A vote on a standalone repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” could “come later this week or early next — definitely during the lame duck,” a senior Senate aide tells National Review Online.
An attempt to repeal the measure as attached to a defense authorization bill failed last week when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) rescinded on the terms of a compromise with Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.
Reid has promised Collins and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I., Conn.) a standalone vote on repeal before year’s end, via a special rule that would allow the measure to bypass the Senate’s committee process.
Does this mean there was no deal between McCain/Graham and Obama?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseDoes anyone know where an acurate whip count on this may be found?
Clearly, Collins is a defector, and Brown has recently signaled he'll vote to end it, and I can only assume that Snowe feels the same way as her New England colleagues. Are there three Dems who won't vote for it? I'm not so sure.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI want to see this and every other controversial issue given a stand alone vote.
There is no reason why every issue needs to be bundled into an all encompassing all or nothing omnibus bill. If politicians think DADT is a good thing (or a bad thing), they should be willing to vote on it (or against it) in one simple stand alone bill. This should be the norm for all other thorny issues.
I want stand alone bills for the following, and make each Representative and Senator vote a simple yes or no on each one:
Gay marriage
Partial birth abortion
School prayer
Iraq troop withdrawal
Afghanistan troop withdrawal
GWB tax cuts
Obamacare repeal
Amnesty for illegals
Banning incandescent light bulbs
Mandating low-flow toilets
There are a few hundred others I could list, but these are the first that came to mind and I didn't want to clog this up with a hundred other policy issues. But you can see what I mean and where I am going with this.
I am sick and darned tired of 2,000 page bills that no one reads that combine every pet project of every congresscritter into one giant "deal" of a bill. Every issue should stand on its own merit. If a single subject can't get majority support without a "deal" tying it and many other unwanted subjects together into one giant mess, then none of them should be enacted.
ARE YOU LISTENING, NEW REPUBLICAN HOUSE?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI wish everything could get a stand alone vote.
I predict they will repeal DADT and few, if any, soldiers will leave the service.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSo long as unemployment is hovering around double-digits, yes, almost no one will leave. And, let's not forget that the vast majority of US service members are under a contract of obligation. They simply couldn't "just leave", even if they wanted to.
It would be several years before we knew what effects, if any, the repeal of DADT would have on enlistment/re-enlistment. Personally, as a retired Marine officer, I think that the recruitment/retention problems will be negligible, if discernible at all, but I do think there will be an uptick, and perhaps a significant uptick, in discipline and morale problems.
Perhaps while our nation is involved in two theaters of operation (and with involvement in the Korean peninsula increasingly likely everyday), we should let the current policy prevail. This might be one of those rare issues where procrastination is actually the best course of action.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"They simply couldn't 'just leave', even if they wanted to."
Class action for breach of contract. That would be interesting with two wars going on. No, it probably wouldn't work, but it would be fun to watch.
It'll be all good until soldiers accidentally stumble into the on-base Enlisted Club on Gay Night. Cue the music from "The Blue Oyster"... MAHONEY!
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"...via a special rule that would allow the measure to bypass the Senate’s committee process."
I thought Congress stopped using committees in January 2009.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSpecial rules, bypassing committees - deja vu all over again. Reid's speciality.
@gullyborg - couldn't agree more. Have you checked out the CR/Omnibus bill the lame ducks want to pass after this tax monster gets through...if it does? It's even worse.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseGood article here and click on the links for more mind-blowing info. External Link
Count me as another agreeing with @gullyborg.
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