The Rules Simply Don’t Apply to Liberals

Rory Cooper / January 22, 2010

In the wake of the Massachusetts election on Tuesday night, liberals in Congress have once again embarked on a course to change the rules to fit their needs.  Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) intends to introduce a bill that would eliminate the 60 vote threshold to end debate in the U.S. Senate. Ironically, the timing of their newest rule-changing efforts is a direct result of a previous rule-change merry-go-round that they themselves are to blame for.  In 2004, Senator John Kerry (D-MA) was running for President, and the Governor of Massachusetts was Republican Mitt Romney. Former Senator Ted Kennedy prodded state legislators in Massachusetts to change the appointment rules in Massachusetts so the Governor was no longer in a position to name a sitting senator if John Kerry won.

Of course, John Kerry did not win.  As Senator Kennedy’s health deteriorated, he then requested that the state of Massachusetts change the rules…again.  Now, Senator Kennedy wanted the Governor to make an appointment.  Conveniently, Massachusetts now had a Democratic Governor in place, Deval Patrick. Kennedy was worried that the 145 day gap between his eventual passing and a special election would hurt the liberal chances of Obamacare passing immediately.  So, once again the Massachusetts legislature changed the rules to suit the political needs of liberals in Washington by mandating a temporary appointment quickly followed by a special election.  There was only one thing they didn’t account for…those pesky voters in Massachusetts electing a Republican. Now what? Change the rules again! Only this time, they’ll have to change federal rules, since they’ve run out of options in Massachusetts. (more…)