Do nothing Senate?

[adaher]

I personally don’t think the Senate has been a “do nothing” Senate. I think Congress as a whole is working just fine. I also think Reid was right to engage the nuclear option given how difficult it was getting to fill vacant posts.

[BrainGlutton]

@Measure_for_Measure

The underlying principle is that the government should be a institution that forges deals between different sectors of society.

But, the two houses of Congress do not represent different sectors of society.

[Marley23]

@Clu-Me-In

If there are that many Bills waiting for Senate consideration, shouldn’t we be talking about the Do-nothing-Senate instead of the Do-Nothing-Congress?

Whatever the numbers are, these bills are not waiting for Senate consideration. They have no chance of passing, so they’re not coming up for a vote. House Republicans pass a lot of bills they know won’t get through the Senate (and wouldn’t be signed into law if they did pass) as a way of playing to their constituents. They’re not interested in coming up with laws that stand a chance at getting enacted, once in a while you’ll find them killing bills that do have a chance at passing.

[Mr.Duality]

@BrainGlutton

But, the two houses of Congress do not represent different sectors of society.

True. They represent only the rich and powerful.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/21/americas-oligarchy-not-democracy-or-republic-unive/

[BrainGlutton]

@Zakalwe

How many Senate bills has the House refused to take up? For that matter, how many House bills has the House refused to take up because of the Hastert “Rule”?

If I were Harry Reid, I’d offer Boehner a deal: All those House bills can go to the Senate if the House GOP drops the Hastert Rule.

[Ravenman]

There’s no way I’m going to do enough research to list all of the bills, but here are some of the proposals that have passed the House but have not gone anywhere in the Senate:

1. To provide for the award of a gold medal on behalf of Congress to Jack Nicklaus, in recognition of his service to the Nation in promoting excellence, good sportsmanship, and philanthropy.
2. To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 220 Elm Avenue in Munising, Michigan, as the “Elizabeth L. Kinnunen Post Office Building”.
3. Reducing Excessive Deadline Obligations Act of 2013.
4. To amend title 23, United States Code, with respect to the operation of vehicles on certain Wisconsin highways, and for other purposes.
5. STOP IRS Act.
6. Social Media Working Group Act of 2014.
7. Collectible Coin Protection Act.
8. To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 418 Liberty Street in Covington, Indiana, as the “Fountain County Veterans Memorial Post Office”.
9. Gerardo Hernandez Airport Security Act of 2014.
10. To require the Secretary of Energy to prepare a report on the impact of thermal insulation on both energy and water use for potable hot water.

Now, there are other bills that are a lot more important, but they are certainly in the minority.

[BrainGlutton]

@Ravenman

There’s no way I’m going to do enough research to list all of the bills, but here are some of the proposals that have passed the House but have not gone anywhere in the Senate:

1. To provide for the award of a gold medal on behalf of Congress to Jack Nicklaus, in recognition of his service to the Nation in promoting excellence, good sportsmanship, and philanthropy.
2. To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 220 Elm Avenue in Munising, Michigan, as the “Elizabeth L. Kinnunen Post Office Building”.
3. Reducing Excessive Deadline Obligations Act of 2013.
4. To amend title 23, United States Code, with respect to the operation of vehicles on certain Wisconsin highways, and for other purposes.
5. STOP IRS Act.

Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick.

The STOP IRS Act, however you feel about it, is not some innocuous little private-bill thing like the others.

[Captain_Amazing]

@Ravenman

9. Gerardo Hernandez Airport Security Act of 2014.

This isn’t really a minor bill. It’s not on the level of naming post offices, at least. Gerardo Hernandez was a TSA agent killed during the 2013 LAX shooting, and the bill mandates that airports put in place policies to deal with security threats and incidents of terrorism and violence, and that the Department of Homeland Security coordinate that, review their plans, provide technical assistance to airports in establishing the plans, and provide an information clearinghouse for airports to communicate with each other regarding security plans.

It’s not unimportant, and the Senate should pass it.

[Ravenman]

To be clear, I never said nor meant to imply that the limited list was cherry-picked to be unimportant things. I think it’s a roughly representative sample of the bills that are waiting for action: the trivial (post office naming bills), the good ideas (sounds like the TSA bill may be one of those, and really important I just alluded to (the budget bills to keep the government open past September 30).

But it also sounds like most of the TSA bill is something that can be done by executive order - though the President might face a future lawsuit for improving airport security.

[BigAppleBucky]

@bengangmo

Scrolling through the list - and picking out titles that look interesting…

**223. H.R. 2868, Chemical and Water Security Act **, so this bill, while it hasn’t been passed is redundant / moot

Is “Chemical and Water Security Act” an Orwellian name for a bill that would allow Georgia Pacific and the coal companies to even more massively pollute the nation’s waterways than they do now?

[BigAppleBucky]

As a casual coin collector, I see the “Collectible Coin Protection Act” as a proper technical correction to a prior law. It had bipartisan support in the House and no opposition that I am aware of.

Would it have been filibustered in the Senate? If so, why?