They are taking a vote now (Cornyn Amendment), although we already know they do not have the 60 votes they need for the Levin/Reed Amendment requiring time lines, Cornyn's amendment passed easily, hence the little temper tantrums they are throwing with the Dems constantly remarking on the fact that they will be there all night.
[Update] I am looking for the language to the Cornyn Amendment that just passed, so far, this is what I found, but I will bring you the actual amendment when I find it.
GOT IT. Cornyn Amendment, vote was 94 to 3, passing it.Cornyn Amendment
The Cornyn amendment would seek to prevent Congress from passing any legislation that would “undermine our military’s ability to prevent a failed state in Iraq.”Cornyn’s language also details a litany of local, regional, and international consequences that would result from an Iraq that descends in to chaos, and calls for the Senate to devise a strategy to avoid that scenario.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., agreed to an “up or down” vote on the Cornyn amendment, but continued to refuse to allow a simple majority vote on the Levin-Reed amendment. He reminded Democrats that a 60-vote margin is often needed to conduct business in the Senate. “That’s life in the Senate,” he said.
Now Reid is whining again about the fact that they need 60 votes to avoid a filibuster, of course, GOP objected to his "new proposal" to vote on the Amendment with time lines.
[End Update]
The GOP Senators aren't complaining about staying though.
Reids brilliant plan seems to be backfiring on him... BIG SURPRISE, huh?
Excerpt from previous post:
(ADDED COMMENTARY) One has to wonder who Reid is listening to, actually, I don't wonder, I know he is listening to his far left liberal supporters, but THEY get their information from biased sources such as NYT and Wapo, and by listening to them, Reid is deliberately ignoring the overwhelming concensus by military leaders and others that are IN Iraq seeing a tremendous turnaround since General Petraeus took over and implemeted new counterinsurgency tactics.
Finally the MSM is starting to tell the American people of these successes and progress on the ground in Iraq and these political stunts are backfiring on Reid and crew in a big way, the polls show them falling fast to the lowest approval ratings in history. They have invested so much in trying to force defeat, they have now placed themselves in between a rock and a hard place and I do not see any liklihood that they can get out from under this.
We are witnessing, firsthand the complete implosion of the democratic party as a whole.)
I ended that with:
[Update] You can watch the surrender monkeys yourself make their rhetorical speeches, all of them completely ignoring the question of "what would the consequences of rapid withdrawal", each and every time it is asked.
YAWNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN.
Going to be a long night, but watching the Dems turn purple in the face because Reid's little stunt has backfired on them and now they are stuck there for the night, and still not getting their way, IS kinda worth watching it.
Now that you are all caught up, I am waiting for the roll call on this vote and will update with it when they announce the actual figures.
Of interest here, while Reid is droning on and on, whining that they cannot get the 60 votes and that it cannot be an up or down vote, Looks like Bush, as Right Wing News puts it, still has plenty of fire in his belly on the Iraq issue:
"President Bush shocked Capitol Hill staffers and Republican leaders Monday when he crashed a meeting at the White House to deliver a blunt message that he wasn't backing down on Iraq and Republicans need to understand that."It was stunning," said one GOP aide who attended the meeting. "We couldn't believe he came in."
"We kept looking at each other, amazed he came in," said another Republican aide.
Bush was described as folksy, adamant and mildly profane as he interrupted the meeting between senior White House communications staffers Tony Snow and Ed Gillespie and GOP leaders. His message: the policy on Iraq isn't changing. He is not backing down and no one on Capitol Hill should be confused into thinking he is letting up."
Here's the reality: the Democrats don't have the 60 votes they need to break a filibuster and the earliest date they're going to have a chance to get them is in September.
HEH.
12:35pm (AZ time)-McCain is talking now and he stated upfront that Reid knows, full well, that NO Amendment with time lines is going to be passed.
McCain also called Reid's all nighter a "display".
12:40pm-The "Dick" Durbin is now blustering about the bill being held up, he is responding to McCain's comment about the Appropriations Bill is being held up by Reid's insistence on voting on a particular amendment to the bill.
Durbin of course is disagreeing, saying that this amendment HAS to be part of the bill.
Intellectual dishonesty at its finest folks.
The bill could be passed without that amendment, but Reid and crew's insistence that the amendment be part of it, is what is holding up the Appropriations Bill 2008, and no amount of spin can change that basic fact.
Good for McCain for pointing that out publicly.
12:49pm- McCain responding to Durbin, telling him that the 60 vote threshold isn't going to change.. period. He is also reminding them all that even it could be passed in both houses, the president will veto it. Nothng they don't know, but that doesn't stop the Dems from trying to force it through anyway.
Deja Vu anyone?
I SOOOO love being right. Especially when the Democrats prove it for me.
McCain points out again that when the "show" is over, he hopes the Appropriations Bill will be passed.
12:54pm-YES, McCain just said that Durbin is completely ignoring the Commanders on the ground.
12:57 pm- Trent Lott is speaking now. Talking about the lack of any old courtesies by not allowing objections by Reid.
What is the most amusing to me is the only discussion seems to be about the fact that the Dems cannot overcome the filibusters.
Basically, the Democratic politicians are whining, and the Republicans are saying "deal with it", the procedure is there to be used, and it is being used.
1:05pm-Durbin states outright that he doesn't intend to listen to the Generals on the ground, he would rather listen to the "people".
1:09pm- McCain again, the minority has the right to require 60 votes and that is exactly what they will do.
Sarcasm from McCain that Durbin seems to think he knows more than the Generals or the experts.
Calls Durbin our on his comment about "not wanting to listen to the Generals"
1:13pm-McCain quoting the Generals on the ground now.
1:16pm- Now Levin is complaining that they cannot get a vote on his "surrender in 120 day" Amendment.
Well, I will continue watching it and bring you anything of interest, but I can tell already, they are going to keep going around in the same circle..... bottomline, they either can get 60 votes to invoke cloture or they cannot.
They do not have those votes and all the whining, blustering and complaining in the world is not going to change that bottomline FACT.
Reader/commenter Jim Thompson, caught something I missed while taking a stretch, so I am putting his comment here:
Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following statement Tuesday in response to the Democrat-sponsored talk-a-thon, which will delay consideration of further amendments to the Defense Authorization Bill:
“While Republicans are focused on the dangers posed by al Qaeda in Iraq, and the warnings that the United Nations and Baker-Hamilton Commission have given in recent days about the consequences of withdrawal, Democrats plan to spend the next 24 hours in what they have described as a 'publicity stunt.' This issue is far too serious to waste the next day on 'publicity stunts.' This is a serious issue, and deserves serious consideration.
“Our enemies aren't threatened by talk-a-thons, and our troops deserve better than publicity stunts.”
Thank you Jim and well said by you AND McConnell.
Back now and they are still making speeches as to why the Commanders on the ground shouldn't be listened to... hehe, amazing turnabout from when they were telling Bush to listen to the Commanders on the ground.
How hypocritical can those Dems be...sheeeesh.
If anything important happens I will update, until then, same old, same old, they can stay there for a week instead of a night and the bottomline, expained above, will not change... they do NOT have 60 votes for the Levin/Reed Amendment and they won't get them.
Stalemate.
While waiting for ANYTHING even remotely interesting to happen, I was browsing and found an interesting piece from The Moderate Voice, writer, Jason Steck, stating that Bush may just be saving the Democrats from themselves.
His reasoning is interesting and well worth the read.
While Hagel is spewing nonsense about no progress being seen in Iraq, I see that Max Boot brings us news of Ramadi from John W. Charlton, COL, Infantry Commanding Camp,Ar Ramadi, Iraq, who, being IN Iraq, shows Hagel to be the liar he is.
You don’t hear much about Anbar Province anymore. That’s because this area, once the scene of the heaviest fighting in Iraq, has turned remarkably quiet of late. Attacks are down 80 percent since last year. If there is any cause for optimism in Iraq this is it: If an area as troubled as Anbar could be turned around so quickly, then no part of Iraq can truly be said to be hopeless. Yet much hard work remains to be done to consolidate the gains that have recently been made. I asked Colonel John Charlton, commander of the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Infantry Division, whom I visited in April, to provide an update for contentions readers on what is happening in the provincial capital, Ramadi. His emailed response follows:
Read the email for yourself.... very enlightening and flies in the face of everything, every "surrender first" politician is saying on the floor of the Senate.
5:13pm- After listening to this all day, I come away with one thing. The Democrats and Hagel are sooooo scared of the success General Petraeus is seeing they are practically begging to legislate our surrender because by the time September comes, if Petraeus continues along this line, the Democrats not stand a snowballs chance in hell in 2008 and they know it.
Their scared and the stink of desperation is apparent.
Well, my back is shot from listening to this all day at the computer... will bring more on this tomorrow.
Have a nice night folks.
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