bill that addresses an issue the American People legitimately want addressed. The Republicans will come out against the bill. The Democrats will respond by saying that Republicans are against addressing the issue the American People legitimately want addressed. This is the way a majority manufactures political capital, by creating false perceptions amongst ignorant voters. The Republicans, in the House, offered many solutions during the health care debate that never saw their way out of Committee, so the Media refused to talk about them and it made the debate look one-sided, which allowed the President to get away with pushing a crappy mongrel bill through Congress to his desk.



They want to do the same thing on Finance Reform as well. The Republicans, however, have hopefully learned their lesson. They need to introduce legislation in the Senate and then all 41 of them need to go out on the streets and stump for their Bill. This will get the American people talking about the parts of the Republican plan they like and the parts they don't like. THEN and only then will the Democrats be willing to include popular Republican ideas in their legislation.



President Clinton was a master at including popular Republican ideas into his own rhetoric, whether he agreed or not, because he learned that he couldn't get any of his agenda passed by completely ignoring half of America's citizenry.

[/quote]



I agree, in part. But we didn't do that. What we did was refuse to allow the Democrat's bill to come to the floor until it had things in it that were considered acceptible by Senate Republicans. I reserve judgement on what is truly accepible, though. Senate Republicans have proven willing to go along with Democrats when it comes to playing politics with financial regulation, and unless there is something in this bill that addresses the Fannie/Freddie problem that started this entire mess, I won't be able to support it, and I will view any Republican Senator's support as politically motivated.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A three-day Senate standoff over efforts to overhaul financial regulation ended on Wednesday as Republicans dropped efforts to block a Democratic bill in exchange for a handful of concessions.

hey hey hey.. they should have just asked us in the first place.





What Sidetrakd described (and again I'm just trusting you good folks) is what I expect and what I consider good government. They should not be bringing bills up unless they have already hashed it out with the opposition party(ies). Brinksmanship isn't going to help anybody.





Perhaps that why Bill Clinton and Bush Sr. remain each other's second favorite Presidents after themselves. These are guys who figure out how to make other people happily pay for their pet wars BEFORE they wage them.

[quote name='Dr.Knuckles' date='29 April 2010 - 12:28 AM' timestamp='1272518889' post='145319']What Sidetrakd described (and again I'm just trusting you good folks) is what I expect and what I consider good government. They should not be bringing bills up unless they have already hashed it out with the opposition party(ies). Brinksmanship isn't going to help anybody. [/quote]





Wish I could say that it played out with more civility, but the truth is that the Democrats can't get anything to the floor without our consent, since Scott Brown was elected and gave us the slim minority to block anything that they do.



That the Democrats are now forced to garner at least some Republican support for their Senate activities is hardly refreshing. Unlike the basic principles of courtesy displayed by our Presidents (sometimes not adhered to), our Senate is all knives and daggers, not always on a party line, and I won't trust a damned thing that any of them do until I see it. All you need to do is witness the health care reform craziness to see it. Health care was passed in the Senate before Republicans had enough votes to force Democrats to work with them, and even then, the Democrat Senators refused to work with each other without quid pro quo. Republicans in the Senate have also displayed it when they had the majority.



Reagan believed in "Trust but verify"... but when it comes to the Senate, I've never been so sure about the first part.

[quote name='TheHangingChad' date='28 April 2010 - 11:31 PM' timestamp='1272511897' post='145264']

What makes you think they're going to do a damn thing now?

[/quote]



If they do nothing, they will fail and they know they will fail. Being the Party of "No", or even "Hell No!" isn't enough. They have to try to govern from the minority position. It's difficult, but they need to be for something relevant if they want to regain the trust of the American People, after years of hypocrisy and duplicitous policy.