Josh Marshall comments on the Shelby hold situation (Senate Shark Jump Announced) and makes the following observation:
I wonder if this story might not end up amounting to much more than the sum of its parts because it brings together three or four of the issues roiling American politics today in a bundle of smack-you-in-the-face arrogance that’s too much to ignore.
For Republicans and the Tea Party set you’ve got pork-barrel spending and earmarks, two catchwords that are frequently abused and used to paint with too broad a brush but in this case seem pretty fairly to describe a senior senator’s power to wrestle tens of billions of federal dollars back into his home state.
For Democrats, there’s the outrage at archaic Senate obstructionism which has rapidly escalated from annoying to outrageous to pure comedy with a mind-numbing speed. It’s the heart of the story about the demise of Health Care Reform, the slow death of so many unobjectionable nominees and much else.
I do think that there is something to these observations insofar as they are all reasons for commentators of various stripes to jump into the fray. My guess is that the main focus will be on the Senate obstructionism angle.
He further comments:
The only mystery about this one is which is more outrageous — Shelby’s hold or the fact that the rest of the senators of both parties allow it.
The standard answer to explain the foibles of our legislative process (especially anything linked to senatorial privilege) is that so they can do it, too, should they ever desire to do so. Of course, since this move appears to be unprecedented (and the news is only breaking today), it is unclear as to whether or not (or, at least, how long) the other Senators will allow it. Of course, the only real attack would be to attack holds themselves, and I can’t see them doing that.
Sphere: Related Content
February 5th, 2024 at 8:55 pm
I think that the people of this country owe us a token of thanks for finally giving them a reason to unite under a common cause.
I believe several billion dollars worth of defense spending should do it…
February 7th, 2024 at 12:40 pm
[...] See also: More on Shelby’s Holds. [...]