All 42 Senate Republicans have signed a letter this week to Majority Leader Harry Reid, announcing that they will continue to delay and filibuster every piece of Senate legislative business until….they get their way on tax cuts and the federal budget.
The Obama administration and Democratic leaders support tax cuts for 98 percent of American families – those making less than $250,000 a year. But Republicans especially want a big tax cut for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans that will add $700 billion to the budget. The Republican Senators also have specific demands on the appropriations bills that fund government operations; they’re basically saying “our way or the highway.”
Just more of the same tactics that Senate Republicans have pursued throughout the 111th Congress, making debate and discussion impossible on issues important to working and middle class families. That’s why Employee Free Choice, a bill to end the tax break for companies that offshore jobs, Paycheck Fairness and other important bills went nowhere.
This strategy of “obstruct, then delay, then obstruct again” is all too obvious.
That’s why CWA and a broad coalition of organizations are pressing for crucial reform to these rules when Senators are sworn in for the 112th Congress. Specific principles call for an end to destructive secret holds, a reasonable opportunity for all Senators to express their views and a timely “yes or no” vote on every nomination and measure.
Read more at www.fixthesenatenow.org.