GRNC Alert 7-11-13: Stop Harry Reid’s Senate Rules Shell Game

Stop Harry Reid’s Senate Rules Shell Game

Our friends at the Gun Owners of America (GOA) have highlighted a crafty plan by Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) to break Senate rules in order to achieve his leftist goals. If he gets away with it, he will be able to push through radical appointments that otherwise would never stand against the Constitutionally mandated ‘advise and consent’ process. Among other things, the results of Reid’s scheme will dangerously threaten the Second Amendment rights of every gun owner across the nation. It’s important that you be aware of this, and we need your help to stop it. Please see below for details provided by the GOA, and to learn what you can do to shine a light on Reid’s deceptive plan to circumvent Senate rules.

From our friends at Gun Owners of America:

Harry Reid Moves to Destroy the Senate Rules that are Blocking Passage of Gun Control

You can’t be “just a little bit pregnant.”

Similarly, you can’t cheat “just a little.”

Once you have made it clear that you are willing to break the rules in order to win, the rules are meaningless.

So it is with some alarm that we note that Harry Reid — in an exercise of raw power — intends within the next week to try to openly break the Senate rules in order to confirm all pending Executive Branch nominees.

You may remember that, at the beginning of the year, Reid made the specious argument that you could change the rules at the beginning of a two-year congressional session — and only at the beginning of the congressional session.

Well, we are no longer at the start of the term.

A quarter of the 113th Congress had now come and gone. And even the pseudo-intellectual arguments for obliterating the Senate rules are gone.

This is an exercise in raw political power. This is an effort by Reid to say: “I can cheat whenever I want. And no one can stop me.”

The first showdown case will occur over efforts to fill the National Labor Relations Board. You may remember that Obama was slapped down by the courts for appointing these “members” as “recess appointments” when Congress wasn’t in recess.

Now, having been caught cheating, Obama and Reid are threatening to tip over the chess board in order to confirm these illegal “recess appointments.”

But that’s just the beginning.

Once it is impossible to filibuster Executive Branch appointments, Obama will soon carry through on his word to slam through a rabidly anti-gun zealot to head the ATF.

And does anyone think that the Senate would comply with the niceties of the rules it has obliterated — if what was at stake was an anti-gun zealot nominated to the Supreme Court in order to overturn the Heller and McDonald decisions?

Finally, it is just not credible for Reid to say: “I’m going to cheat. But I’m going to define the way in which I cheat to limit my cheating to this narrow way.”

All year, MSNBC has been whining that Democrat gun control has been thwarted by the Senate filibuster rules.

If the Senate’s filibuster rules are obliterated, you can be sure that the Toomey-Manchin amendment — with its universal gun registries — would soon be brought up again and passed.

Gun owners should realize that the Feinstein gun and magazine bans lost by such a large margin only because a lot of anti-gun senators knew they would not muster the 60 votes needed. If there were a 50-vote margin — and their votes made a difference — many of these anti-gunners would switch their votes and pass Feinstein.

So the reason gun control did not pass is because the Senate rules allowing us to filibuster it. They may seem dry and boring, but the question of whether we win or lose will depend on them.

ACTION:  Contact Your Senator. Tell him to oppose Harry Reid’s “cheat scheme” to violate the Senate rules in order to change the Senate rules.

www.gunowners.org

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!

•    EMAIL AND CALL YOUR US SENATORS: Using the contact information below, contact your US Senators from North Carolina and voice your displeasure with Harry Reid’s shell game in the US Senate.

•    CALL SENATOR HARRY REID: Use the contact information below and tell him that you do not appreciate his underhanded tactics and his abuse of power as Senate Majority Leader in this manner.

CONTACT INFO

United States Senators from North Carolina:

Senator Richard Burr: http://www.burr.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm
Phone: (202) 224-3154

Senator Kay Hagan: http://www.hagan.senate.gov/contact/
Phone: (202) 224-6342

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid:

Senator Harry Reid:
Phone: (202) 224-3542

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE

Suggested Subject: “Stop Senator Harry Reid From Changing The Rules!” 

Dear Senator,

It has come to my attention that Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid will soon propose new and improper rules changes in the US Senate which could result in serious changes to current Senate Rules. Senator Reid seems to believe that he can simply change the established rules in the US Senate to fit his political needs whenever he sees fit to do so.

This unusual set of circumstances surrounds the anticipated approval process wherein Sen Reid will try to bypass established Senate procedure in order to confirm all pending Executive Branch nominees. If Senator Reid is able to bypass established Senate rules and brush aside any chance for a filibuster of any kind, this will establish new precedent which will result in future abuses.

I urge you to investigate this matter and give it your full attention in order to prevent this kind of abuse of power. I will be monitoring all future actions in this matter via alerts from Grass Roots North Carolina.

Respectfully,

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