Kill the Iran Deal

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.