Dateline Washington D.C, September, 2013: Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the House would vote for the 47th time since May of 2010 to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. In a following press conference, Pelosi answered questions on the new vote:
Why again?
Hell, I think we can get it up to 401 'aye' votes on this next go. As you know, we got 399 last time.
Why not work on something else?
What else does this august body have to do? The House has already passed 98,456 bills this session; the Senate has passed 2. And one of those was in praise of motherhood.
Why again?
Hell, I think we can get it up to 401 'aye' votes on this next go. As you know, we got 399 last time.
Why not work on something else?
What else does this august body have to do? The House has already passed 98,456 bills this session; the Senate has passed 2. And one of those was in praise of motherhood.
Do you think that's fair?
No, it is not. And you know what's even more unfair: Americans blame me for this lack of action! Me! After 98,456 bills got passed! Not Harry 'Yes Mitch, I will do anything you say.' Reid, not Mitch 'I must object!' McConnell, not John 'I'd filibuster my own mother's treaty' Kyl. They blame me, and I'll tell you, my San Francisco values have had enough of it.
If Harry Reid thinks that the House of Representatives is just going to sit around any more and wait six months at a time to rubber-stamp some bill that the Senate in its royal majesty deigns to pass he's got another thing coming.
Do you have a plan?
I put Harry Reid on notice that if the Senate doesn't act soon on this bill we're going to force Nevada to secede from the Union. With Nevada's unemployment at 18% that would decrease the unemployment rate in the United States. Along with getting rid of Senator Angle. I'm just sorry I didn't do it back in the Spring of '09.
And has Majority Leader Reid responded?
Reid told me that I should be patient. It's not easy coming up with the 105 votes needed to begin debate on whether to end debate on whether to debate whether a bill should be debated, especially when there are only 100 Senators.
What did you think of his response?
I told him I was considering 1st Amendment remedies. ((nb: In 2011, Congress eliminated the 1st amendment, thereby triggering a renumbering of all subsequent amendments)).
Have you considered retiring?
Not until we hit 434 "ayes". And the polls show 95% support for repeal.
Thank you, Madame Speaker.
If this is NOT the world you want to live in circa 2013, all snarking aside, there are two things you must do.
- Call key Senators TODAY (the critical vote for cloture is likely to take place TOMORROW!) and demand that they vote aye on the cloture motionfor repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. This is our final chance to end this discriminatory policy in Congress for years to come (and the courts, if they end it at all, will take years to get there):
OLYMPIA SNOWE
MAINE
202-224-5344
email
207-786-2451 207-622-8292 207-945-0432
3 Canal Plaza, Suite 601, Portland, ME 04101
SCOTT BROWN
MASSACHUSETTS
202-224-4543
email
617-565-3170
2400 JFK Federal Building, 55 New Sudbury Street, Boston, MA 02203
GEORGE VOINOVICH
OHIO
202-224-3353
email
216-522-7095, 513-684-3265, 419-259-3895
1240 East 9th Street, Room 3061, Cleveland, OH 44199
LISA MURKOWSKI
ALASKA
202-224-6665
email
907-456-0233, 907-271-3735
101 12th Ave, Room 216, Fairbanks, AK 99701
DICK LUGAR
INDIANA
202-224-4814
email
812-465-6313 317-226-5555
180 Market Tower, 10 West Market St., Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
MARK KIRK
ILLINOIS
202-224-2854
707 Skokie Boulevard, Suite 350, Northbrook, IL 60062
312-886-3506
JOE MANCHIN
WEST VIRGINIA
202-224-3954
email (governor's page)
304-205-5889 (senate campaign office phone)
KIT BOND
MISSOURI
202-224-5721
email
816-471-7141 314-725-4484
7700 Bonhomme, #615 St. Louis, MO 63105
JUDD GREGG
NEW HAMPSHIRE
202-224-3324
email
603-225-7115, 603-622-7979
125 North Main Street, Concord, NH 03301
MORE SENATORS
Contact information for all Senators: US Senate
- When all is said and done with respect to DADT repeal, no matter the outcome, call your Senators and demand that they support the Constitutional Option, which will allow a majority of the Senate to define the Rules of the Senate.
If you want any legislation of any worth passed in the forseeable future -- ENDA, DOMA repeal, Cap and Trade, DREAM Act, Immigration Reform, Clean Energy policies, a public option, other improvements to the health care bill, and on and on and on and on and on -- Then Senate procedures must be reformed!. Check out Chris Bowers' report on the current status of reform from yesterday's DKos front page and make sure your Senators know that you demand reforms in the wake of the ridiculous spectacle over the last two years of a minority of Senators holding the entire nation hostage, the Senate reduced to a body whose main function is waiting for Godot.
Update You can sign a get-well card for Dan Choi
Update Read wonky details about amendments and the cloture vote tomorrow
Update Murkowski a definite yes, Brown very likely a yes for tomorrow's vote
Update The Advocate
I think it’s clear that there are enough votes to withstand a filibuster on repeal of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’" Gibbs said, adding he would "not necessarily use the term ‘in the bag.’"
Gibbs said they were indeed "cautiously optimistic" and that the president would be "working the phones" to help secure final votes.
"I can assure you that the president will spend some time over the course of the next several days making calls ahead of cloture and final passage," he said. But Gibbs said the source of his confidence was not based on any specific communications with people like Sens. Scott Brown or Olympia Snowe but rather "the number of people" who have said they support the bill.
He added, "The president did speak with Sen. Reid yesterday."