The Democrats do not want to have a definitive up and down
vote on the Iran Agreement for a number of reasons in my estimation, but
primarily because they don't mind the president owning it but they don't want the
party (or their re-election chances) to be hoist upon that particular petard.
Every recent poll that I have seen suggests that the American people do not like this
agreement, and the more they know about it, the worse they think of it. It
would not just be tragic to let the Democrats filibuster the issue to dispose of
it; it would be nothing short of irresponsible...if not criminal.
Senator Reid set precedent by moving to remove presidential
appointments and lower judges from the strictures of the filibuster. While
those are important enough offices under normal circumstances, perhaps, to
merit such an exception, I would assert that NOTHING is more important to the
long term health and survivability of this nation that the ability to consider,
evaluate, decide, and vote on foreign policy. I am still incensed that this
"agreement" is not being held to the standard of a treaty (requiring
2/3rds majority to pass, as opposed to 1/3 minority to sustain a veto), but
that is a conversation for another day.
My suggestion and hope is that Republican Senators reverse
course here and take their responsibility to advise and consent as seriously as
this agreement deserves, and (at the very least) exempt foreign policy
questions such as this from the filibuster. The Democrats will scream, but
again, what is more important than foreign policy...particularly if you get it
WRONG?
My suggestion? The GOP should kill the filibuster on foreign policy agreements. Make the
Democrats vote up or down on the merits and then make them own their votes, like they had to with Obamacare. This is too important to let
Senator Reid yank it off of the table with a filibuster, and I believe that the
threat of doing this, through back channels (if necessary) might be enough to
back him off. I sincerely hope that the
majority will at least think this over. As I note, this is simply too important
in the long run, both for the region and for our credibility abroad.
