# The Republican Obstructionist Tactic **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 26, 2010, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-obstructionist-tactic/530577 "2010-02-26T22:35:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-obstructionist-tactic/530577/21 "2010-02-27T20:26:48Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Cite that any Senate Republican has been convicted of raping goats? > **[Man Accused of Having Sex With A Goat…](https://fairlane.wordpress.com/2007/08/13/man-accused-of-having-sex-with-a-goat/)** > > A (Human) man is set to be arraigned later this week for having sex with a goat. The witness in the case, although still in shock, agreed to grant Jonestown a brief Interview, “I can’t … “The Judge then ordered the Defendant to stay away from Barns, Petting Zoos, and any and all Republican Fund Raisers.” ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-obstructionist-tactic/530577/22 "2010-02-27T22:06:09Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > [Man Accused of Having Sex With A Goat… | Jonestown](http://fairlane.wordpress.com/2007/08/13/man-accused-of-having-sex-with-a-goat/) > > “The Judge then ordered the Defendant to stay away from Barns, Petting Zoos, and any and all Republican Fund Raisers.” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-obstructionist-tactic/530577/23 "2010-02-27T22:37:32Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Pretty much the entire target, given that the Republicans are NOT using obstructionist tactics. Far too many of them are voting with the Dems for that to be happening. Like Bunning recently did? Not obstructionist at all :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-obstructionist-tactic/530577/24 "2010-02-28T04:24:17Z")
No one said they haven’t been _completely_ unobstructionist. Of course they have. But so have Democrats. Both parties have, since there have been political parties. It’s what they do. They compromise where they can, then try to stop the other side if they can’t compromise. So citing any specific instance of obstructionism doesn’t make the point of the OP, which claimed they are “shouting down everything”, even if they like it, and then said that this is causing the government to be unable to function. He then repeated that they were shutting everything down. This is blatantly untrue, as my link to [OpenCongress.org](http://OpenCongress.org) plainly shows. Of course, anyone who watches the news would have noticed that the government passed the 15 billion dollar stimulus package through the Senate with a 70-28 vote margin, so it’s not just trivial legislation that’s been passed. In fact, Mitch McConnell’s blanket hold made such waves precisely because it DID stop the normal flow of government bill passing - for a few days. Other than that, the government has been functioning quite well. Unless of course, you define ‘not functioning’ as ‘not giving Democrats everything they want’. ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-obstructionist-tactic/530577/25 "2010-02-28T05:37:23Z")
> [@Ca3799](#): > > Today (on another MB I frequent), I saw someone complaining about how at the HC meeting, the Republican’s weren’t allowed to speak as much as the Dem’s. The claim was: > > “DEMOCRATS 233 minutes. > REPUBLICANS 110 minutes. > OBAMA solo 119 minutes” > > The meeting was approximately 360 minutes. Those numbers add up to 462 minutes. That’s two hours “extra”. Actually, an interpretation more compatible with the ~360 minutes is that the first number includes the “Obama solo”…So, in other words, Obama talked for 119 minutes, Democratic legislators talked for 114 minutes and Repubican legislators for 110 minutes (and that still leaves 17 minutes for coffee and doughnuts…or milk and cookies). Of course, presenting it this way, gives it a considerably different spin. > [@Sam Stone](#): > > No one said they haven’t been completely unobstructionist. Of course they have. But so have Democrats. Both parties have, since there have been political parties. It’s what they do. They compromise where they can, then try to stop the other side if they can’t compromise. And, both the person who steals a loaf of bread and the person who robs a bank are stealing. To say that both do it still begs the question of who does it to a greater degree. I haven’t seen rigorous figures on that but I have seen it pointed out that Republican Presidents, like G.W. and Reagan, have managed to get much of their agenda (like their tax cuts) passed even though apparently they haven’t enjoyed a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate since like the 1920s. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-obstructionist-tactic/530577/26 "2010-02-28T05:55:26Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > Like Bunning recently did? Not obstructionist at all :rolleyes: That’s just one Senator, not the whole Republican Party. The GOP is preventing the major peaces of Obama’s reform from going through, that is, cap and trade, financial reform, and health care. But all those initiatives go against core Republican beliefs of having less regulation in the market and not adding to the deficit. They’re only preventing the major pieces of Obama’s agenda from becoming law. You can argue that they’re wrong, but it’s not as if the whole party is obstructing all of government from working. Bunning is acting on his own. With so far lukewarm support from his own party members, but only because they’re in the same party. He’s blocking job benefits because he doesn’t want to add 10 billion dollars to the deficit even though he’s voted for bills before that have added more money to the deficit. He’s essentially being a complete dick. But the rest of the party isn’t as misguided as he is. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-obstructionist-tactic/530577/27 "2010-02-28T06:13:40Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > He’s essentially being a complete dick. But the rest of the party isn’t as misguided as he is. I wouldn’t go that far. We don’t want to cheat the rest of the Republican Party of the recognition of their status as a giant bag of dicks. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-obstructionist-tactic/530577/28 "2010-02-28T06:59:51Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > …They’re only preventing the major pieces of Obama’s agenda from becoming law. You can argue that they’re wrong, but it’s not as if the whole party is obstructing all of government from working… Oh, is that all? Merely preventing Obama from implementing his agenda? The one he ran on? The one _they_ ran on? The one that kicked ass from Waco to Wasilla? You remember, it wasn’t that long ago. And not just losing the popular vote by half a million and calling it a mandate. A genuine pure-D ass whuppin. My understanding was thats kinda like you go to the boss, say “Here’s my plan” and the boss says yes, do it. The boss being the people. Who voted for Obama, and his agenda. Am I missing something important here? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-obstructionist-tactic/530577/29 "2010-02-28T07:02:18Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > But all those initiatives go against core Republican beliefs of having less regulation in the market and not adding to the deficit. Since when is “not adding to the deficit” a core Republican belief? Seriously, when? ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-obstructionist-tactic/530577/30 "2010-02-28T07:20:04Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Am I missing something important here? It’s not as clear cut as Obama gets elected so then he has a mandate to do whatever he wants. Republicans have constituents who don’t want to see Obama’s agenda passed. So they are doing whatever they can to stop it. It’s not the fault of Republican Senators that their constituents are pretty far right conservatives. If the rules allow Republicans to block what they know their constituents don’t like then they should do it. That’s democracy. I wanted my Senators to do the same thing when Bush was in power. The problem is that the country is so polarized right now that 60 votes results in a significant compromise of values from the party that has the majority of the votes. That’s only a recent change. When filibusters started the country wasn’t as polarized, and they were a decent way for the minority not to get completely shut out of legislation. I think the rules should probably be changed so that the senate can get stuff passed with majority vote. The country is different and the filibuster doesn’t make any sense anymore. But while it’s around it would be foolish not to use it if you or your voters think a bill is going to bankrupt the country. > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Since when is “not adding to the deficit” a core Republican belief? > > Seriously, when? It’s a conservative belief. GOP constituents believe in it. Republicans have strayed from this in the past and were voted out of power. They have legitimate reasons for going back to this belief. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-obstructionist-tactic/530577/31 "2010-02-28T07:40:00Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > It’s a conservative belief. GOP constituents believe in it. Republicans have strayed from this in the past and were voted out of power. They have legitimate reasons for going back to this belief. Yeah, right. They’re going back to it now because the people now holding the bag for all the deficits from the Bush Administration, and all the additional deficit spending to address the economic catastrophe brought on by the Bush Administration, are Democrats. If Republicans really had principled objections to increasing the deficit, they’d have voted Republican deficit spenders out of office back in 2004. Republican credibility as deficit hawks has by now completely evaporated. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-obstructionist-tactic/530577/32 "2010-02-28T08:25:06Z")
I agree with **Kimstu**. “Not adding to the deficit” is a talking point that Republicans abandon when it’s their turn at the trough. It’s been that way for 30 years. Hell, for every Republican president that spends us into the poorhouse, their deluded voters become even more convinced that they’re the party to set things right. ---
**Author:** ![Sinaptics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Sinaptics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinaptics)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-obstructionist-tactic/530577/33 "2010-02-28T13:08:15Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > This is blatantly untrue, as my link to [OpenCongress.org](http://OpenCongress.org) plainly shows. Of course, anyone who watches the news would have noticed that the government passed the 15 billion dollar stimulus package through the Senate with a 70-28 vote margin, so it’s not just trivial legislation that’s been passed. You’re completely glossing over the point that only ONE republican senator voted for cloture. Brown. The senate Republicans were being obstructionist when it suited them, when it actually came to a vote, many actually supported it. Can you explain why at least 9 Republicans didn’t vote for cloture, but voted for the bill? ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-obstructionist-tactic/530577/34 "2010-02-28T13:13:19Z")
Conservatives are making deceit into an Olympic sport. A bill that has 2-3 Republican votes for cloture is an example of “bi-partisanship”. A bill that has 10 or 20 Democrats voting for it is passed “over Democratic opposition”. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-obstructionist-tactic/530577/35 "2010-02-28T14:00:24Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > It’s a conservative belief. GOP constituents believe in it. It’s a Republican lip service. No Republican President since I’ve been alive (Nixon), has done anything but lip service. Eg, Tax and Spend Democrats are EVIL but somehow “Cut taxes and increase spending” is fiscally conservative. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-obstructionist-tactic/530577/36 "2010-02-28T14:19:19Z")
The thing that frustrates people is they fail to understand for all the “united” feelings of the parties, America’s two party system isn’t like it is in Europe or even Canada. On most issues the parties aren’t that far apart. There are a lot of Democratic congressmen who don’t care for Obama or his HCR. But they will put up with it as long as they know the Republicans are blocking it. If it seemed like it would pass these Democrats would change over. How do they know? There is off the record dealing between every memeber of congress. This isn’t illegal or nothing, it’s just talking off the record so on the record they’ll look better. A senator or representitive isn’t concerned about his/her party. He’s concerned about gettign re-elected. What does that mean? It means he puts his state first. If the people of his state don’t want something it doesn’t matter what party he/she represents. He/she does what is best for his/her state, in other words to get re-elected. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-obstructionist-tactic/530577/37 "2010-02-28T14:49:24Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > That’s just one Senator, not the whole Republican Party. The GOP is preventing the major peaces of Obama’s reform from going through, that is, cap and trade, financial reform, and health care. But all those initiatives go against core Republican beliefs of having less regulation in the market and not adding to the deficit. > > They’re only preventing the major pieces of Obama’s agenda from becoming law. You can argue that they’re wrong, but it’s not as if the whole party is obstructing all of government from working. > > Bunning is acting on his own…He’s essentially being a complete dick. But the rest of the party isn’t as misguided as he is. Fair enough, he (Bunning) was simply “That Guy” right now. I hope someone confronts him and gives him the “WTF is wrong with you” lecture. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-obstructionist-tactic/530577/38 "2010-02-28T18:41:40Z")
> [@Sinaptics](#): > > You’re completely glossing over the point that only ONE republican senator voted for cloture. Brown. The senate Republicans were being obstructionist when it suited them, when it actually came to a vote, many actually supported it. Can you explain why at least 9 Republicans didn’t vote for cloture, but voted for the bill? Maybe they thought more debate was a good idea because the bill wasn’t perfect, but once they were forced to vote they decided it was better than nothing? It wasn’t too long ago when a 15 billion dollar bill would be debated for months. That’s an amount of money almost the size of NASA’s annual budget. You shouldn’t just ram those through. ---
**Author:** ![twhitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@twhitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twhitt)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-obstructionist-tactic/530577/39 "2010-02-28T20:15:51Z")
> [@Sinaptics](#): > > You’re completely glossing over the point that only ONE republican senator voted for cloture. Brown. The senate Republicans were being obstructionist when it suited them, when it actually came to a vote, many actually supported it. Can you explain why at least 9 Republicans didn’t vote for cloture, but voted for the bill? There were five Republicans to vote for cloture, rather than one. They were Scott Brown, Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, George Voinovich and Christopher Bond. Also, 13 Republicans voted to approve the measure after the cloture vote. ---
**Author:** ![sleeping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@sleeping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeping)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-obstructionist-tactic/530577/40 "2010-02-28T20:51:14Z")
Invocations of cloture, 1947 to 2008: [http://www.ldjackson.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Cloture\_Voting\_U\_S\_\_Senate\_1947\_to\_2008.jpg](http://www.ldjackson.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Cloture_Voting_U_S__Senate_1947_to_2008.jpg) Check out the increase around 1993-1994, and surge in 2007-2008. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-obstructionist-tactic/530577.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-obstructionist-tactic/530577.md?page=3)