Wednesday, December 8, 2010

DADT: Senate vote could, maybe, possibly happen today

Lord willin' and the creek don't rise, the senate could vote on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) containing the language to repeal DADT. Majority Leader and all-around tool Senator Harry Reid has taken a lot of heat this week for putting more importance on his Xmas vacation than actually doing his damn job. The senate is scheduled to adjourn for this session on December 17th, a week before the big economic stimulus day.

If the stars align in just the right way, we might see some action today. Roll Call is reporting that since the Dems are hating the president for continuing Bush's tax cuts for the rich and the GOP is blocking or threatening to block just about everything else on Reid's schedule, the senate has nothing else to do, so they might as well vote on funding the military and letting the gays serve openly:
It is unclear whether Democrats would have enough votes to break a filibuster on that bill — a number of Republicans support repeal, while some Democrats oppose it.

But even if he does have the votes, Reid could be forced to drop the issue altogether once his Caucus comes to terms with the tax cut deal. With less than two weeks until the Senate is expected to adjourn, Republican opponents could drag out the DADT debate for days, eating up time needed to pass the tax cuts and continuing resolution before Christmas.
The Advocate's Kerry Eleveld reports:
Democrats might make use of a narrow window of down time if the four bills scheduled for a vote Wednesday fail to garner the 60 votes necessary to proceed to debate. Those bills include a firefighters collective bargaining bill, the DREAM Act, a 9/11 firefighters health compensation measure, and a measure extending a one-time $250 payment to senior citizens. If all fail, the NDAA could be brought to a vote by sometime Wednesday afternoon.
After two years of failed leadership, foot-dragging and general douchbaggery, it's so nice of them to pencil us in. When you were a kid, did you ever have to write a book report that you were given weeks to work on, but didn't start reading the book until 8pm the night before it was due? It's a lot like that.

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