Foreign Policy

BREAKING: Democrats block disapproval of Iran nuclear agreement

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Iran-nuclear-deal-1024x576The U.S. Senate just finished voting on a cloture motion to advance debate on H.J.Res.61, the Hire More Heroes Act of 2015, the legislative vehicle for the congressional disapproval of the Iran nuclear agreement.

The final vote was 58-42, with four Democrats, Sens. Schumer (NY), Menendez (NJ), Cardin (MD), and Manchin (WV) joining all the Republicans in voting for cloture.  60 votes are needed for cloture, so the motion failed.

This is a major win for the White House and U.S. negotiation partners. Senate rejects attempt to derail Iran deal in victory for Obama:

Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked a Republican effort to scuttle the Iran nuclear deal, delivering a major victory to the Obama administration.

It has become clear in recent days that the White House can prevent Congress from immediately rejecting the deal, but the successful filibuster of the resolution of disapproval ensures that President Obama won’t have to rely on his veto pen to preserve a major piece of his foreign policy agenda.

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The GOP House Freedom Caucus ‘Tortilla Coast gambit’ to delay the Iran deal is a fraud

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TortillaCoastOn Wednesday, Arizona Congressman Matt Salmon and the farther-far-right GOP “House Freedom Caucus” of which he is a member, Freedom is just another word for another wingnut group, forced the Tan Man, Weeper of the House John Boehner, to pull a scheduled procedural vote on the P5+1 world powers nuclear agreement with Iran because of an already debunked conspiracy theory about IAEA “secret” side deals with Iran that have been circulating in the conservative media entertainment complex for the past two months.

The House went into recess so that these wingnut conspirators could meet again at the Tortilla Coast and plot their next insane move. GOP House Freedom Caucus forces delay in vote on Iran deal.

After several nacho platters and pitchers of cerveza — and I’m guessing there had to have been several rounds of tequila shots — this is the hair-brained scheme that these wingnut conspirators came up with. House GOP changes course on Iran after conservative revolt:

House Republicans are changing course to take up a last-minute plan to oppose the Iran nuclear deal following a revolt from some of the conference’s conservative members.

Instead of a single vote to disapprove the deal, the House will now hold three separate votes on the agreement.

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The Fools on The Hill rally against Iran deal

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Fresh off his visit to Kentucky where Sen. Ted “Calgary” Cruz sought to pander to the Christian Right Dominionist base by appearing with “martyred” Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, only to be upstaged by Mike “Huckajesus” Huckabee, the religious huckster who has been pandering to the Christian Right Dominionists for far longer, Mike Huckabee (Not Ted Cruz) Captures Spotlight at Kim Davis Event, Huckabee Aide Physically Blocked Cruz From Getting Into Kim Davis Money Shot, Teddy Calgary today is again trying to capture some lightening in a bottle by hosting Donald Trump at a Tea Party rally against the Iran deal on Capitol Hill.

Once again, Teddy Calgary is getting upstaged by “The Donald.” Trump: Iran deal makes us ‘look like fools’:

Donald_Trump_hairDonald Trump rallied opponents of the Iran nuclear deal at the Capitol on Wednesday, slamming President Obama’s diplomatic pact as an embarrassment to the country.

“We are led by very, very stupid people,” Trump told a crowd gathered on the Capitol’s west lawn.

Remember, “The Donald” believes everyone is stupid but him. He’s an egomaniac, never forget this.

Trump, who has become the front-runner in the GOP race for the White House, said the United States bungled the negotiations over the Iran pact, which will lift sanctions on Iran’s economy in exchange for limits on its nuclear program.

“Never, ever in my lifetime have I seen a transaction negotiated so incompetently,” he said.

Oh Really? 4 Times Donald Trump’s Companies Declared Bankruptcy; Trump Plaza could be closed for at least 10 years.

“We will have so much winning if I get elected you’ll get bored of winning,” the business mogul added. “We are going to start winning big league.”

Wow, that is just Sarah Palin word salad gibberish which means nothing. Speak English when in the US!

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GOP House Freedom Caucus forces delay in vote on Iran deal

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Iran-nuclear-deal-1024x576So this is actually happening today . . . Arizona Congressman Matt Salmon and the farther-far-right GOP “House Freedom Caucus” of which he is a member, Freedom is just another word for another wingnut group, has forced the Tan Man, Weeper of the House John Boehner, to pull a scheduled procedural vote today on the P5+1 world powers nuclear agreement with Iran because of an already debunked conspiracy theory about IAEA “secret” side deals with Iran that have been circulating in the conservative media entertainment complex for the past two months.

This eleventh hour act of stupidity by GOP wingnuts could jeopardize the House voting on the Iran agreement before the expiration of the 60 day review period on September 17 that Congress overwhelmingly agreed to months ago. These wingnuts are now demanding to change the rules at the last minute so that they can keep the Iran deal pending indefinitely.

The Hill reports, House GOP to postpone vote on Iran after member revolt:

House Republican leaders are delaying a vote on the Iran nuclear deal scheduled for Wednesday because of a rebellion from rank-and-file conservatives.

The House was to hold a procedural vote to begin 11 hours of debate on a resolution disapproving the deal at 1 p.m. Instead, they will gather at 4 p.m. to discuss strategy.

“We will continue the conversation on Iran from this morning and discuss strategy for the rest of the week,” a GOP leadership aide said.

The House subsequently went into recess shortly after noon once leadership called off the procedural vote.

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Congress continues to avoid debating an AUMF to fight ISIS in Iraq and Syria

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This week Congress will vote against the P5+1 world powers nuclear agreement with Iran because Tea-Publicans prefer getting their war on with Iran, which many of them believe will come with the succession of a Tea-Publican president in January 2017.

us-forces-afghanistan-AP-640x480So Tea-Publicans will vote against a nuclear non-proliferation agreement, but they cannot bring themselves to perform their constitutional duty to debate and to actually authorize the current U.S. military engagements in Iraq and Syria against ISIS (and the Assad regime).

As I have explained previously, this is calculated: Tea-Publicans want the precedent being established by fighting a war without congressional authorization in violation of the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution of 1973 so that the next president — whom they believe will be a Tea-Publican — can take this country to war without asking for congressional approval. Dick Cheney’s Unitary Executive Theory of the Imperial Presidency will be back with a vengeance.

I have previously posted about the efforts of Arizona Senator Jeff Flake and Virginia Senator Time Kaine to force their Senate colleagues to perform their constitutional duty to debate and to actually authorize the current U.S. military engagements in Iraq and Syria. Senate avoids debating an AUMF to fight ISIS in Iraq and Syria. I said at the time that Congress continues to abdicate its war powers under the Constitution, and is refusing to do its constitutional duty. I am amazed at the lack of editorial opinion on this subject from mainstream media publications.

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