Trent Lott considering a new ‘Gang’

October 4, 2007

Progress on most major policy initiatives has been difficult in the Senate this year, due entirely to the fact that the chamber’s Republicans have decided to filibuster everything that moves. Indeed, the Senate GOP caucus is on track to block more legislation in the 110th Congress than any in the history of the country — filibustering at triple the usual rate.

According to a report in Roll Call, some of the same Republicans who’ve been blocking bills are working on a plan to improve the way the Senate does business.

In what could be a new incarnation of the successful bipartisan “Gang of 14,” Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-Miss.) hosted a meeting this week with a handful of the Senate’s most notable compromisers to figure out how to unclog the gridlock that has slowed the chamber’s progress this year.

About half a dozen moderate and independent-minded Republicans and at least one Democrat — Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.) — participated in the Members-only huddle, which was held quietly in Lott’s Capitol office Tuesday morning. Afterward, few Senators offered much detail, but several said there’s a feeling among them that the narrowly divided chamber no longer can operate at an impasse and they want to find ways to avoid the growing number of filibusters sidelining Senate legislation this year.

“It’s about creating a better environment to get things done for the country,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who participated in the meeting. “We need to get back to being a deliberative body.”

I don’t doubt that this is the kind of initiative that will make David Broder swoon, but this whole endeavor strikes me as kind of silly. If Senate Republicans want to help unclog the gridlock they can stop blocking legislation. It’s not rocket science.

Indeed, it’s kind of ironic that Trent Lott would even be involved in this. In April, he was the one boasting, “The strategy of being obstructionist can work or fail … and so far it’s working for us.”

Republicans lost the Senate majority, Dems have tried to govern, and the GOP has decided that practically every bill of consequence needs 60 votes to pass. After years of crying like children if Dems even considered a procedural hurdle, Republicans now don’t want up-or-down votes on anything.

All of a sudden, though, they’re interested in starting to move legislation again — the same week a national poll showed a clear majority of the public blaming Republicans for the lack of progress in Congress.

Although not all showed up, sources indicated that about 10 Senators were asked to take part in Tuesday’s meeting. In addition to Lott, Nelson, Graham and Snowe, GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Bob Corker (Tenn.), John Warner (Va.), John McCain (Ariz.), Gordon Smith (Ore.) and Norm Coleman (Minn.) were invitees.

Although not in attendance Tuesday, Coleman said discussions abound among rank-and-file Senators about how to “fix things” and break some of the legislative stalemate. He added that it’s not a surprise that Lott — one of the Senate’s most notorious deal-makers — would lead the charge.

“It’s a legitimate concern,” Coleman said of the gridlock. “We’re all impacted by the failure of being able to do the things that people sent us here to do.”

It’s mystifying. These guys are making it sound as if there’s some kind of mysterious hurdle standing in the way of legislative progress. There isn’t. They don’t want popular, progressive legislation to pass, and they don’t want to force Bush to veto everything, so they’re blocking legislation on everything from Iraq to habeas to voting rights.

If they want to stop, they should stop. If they’re tired of the gridlock, they can end the filibusters. If they want to deliberate, they can debate the merit of legislation and then vote, up or down, on whether they support the bills or not.

There’s no need for a new “gang” or “working group.” There’s simply a need for the Senate minority to stop standing in the way of every important bill that comes to the floor.

Call it what you will, this is just another Retardican headfake to try and make the public believe that they’re genuinely confused about why things aren’t working on the Hill. They still think people will fall for it. They will be proven wrong.

  • This is probably a countermeasure to stave off the inevitable moment when Harry finally gets up the nerve to make the GOP stand up and carry out its filibuster.

    How long could they hold the floor before retiring the field, and allowing a vote?

    How long could they hold the floor and prevent dozens of votes?

    And how long after losing all of those votes could the GOP expect to continue in power, before someone in the hard-right media declares that “GOP” stands for “gutless old pussies?”

    Lott and Company aren’t worried about obstruction; they’re scared shitless of what happens to them—and their power—when that obstruction finally blows up on them like an IED….

  • The Democrats will hopefully overcome the gridlock in their own way next year: win at least 10 Republican-held Senate seats. Coleman is picking the wrong time to act like a confused failure.

  • Ben Nelson may call himself a democrat but he votes with the republicans and does their committee biddings voting against his own party to break any ties.
    This is total crap as these people don’t have an ounce of cooperation in them. This meeting has to be about how they can use something besides filibuster to block democratic issues from being voted on.

    “…“It’s about creating a better environment to get things done for the country,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who participated in the meeting. “We need to get back to being a deliberative body.”
    From Lindsey Graham??? He doesn’t know the meaning of compromise. This meeting may have been about a lot of things like how to make themselves look better so they can get reelected but one things for sure, they don’t give a damn about the issues or about bipartisanship….they care only about preventing democrats from being successful. Their filibusters block bills that normally would have passed with bipartisan support…so they block them from being voted on and then brag about it. The meeting’s proposed purpose is bullshit as evidenced by the only democrat invited was the republicrat Nelson, a republican spy in democrat clothing.

  • You guys are probably right, of course…

    But the optimist in me is hoping that this is a way of signalling to the Republican leadership that they can’t go around punishing these wayward senators, because they’re banding together and forming a sub-caucus to protect themselves, essentially forming a union. They need a sub-caucus that is large enough to be able to break fillibusters with the Democrats, otherwise they have no leverage against the Republican leadership looking to penalize them for not voting party-line.

    The last time this was tried, it was more or less an even split between R’s and D’s in the centrist gang. This time it’s almost all R’s, which strikes me as significant.

    Like I said, you guys are probably right, just wanted to throw out this alternative point-of-view.

  • What? No Lieberman?

    Look at that list – these are Republicans who are either retiring, in danger of losing their seats, or who need the cover of a whole gaggle of equally mealy-mouthed Senators to do anything resembling the right thing.

    Memo to the Democrats (but not, you, Ben Nelson): when the GOP starts talking “compromise,” what they are really saying is, “legislate our way and we’ll give you all the votes you want.”

    For crying out loud – the only “gang” anyone should be interested in is a “chain gang.”

  • The straw man is compromise. The crux of the matter is Republican obstructionism. Not too many examples of worse human behavior than that of an uncompromising individual feigning the need to compromise, all the while merely awaiting for the parties who actually do embrace the fulcrum of democracy and cave to a position more closely to their uncompromising perspective. To egregious people such as these, the democratic process is merely one more thing to manipulate for personal profit – and here we are! In light of all this fine mess, I’d just like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Newtie Gringrich, who more than anyone else has let the genie of uncompromising politics of personal destruction out of the bottle beginning with his incendiary attacks against his adversaries, and then grandstanding such attacks for personal pollitical gain (weren’t you watching in the ’90s). -Kevo

    Again, thanks a lot Newtie! -Kevo

  • Agreed, Curmudgeon, except that I believe that those who’ve fallen for it in the past will continue to fall for it. This is an attempt to further pin the low approval rating on Democrats and they will fall for it (and I am beginning to believe this whole Charlie Brown/Lucy charade is by design).

  • I wouldn’t care so much that the Republicrooks are blocking everything if the press corpse would just call a filibuster what it is, instead of acting like there’s some mysterious new rule that you have to have 60 votes to move legislation.

    Hopefully the American people will see who’s been obstructing necessary legislation, despite our “leadership” and the press corpse.

  • “It’s about creating a better environment to get things done for the country,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.),

    The only way to create a “better environment to get things done” in the Senate is to kick him and his like out to the curb for the next trash pick-up.

  • Yet another way of saying they’ll do everything they can to get people to vote for them except doing what the people who vote for them want them to do.

    …Coleman said discussions abound among rank-and-file Senators about how to “fix things” and break some of the legislative stalemate. He added that it’s not a surprise that Lott — one of the Senate’s most notorious deal-makers — would lead the charge.

    Things can be fixed by fixing cement blocks to various ReThugs and throwing them in the Potomac. Later in the year the stalemate can be broken by using them to break the ice on the river.

  • I don’t doubt that this is the kind of initiative that will make David Broder swoon

    And there you’ve hit on the reason they’re doing it. Village idiots like Broder will commend them on trying to make the Senate a more collegial place and never bring up the fact that these fools are the reason things aren’t working in the first place.

  • when the GOP starts talking “compromise,” what they are really saying is, “legislate our way and we’ll give you all the votes you want.”

    Anne has it exactly right. Compromise to the GOP means “you doing what we want”.

  • Is this a possible senario?
    Knowing the short attention span of Americans, the Dems are holding off on forcing filibusters until the campaign season is in full swing. Although it drives us crazy, they are holding off until this tactic can have maximum effect.
    Being old hands at tactical warfare, the Repubs sense this, and are trying to innoculate themselves, and this “gang” is their first try.

  • to figure out how to unclog the gridlock that has slowed the chamber’s progress this year.

    Some would say Drano…I say Metamucil. (burp)

  • Newt Gingrich never operated this way. THIS, my friends, was the work of Tom “The Hammer” DeLay. He of the iron fist who would insist on solidarity regardless of right or wrong. Gingrich passed the parts of the Contract on America that were popular (regardless of whether they should have been), and letting the ones that weren’t die. Newt was willing to lose. That’s part of the art of compromise and it’s part of the reason (I feel) that he was replaced with more rigid ideologists who would push for unpopular legislation that accomplished GOP leadership goals. Please let us keep in mind that the evil of the Republican party exists in degrees. Newt isn’t even a contender for “Worst of the litter.” Just because he was powerful doesn’t mean he was bad.

    I’m glad the “traitorous” Nelson and Lieberman and the pro-life Harry Reid are Democrats. We may not be passing anything but, thanks to these atypical Dems, the GOP’s damage has been contained because the Dems don’t bring nearly so many bad ideas to the floor. I wish I could say there weren’t any at all.

    Finally, maybe this can pave the way for an ironclad right to filibuster. The nuclear option should never again prevent Dems from protecting habeas if ever we get back our simplest Constitutional rights. (Assuming they’re inclined to do so. Who knows with the odd assortment of jingoistic “progressives” we have in there now.)

  • “The strategy of being obstructionist can work or fail … and so far it’s working for us.”

    Well, Lott pretty much laid it out for you right there. Remember that unlike many of his colleagues on the dark side of the aisle, Lott is not evil and stupid and ideologically incapable of acknowledging political reality. He’s just evil. There arguably isn’t a sharper political mind in the Republican tent. So begin with the assumption that this does make some kind of sense.

    Could it mean Lott is getting a sense that Democratic efforts to draw attention to Republican obstructionism in the Senate are starting to get a little traction? Or that some of the smarter Republicans are getting worried they’ve been pushing their luck a little too long with this strategy — afraid it might start to backfire on them with an election year looming and getting into the season now when the body politic typically starts paying a little more attention to politics in general? All of the above? Probably.

    I also note that being the go-to guy who can swing enough Republican votes the Democrats’ way to put down a filibuster threat would effectively make Trent Lott the most powerful Republican in the Senate, now wouldn’t it? Do you think that Lott would a) enjoy that or b) not enjoy that? I tend to doubt this would have been going on as long as it has anyway if Lott were still the Republican leader. It just about has to backfire on them sooner or later if they keep it up long enough and like I said, he’s not stupid (just evil).

  • Ben Nelson is not a Democrat, no matter his protestations to the contrary. Hopefully, when we have 12 new Senators in 2009, we can give him the boot along with his good buddy and fellow traitor, Joe Lieberman.

  • Wait a minute. Repugs have been filibustering? How come I haven’t seen them on the news? Why haven’t they been up all night, looking bleary-eyed, drooling on themselves (well, more than usual)?

    This is not hard. Reid needs to pick an issue where the Repugs filibustering makes them look particularly stupid, then hold the fucking votes open. Do not adjourn! Keep them up all night. They’ll start blabbering incomprehensibly. Get quotes! Get clips on the air.

    This is simple. If the Repugs want to turn the Senate into a circus, THEN MAKE IT INTO A BIG, HUGE CIRCUS! The Repugs will come off looking like the clowns they are.

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