Let’s talk Senate and House rules.
The US Senate is comprised of 100 members. To do business, a quorum of 51 Senators have to be present (50% + 1). To pass a vote, the same 50% +1 YAYS are needed from those present, thus with the minimum quorum of 51 members, 26 votes are needed to pass legislation. There are currently 53 Republican Senators, 48 Democrat Senators, and two Independent Senators that usually caucus with the Democrats.
IOW, the Republicans can conduct business without any Democrat Senators being present, and then need only 27 YAY votes to pass legislation.
The House of Representatives is made up of 435 members. There are currently three unfilled seats, putting the House total at 432 sitting member – 220 Republicans and 212 Democrats. Regardless of the vacancies, unless the House membership was reduced, the quorum needed for the House to conduct business sits at 218 members – 50% + 1. Again, with 218 Republicans only present, a YAY vote, to pass legislation, would require 110 YAYs.
What’s the point? The Democrats are notorious, when in power, of conducting business on a strictly partisan basis. Obama, with a majority, famously quipped, “We don’t mind the Republicans joining us. They can come for the ride, but they gotta sit in the back”.
Consider that one of the worst pieces of legislation we’ve ever been saddled with, and was in danger of being considered unconstitutional, in some aspects, before turncoat Justice Roberts found a loophole to allow a fine to be called a tax, the Affordable Care Act – ObamaCare – passed without one Republican vote. Worse yet, no legislator had read it and Nancy Pelosi said, “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.”
In contrast, when the Democrats are in the minority, like now, we have Chuck Schumer coming with his hat in his hand suggesting that the Republicans should include the Democrats in legislation and rule in a bipartisan manner for the good of the country.
Failing that, the Democrats have a litany of other tricks up their sleeves to try to thwart the will of the people that elected Donald Trump, and a Republican Senate and House of Representatives. Recently we saw Cory “I am Spartacus” Booker speak for 24-hours and be hailed as a hero by his colleagues for his attempt to “Save Our Democracy”. In fact, he achieved nothing other than to waste 24 hours of our lives that we will never get back. Likewise, in the House, recently, the minority leader Rep Jeffries attempted to emulate Cory Spartacus by a similar scheme but lasted only eight hours, again achieving nothing. Moving on after such failed attempts to thwart the work of government, that don’t include getting locked up in jail for obstructing the work of law enforcement, what’s next for the Democrats?
I call it Governance by Absenteeism. Recently, Democrats, in the minority, lacking the ability to control outcomes, have taken to walking out of committee meetings because they disagree with Republicans. Republicans don’t need them because with a majority in the committee, they have the votes to move legislation under consideration out of committee to the floor of the full House or Senate.
Now, the Democrats have not stooped to doing the same in full sessions where legislation is being considered; instead, they have hoped that they can convince enough Republicans to side with them and thwart the Republican majority.
In a full House, Democrats would need to convince three Republicans to side with them to stop legislation passage in the House. A tie will not suffice for passage, the tally must be 50% + 1.
The Senate is a bit different because upon a tie, the Vice President, who carries the title of “President of the Senate”, is called upon to vote in the event of a tie and can thus function as the tie-breaker. Of course, this only works when the VP is of the same party as those trying to pass the legislation. Thus, legislation can pass in the Senate with 50 votes and a VP tie-breaker vote.
Again, what’s the point? My suggestion is that the Democrats absent themselves from all legislative sessions that threaten to pass legislation that they disagree with. They should take their ball and go home. That fact is that the Republicans do not need them and given the manner in which DEMZ govern, governance by absenteeism might be the right fit. Maybe “We The People” will look upon their antics and say, “Well done”.
Maybe not, but one thing’s for sure, I am perfectly comfortable with Democrats governing by absenteeism. It’s the next logical step in their death-defying spiral to obsolescence.
Please, Change My Mind!
Change My Mind! 