Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Oh geezus. The Septegenarian Ninja Turtle, Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who polls lower than toe fungus in Kentucky (PPP's second Kentucky poll), should just resign as Senate Minority Leader right now. Our boy Mitch says he will join the village idiot Aqua Buddha, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), and his 12 Disciples in a blind filibuster of any and all new gun safety regulations, bill unseen. Leadership never participates in a filibuster (McConnell did briefly join the junior senator from Kentucky in his filibuster of the nomination of John Brennan for CIA director over the administration's drone warfare policy).
The Washington Post reports Mitch McConnell plans to join filibuster of guns bill:
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) plans to join a
Republican filibuster of legislation aimed at curbing gun violence
should Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) bring it to the floor.
“While nobody knows yet what Senator Reid’s plan is for the gun bill,
if he chooses to file cloture on the motion to proceed to the Reid Bill
(S. 649), Senator McConnell will oppose cloture on proceeding to that bill,” a McConnell spokesman said.
Mitch McConnell is so weak and afraid of losing his seat in the GOP senate primary next year that he is kowtowing to a village idiot and his Tea Party cult followers. In fact, McConnell is so weak that his latest kowtowing is not being followed by his GOP caucus in the Senate. It appears that Democrats are on the verge of beating back GOP-led gun filibuster with the help of eight GOP senators:
More than a half-dozen Republican senators have said they will vote
to bring the looming gun-control bill to a vote, meaning supporters of
new gun legislation should be able to hold off a threatened GOP attempt
to block the bill from consideration.
The support from the Republicans means that the Senate should be able
to proceed to debate on the bill, but doesn’t guarantee final passage.
Thus far, eight GOP senators — John McCain (Ariz.), Lindsey Graham
(S.C.), Mark Kirk (Ill.), Johnny Isakson (Ga.), Tom Coburn (Okla.),
Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Kelly Ayotte (N.H.) and Susan Collins (Maine)
— have said they will not join in a filibuster being planned by a
handful of the party’s more conservative senators.
“I am not going to join in a filibuster against bringing the bill to
the floor as long as there is ample opportunity for amendments,” Collins
told reporters. “It’s my understanding that amendments will be allowed
to the bill, which is very important since there are portions of the
bill that I do not support.”
Collins is co-sponsoring several of the bill’s provisions.
McCain has been the most vociferous opponent of the filibuster strategy in the GOP.
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), meanwhile, told reporters that he is
keeping his options open: “I have to see first what amendments are going
to be allowed, but filibuster just for the sake of trying to block it
from a floor vote, I’m not there.”
Without these senators on board with a filibuster, Democrats would
have more than enough votes to proceed. But questions remain about
whether red-state Democrats such as Sens. Max Baucus (Mont.) and Mark
Pryor (Ark.) could join the filibuster.
* * *
The filibuster is being led by the new conservative wing of the GOP,
including Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Ted Cruz
(R-Tex.), whom McCain and Graham have clashed with in recent weeks.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and 10 other senators have signed on,
including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), whose
involvement has lent the opposition more credibility. [Not!]
* * *
Negotiations continue as the two sides try to come up with a
compromise that would tip the scales enough to avoid a filibuster. Key
players in that process include Manchin, Coburn and Sen. Pat Toomey
(R-Pa.). Manchin will talk about that process at 5 p.m.
Democrats have 55 senators in their caucus, but Sen. Frank Lautenberg
(D-N.J.) has been dealing with health issues and has been absent from
the Senate. Sixty votes are needed to override a filibuster and bring
the bill to a vote.
Even though the half-dozen Republicans may vote to bring the bill to a
vote, that doesn’t mean they will vote for the bill — and most or all
of them likely won’t. And with red-state Democrats also balking at the
package, getting to 51 votes will continue to be difficult.
Stay tuned . . .
UPDATE: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told reporters on Tuesday that he
will file for cloture on the motion to proceed to gun legislation this
evening, with a vote on the bill expected to occur Thursday. Preliminary Gun Vote Scheduled For Thursday.