Sometimes, it only makes sense to punch the then-current congressional leadership right square in the face

[muck]

I don't have a view on whether or not this person (Diamond) is a good guy to get a Fed seat, but the fact that the Republicans are holding up his nomination because the Democrats did the same thing to a guy four years ago is not the right way to run the country.

 

:puke:

[SEC=UGA]

Politicians are a lot like spoiled, rotten, bratty, little children. They are vindictive, snotty, little creatures with an incredibly inflated ego and a sense of entitlement that stretches on for miles. They feel that they and they alone are right, that they are and should be the final arbiters of all that is good and holy and by jesus don't you ever fu(king contradict them or their going to gnash their teeth and lash out at you because you are beneath them.

 

Politicians are users and manipulators of the highest grade. They are parasites and you are their unwitting, dolt of a host. They say they're going to feed you, but they merely feed themselves, their warchest, and those that throw them "real" coin. Politicians haven't served the best interests of this country since Jefferson Davis said, "hell yeah, I'll gladly be your president!!"

 

They are rodents who will convulse at the sight of true charity and compromise. They mock and ridicule those who do not have their stoney countenance or who can not stomach backroom, tit-for-tat "negotiations". They disdain the moral, they revel in debauchery and vice. Politicians are lice, and not even the good pubic kind.

 

At the end of the day, politics is a power play one giant pissing contest into which idiots like you and I throw trillions of dollars for these egomaniacs to misappropriate.

 

I hate them all and wish a pox on all of their homes.

[Savage Beatings]

Isn't Harry Reid in charge of deciding what goes to the Senate floor for a vote?

[wiegie]

How anyone could think that Diamond isn't qualified to serve on the Fed is just amazing.

[Savage Beatings]

I'm confused by this... and granted I don't know anything about the situation and little about Senate procedure. But the article in the link doesn't say HOW the Republicans are holding this up. It just says that this guy's nomination has passed committee multiple times but for some unspecified reason has not gotten to the Senate floor for a vote. So again, could someone clarify WHY his nomination hasn't gotten to the Senate floor for a vote? I would think that after passing committee, Reid could bring the nomination to the floor at any time. Is that not correct?

[tosberg34]

I'm confused by this... and granted I don't know anything about the situation and little about Senate procedure. But the article in the link doesn't say HOW the Republicans are holding this up. It just says that this guy's nomination has passed committee multiple times but for some unspecified reason has not gotten to the Senate floor for a vote. So again, could someone clarify WHY his nomination hasn't gotten to the Senate floor for a vote? I would think that after passing committee, Reid could bring the nomination to the floor at any time. Is that not correct?

 

Let's just get this out of the way now: It's George Bush's fault.

[wiegie]

I'm confused by this... and granted I don't know anything about the situation and little about Senate procedure. But the article in the link doesn't say HOW the Republicans are holding this up. It just says that this guy's nomination has passed committee multiple times but for some unspecified reason has not gotten to the Senate floor for a vote. So again, could someone clarify WHY his nomination hasn't gotten to the Senate floor for a vote? I would think that after passing committee, Reid could bring the nomination to the floor at any time. Is that not correct?

it is not correct--a single senator (in this case Alabama Senator Richard Shelby) can hold things up

 

this explains things: http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchang...netary_policy_1

Edited March 29, 2011 by wiegie

[Perchoutofwater]

If they are just holding him up as a form of retribution then it is a chicken $hit move.

[Azazello1313]

it is not correct--a single senator (in this case Alabama Senator Richard Shelby) can hold things up

 

so a single senator can effectively kill any nomination? or just fed board appointees? somehow that just doesn't add up to me. to the extent that IS the case, I'd really think the senate rules need to be changed. being able to stall things in committee or with 41 votes against cloture is one thing, but a lone senator being able to kill ANYTHING is clearly wrong, IMO.

 

How anyone could think that Diamond isn't qualified to serve on the Fed is just amazing.

 

what about randall kroszner, was he qualified? not saying two wrongs make a right, but the fact that there ARE two wrongs is potentially relevant.

[The Mucca]

Maybe it's just Diamonds' stance on Social Security Reform, or petty revenge, with politicians nowadays who knows.

[Savage Beatings]

it is not correct--a single senator (in this case Alabama Senator Richard Shelby) can hold things up

 

this explains things: http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchang...netary_policy_1

 

Actually as described both in your link and in the original, it sounds like you are more confused than I am (and I admit I am confused). Yes a single Senator can hold up the unanimous vote that is ONLY necessary if the nomination doesn't make it to the floor for a vote during the regular session. So again, since the nomination has already passed committee, why isn't Harry Reid bringing it to the floor for a vote? If he were to do that, then a unanimous vote would not be necessary. Something is missing in this story, and instead of providing the missing details, all I am hearing is that the evil Republicans must be doing it (and maybe they are... they are certainly capable of childishness). But again, HOW are they preventing the nomination from getting to the floor for a vote?

[wiegie]

Actually as described both in your link and in the original, it sounds like you are more confused than I am (and I admit I am confused). Yes a single Senator can hold up the unanimous vote that is ONLY necessary if the nomination doesn't make it to the floor for a vote during the regular session. So again, since the nomination has already passed committee, why isn't Harry Reid bringing it to the floor for a vote? If he were to do that, then a unanimous vote would not be necessary. Something is missing in this story, and instead of providing the missing details, all I am hearing is that the evil Republicans must be doing it (and maybe they are... they are certainly capable of childishness). But again, HOW are they preventing the nomination from getting to the floor for a vote?

If it was brought to the floor, they would need to overcome a GOP fillibuster. Shelby himself admits that he is blocking the nomination--he is PROUD of it:

 

“We’ve blocked him twice,” Alabama Senator Richard Shelby said today in a radio interview with host Laura Ingraham, according to an audio clip distributed by his office. “I think we’re going to block him three times.”

 

Diamond’s absence would deprive Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke of additional intellectual support for his record monetary stimulus. If Diamond, 70, remains a nominee, he may be in limbo through the end of 2012 unless Senate Democrats push for a floor debate on his candidacy and try to round up 60 votes to break a possible Republican filibuster.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-10/d...helby-says.html

[SEC=UGA]

If it was brought to the floor, they would need to overcome a GOP fillibuster. Shelby himself admits that he is blocking the nomination--he is PROUD of it:

 

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-10/d...helby-says.html

 

Well, at least he didn't go into hiding in Illinois for 3 weeks...

[Savage Beatings]

If it was brought to the floor, they would need to overcome a GOP fillibuster. Shelby himself admits that he is blocking the nomination--he is PROUD of it:

 

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-10/d...helby-says.html

 

So Harry Reid is the one who three times now has not brought the nomination to the floor because he is afraid of a filibuster apparently, giving one Senator the power to block the nomination. I think you would have more of a reason to be upset if Reid actually allowed the nomination to go to the floor, and then the entire GOP made an effort to block him. As it is, Reid is the one who seems to be giving Shelby all of this power (unless there is some other as yet unmentioned reason that it is not being brought to the Senate floor for a vote during a regular session).

[detlef]

Well, this whole mess seems about as cool and worthwhile as a long witness interrogation on the definition of "photocopier"

[Ursa Majoris]

I guess there really isn't a limit to the pretzel logic of Republicans.

[muck]

I guess there really isn't a limit to the pretzel logic of Republicans.

 

How, in good conscience, could you limit this statement to one party?

[detlef]

How, in good conscience, could you limit this statement to one party?

Was wondering the same thing.

[Azazello1313]

may be in limbo through the end of 2012 unless Senate Democrats push for a floor debate on his candidacy and try to round up 60 votes to break a possible Republican filibuster.

 

well there you have it. there is no one man fillibuster, there's just no one really interested in pushing the issue. seems like the 60 votes would be a piece of cake if anyone was willing to invest even of political capital in getting it done. also wiegie, wondering if you missed my question about randall kroszner.

Edited March 29, 2011 by Azazello1313

[wiegie]

what about randall kroszner, was he qualified?

yes