To say that 2016 is a unique time in American Federal Politics wouldn’t just be an understatement. It is THE understatement of the Century. 4 years ago, it was next to impossible to imagine someone like Donald Trump would not only make a serious run for the Presidency, but do so as the standard-bearer for one of the country’s major parties. For many Americans, last week’s first General Election Debate served as a reminder that this is election cycle really is happening.
But even as the debate dominated news cycles this week, something just as important and (and just as concerning) also occurred on Capitol Hill, as both Houses of Congress went to the extraordinary measure of overriding President Obama’s veto. But as Reuters via Huffington Post reports, that’s not the end of the story…
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers on Thursday expressed doubts about Sept. 11 legislation they forced on President Barack Obama, saying the new law allowing lawsuits against Saudi Arabia could be narrowed to ease concerns about its effect on Americans abroad.
A day after a rare overwhelming rejection of a presidential veto, the first during Obama’s eight years in the White House, the Republican leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives opened the door to fixing the law as they blamed Obama, a Democrat, for not consulting them adequately.
“I do think is worth further discussing,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters, acknowledging that there could be “potential consequences” of the “Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act,” known as JASTA.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said Congress might have to “fix” the legislation to protect U.S. service members in particular.
After all of the painstaking work it takes to not only approve the bill and send it to the President, members in both Houses of Congress felt so strongly about the legislation that they refused to accept President Obama’s veto, and chose to override it just to pass the bill in spite. But as soon as it is passed, Republican Congressional leaders then blame Obama for an action THEY took, saying he didn’t explain the ramifications of this bill well enough to them.
Umm, did y’all read the bill? Did y’all read President Obama’s veto, and the more than thorough explanation for it?? As Gary Legum of Salon points out, this whole debacle seems to be a new low, even for the current Congress.
In a week sucked up by campaign antics, it’s easy to see why situations like this one get buried. But anyone that is horrified by Donald Trump’s blatant lies should be just as disturbed by this action of CONGRESS. Out of 535 people elected to serve us, whom take nearly $200,000 of our money per each year that they “serve”, and are supported by a full staff of talented Congressional aides, they don’t have the time to actually READ THE BILL before they vote on it… twice??
I’m sorry Republicans, but no. You do not get to play the ‘blame President Obama game’ this time. Sure, many Democrats also voted for this bill, and they should be rightly called out for doing so instead of having the political courage to investigate it further. But this is a mess made of the Republican leaders in Congress. Had Democrats been in charge, the bill likely would not have come up for a vote at the request of the White House. Congress is not a place for our so-called leaders to just hang out, socialize, take the American People’s money, call donors and then obstruct the President at every politically convenient turn. Not only have they wasted time and tax money on these votes, but have proven a complete incapability of doing what American citizens have sent them there to do.
This is unacceptable, and if my blog has anything to say about it, the misdeeds of Speaker Ryan, Senator McConnell and other GOP leaders will not go unheard. If you don’t have the time to read and contemplate important legislation before you vote on it TWICE, maybe you all should find another job. There are plenty of hard-working American citizens who would gladly trade your salaries, and get more done.
