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The Founding Fathers, According to Our Senior Senator

by: Dean Barker

Fri Mar 05, 2010 at 22:58:15 PM EST
Judd Gregg, so at the end of the line of obstructing health care reform, is rapidly descending into self-parody:
The Founding Fathers realized when they structured this they wanted checks and balances. They didn't want things rushed through. They saw the parliamentary system. They knew it didn't work. So they set up the place, as George Washington described it, where you take the hot coffee out of the cup and you pour it into the saucer and you let it cool a little bit and you let people look at it and make sure it's done correctly. That's why we have the 60-vote situation over here in the Senate to require that things get full consideration.
This is, to be polite, detached from reality. Yglesias calls it "abject nonsense." Jared Bernstein agrees.

In sum: Um...no, the the supermajority needed to overcome a filibuster was not written into our constitution by the Founding Fathers. And what parliamentary systems were there in the late 18th century that the Founders were allegedly rejecting?  There were none (adding: in the modern sense, of course).

I'll add one more: how is legislation worked on for over a year an example of something being "rushed through?"
Dean Barker :: The Founding Fathers, According to Our Senior Senator
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The Founding Fathers, According to Our Senior Senator | 9 comments
"Check" may mean obstruct in hockey; (0.00 / 0)
that's not what it means in running a country.  The Congress is supposed to inspect the executive to insure things are being done right; not stop them from being done.

Funny that people who are fixated on the right keep doing wrong--or get stuck in neutral, being bi-partisan and doing nothing at all.

the hot cup analogy (4.00 / 2)
IIRC has more to do with limited representation (2 senators only) on six year terms. Same idea that lead to SCOTUS for life. Insulate from the passion of the voters, not the actual reps. Important distinction.

I could be wrong, but I don't think there is anything about Senate discussion rules in the Constitution. That would be odd, don't you think?

Incidentally, I haven't seen this mentioned, but what sort of freak pours coffee into a saucer to cool it? I don't even think Jefferson was that deaky.

Sorry George, but World's. Worst. Analogy.  


What's the point of having wooden teeth (4.00 / 4)
if you can't drink your coffee hot?

[ Parent ]
Hilarious (0.00 / 0)
Would that even work? Would the rate of cooling change? "Look, Martha, my beverage is flatter. Clearly it will cool more quickly."

[ Parent ]
Sure - (4.00 / 2)
It's all about surface area and volume. The 10 ounces of hot coffee are touching more cool ceramic and exposed to more cool air.
[ Parent ]
But what if the saucer only exposes the coffee to hot air? n/t (4.00 / 3)


"Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external world." A. Einstein
[ Parent ]
American never really had a parliament (4.00 / 1)
The basic framework of the modern British parliament was already in place by the 18th century, but the King (or Queen as the case may be) had much more power than it does now.  

The colonies didn't enjoy parliamentary rule: they were colonies with governors appointed by the English government London.  The 13 colonies did all have local legislatures which were fairly powerful, but the governors were not answerable to the colonists.

Canada is one of many countries around the world which gained their independence from the old British Empire in the 19th and 20th centuries.  Canada has a Governor-General who acts as the Head of State on behalf of the Queen of England.  (She is technically appointed by the Queen, although in practice she is appointed by the Candian Parliament.)  The Prime Minister, who is a Member of Parliament, acts as the head of what we Americans would refer to as the Executive and Legislative branches.

Let's be fair. (0.00 / 0)
If one is as lazy as AWOL Judd, who backed out of the Secretary of Commerce position and TARP oversight board then  kept Not Voting for months - if one is that lazy, a scant 12 months to read a bill is asking too much.
For an elucidation of reconciliation and an alternative 'r' word, (0.00 / 0)
The Daily Show is incomparable.

nancy.jpg

The Chat Roulette segment is marginal, except for the repetitive media verbiage.  The only difference between Republicans and Parrots would seem to be the hype.

GOP = Good Old Parrots

The Founding Fathers, According to Our Senior Senator | 9 comments
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