thereisnospoon has a diary up right now that discusses one of Reid’s possible avenues with respect to the minimum wage bill that was passed in the House and is facing opposition from republican Senators who had no problem giving away hundreds of millions of dollars just a few short months ago to their corporate cronies. The same republicans who used every underhanded tactic in the book, and when they ran out of tactics, they wrote another book of underhanded tactics.
Like the granddaddy of them all – the “nuclear option” (for those who can spell and speak, unlike Dear Leader).
Of course, I am not advocating that the Democrats actually threaten to use the nuclear option with respect to a piece of legislation that has an incredibly high level of support. But, this is the time where the Democratic majority, a majority that nearly 70% had “high hopes” for - and that was before the 110th Congress even was called into session and the House passed its 100 hour agenda, should use this advantage to bludgeon the republicans and make them look the damn fools that they have been for the past six years.
But, there should be more than a gentle reminder of the times when the republican controlled Senate threatened to destroy centuries old traditions and protocol in order to ram through the approval of some of the most extremist activist judges ever to see the confirmation process.
The threats that were thrown out every time the Democratic minority wanted to stand on principal against some of the most lopsided and egregious pieces of legislation – legislation whose primary beneficiaries were the “haves and the have mores”, or as The Decider liked to call them, “my base”.
The whining about “upperdown votes” (unless of course that same base didn’t want the nominee to get said upperdown vote) and how the Democrats wouldn’t let legislation or nominees just get their fair chance – as Americans would want it.
So, throw it back in their weasely faces. Let’s hear the following:”I find it quite interesting how the republicans were so keen on getting an up-or-down vote when they were in the majority. A chance for the full Senate to vote on political nominees whose records were among the most controversial of any nominees ever submitted, or a chance for a policy that was so egregious in its bias towards this country’s most wealthy. But when it comes to a policy that is supported by over 80% of the American people – a policy that would help raise families out of the extreme poverty level, these same republicans would rather play the same political games that they railed against when they were in the majority.
Make the republicans eat those words. Make them explain why they can’t see fit to give the poorest of the working poor their “upperdown vote”. Mock them. Humiliate them. Make them trip over their words as they try to explain why they are not letting “the will of the people” come to a fair vote.
It isn’t just about passing legislation. It is about building a Democratic majority for years to come. It is about exposing these lying hypocrites to the world at every opportunity. For showing the American public the vermin who set this country back decades.
It is about “winning the hearts and minds” of the American people, and gaining their trust again. It is about showing what a strong majority party is willing to do in order to stand up for We the People and to make sure that petty games won’t hold up progress.
It is time to go on the offensive – both legislatively and rhetorically.
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