By: Dale Weckbacher
Deuteronomy 31:6
Be strong and
courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is
the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or
forsake you.
(ESV)
The scene is the nation of Israel on the banks of the Jordan
River, ready to go in and take the land God promised them. After 400 years of slavery in Egypt and 40
years wandering in the wilderness, the time has finally come. While the people knew God was with them and
had seen him perform many miracles for them, there must have also been much
fear prompting Moses to urge them to be strong and courageous (Deuteronomy31:6). In fact, since these words were
repeated numerous times, we can surmise the level of fear must have been great.
Fear of the unknown is normal and something we all have
experienced. Whether it is the fear of
starting a new job, fear of moving to a new city, fear of starting school or
college, or fear of something bad happening to us, this fear is real. The good news is, however, the fear we feel
is not from God (2 Timothy 1:7) which means we should all heed the words of
Moses in Deuteronomy 31:6.
The title of President Elect Trump has now changed to
President Trump. While it is a time of
celebration, it also means the real work of making America great again has
finally begun. Unlike many of his
Republican predecessors, President Trump has the benefit of a Republican House
of Representatives, and a Republican Senate.
While logic would tell us this will make the job of implementing the
Trump agenda easy, there are potential road blocks ahead, especially in the
Senate.
Unlike the House of Representatives, the Senate has a rule
allowing senators to filibuster legislation.
To end a filibuster requires a cloture vote of 60 votes. (1) However, since the
Republicans only have 52 senators, they fall eight short of ending a filibuster
and would require eight Democrat votes to end any filibuster by a Democrat
senator. In other words, the main
obstacle to the full implementation of the Trump agenda will be in the Senate
where legislation, judicial nominees, and cabinet nominees can be blocked.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer has vowed to filibuster
any conservative Supreme Court nominee of President Trump. (2)
While he did not mention filibustering any other legislation, the divisiveness
that currently exists in the Senate leads us to believe he may use that option
for any legislation he and his fellow Democrats consider controversial.
However, before we just throw up our hands in defeat, there
are some things we can do.
1)
The Senate can suspend the filibuster rule – In
2011 the Republicans were in the minority in the Senate but could block liberal
judicial appointments through use of the filibuster rule. To stop the blocking of liberal Obama judicial
nominees, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid suspended the filibuster rule for
judicial nominees. (3) This set a precedent which the Republicans
can use to not only allow confirmation of Trump judicial nominees but also
allow suspension of the rule for specific legislation such as repealing
Obamacare, Tax reform, and funding the building of a border wall. I urge my readers to contact the office of
the GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell urging him to eliminate the
filibuster rule and allow much needed legislation and judicial nominees to only
require a majority vote. (4)
2)
Contact Senators not willing to vote with the
Trump agenda – Trump won election to the Presidency by winning states that
typically vote Democrat. Many of these
states have Democrat Senators who will be up for reelection in 2018. While there will be pressure on these
senators to go along with any filibuster plans by their leader in the Senate,
they also have concern about keeping their jobs. If enough voters in these states put pressure
on them, we may be able to flip the eight senators needed to end any planned
filibuster.
3)
Urge President Trump to use the bully pulpit –
Donald Trump, someone successful in business but who had never held political
office before won election based upon his enormous popularity. He must use this popularity as a way of
twisting the arms of some Democrat senators holding office in red states to go
along with voters in their states who voted for Trump. (5)
Like the Nation of Israel that were on the verge of taking
possession of the land God had promised them, the citizens of the Unites States
stand on the verge of the opportunity to reclaim their country and make it
great again. Like Israel, there will be
battles and obstacles to implementing the agenda necessary to make the United
States great again but if we remain strong and courageous as we were in the
election, we can achieve victory. Let us
be strong and courageous and press on to make America great again.
1. U.S. Senate. Filibuster and Cloture. www.senate.gov.
[Online] United States Senate. [Cited: January 12, 2017.]
http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Filibuster_Cloture.htm.
2. McLaughlin, Seth.
Democrats’ new Senate leader open to filibustering Trump’s Supreme Court picks.
www.washingtontimes.com. [Online] The Washington Times, November 16,
2016. [Cited: January 12, 2017.]
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/nov/16/chuck-schumer-dems-new-senate-leader-open-filibust/.
3. Bolton,
Alexander. Reid triggers ‘nuclear option’ to change Senate rules, end
repeat filibusters. thehill.com. [Online] The Hill, October 7, 2011.
[Cited: January 12, 2017.] http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/186133-reid-triggers-nuclear-option-to-change-senate-rules-and-prohibit-post-cloture-filibusters.
4. Hulse, Carl.
Hard Choice for Mitch McConnell: End the Filibuster of Preserve Tradition. www.nytimes.com.
[Online] The New York Times, November 11, 2016. [Cited: January 12, 2017.]
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/12/us/politics/republicans-house-senate.html?_r=0.
5. Shesol, Jeff.
The Power of the Podium. www.usnews.com. [Online] U.S. News and World
Report, October 20, 2016. [Cited: January 12, 2017.] http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2016-10-20/how-the-next-president-can-reclaim-the-bully-pulpit.
No comments:
Post a Comment