The Republican alarm bells are ringing once again. The very idea of closing debate on a Senate rules change by majority vote, as Republicans themselves proposed doing just a few years ago, is now being treated to the "unprecedented power grab" routine.
What do I mean by routine?
Well, I mean it's a standard play, like so many of their Frank Luntz focus group-tested go-to phraseology.
Like when disgraced former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) attacked, well, pretty much everything, in March of 2009 as "a power grab in virtually every way."
Or when Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) attacked the automakers' bailout (as well as the Wall Street bailout that he voted for) as "a major power grab by the White House on the heels of another power grab from Secretary Geithner."
Or when Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) called the Clean Water Restoration Act the, "biggest bureaucratic power grab in a generation."
Or when good, ol' refashioned moderate independent-type Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) called proposed new EPA regulations on greenhouse gasses, "an unprecedented power grab."
Or when Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) insisted that America was "where Germany was before World War II where they became a social democracy." The problem? "You still had votes but the votes were just power grabs like you see in Iran, and other places in South America, like Chavez is running down in Venezuela."
Or when former Sen. Bill Armstrong (R-CO) said that having curriculum standards for university accreditation was "part of an unprecedented power grab."
Or when Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) called the 2002 proposal to expand hate crimes legislation to cover attacks against gay or disabled Americans a, "power grab" by federal prosecutors.
And net neutrality? Also a power grab, of course, says the Washington Times.
And of course, there's also this gem from former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), who insisted even at the height of the 2005 nuclear option tensions, that it was the Democratic use of the filibuster that was really the, "power grab of unprecedented proportions." And he helpfully pointed out to us then that, "with more filibusters threatened ... the power grab would become even bolder and more entrenched."
So what's the point here? Certainly not that the only people accusing others of "unprecedented power grabs" are Republicans. Far from it.
It's just this: If you hear a Republican accusing Democrats of an "unprecedented power grab," be sure to check that the sun is rising in the East, and that dogs are still biting men. You've seen it before, and you'll see it again. And as the last quote illustrates, it won't even matter if the shoe is on the other foot. Not only will what Democrats do still be called a "power grab," but it'll be called "hypocrisy" as well. Count on it.
Grab some power for yourself, too. Lend your support to Senate rules reform. Sign our petition. Demand reform of Senate rules, and make the filibuster real.