Will the Republicans obstruct the Russian treaty?

[Declan]

@Squink

*Remember Clinton? He’s the guy who didn’t let a brand new nuclear power hatch in North Korea ON HIS WATCH.

Why is India popping into my head for some reason.
Declan

[Donovan]

@Declan

Why is India popping into my head for some reason.
Declan

Not sure - they proved their nuclear capabilities in the 70’s.

maybe you should be thinking of Pakistan? (which actually is a hell of a lot scarier to me than India )

[Squink]

G.O.P. Senators Detail Objections to Arms Treaty

From the beginning, Mr. Kyl wrote, he has been clear that he “could not support reductions in U.S. nuclear forces unless there is adequate attention to modernizing those forces and the infrastructure that supports them.” The administration has committed to spend more money for that purpose, but “there remain a few substantial concerns about the adequacy of the proposed budget,” the memo said.

“Until these issues are resolved, it will be difficult to adequately assess the updated 1251 plan, despite the welcome increases in proposed spending,” the memo added, using a term referring to the modernization proposal. “And as has always been clear, assurances from the appropriate authorizers and appropriators must be obtained to ensure that the enacted budget reflects the president’s request.”

The memo, circulated privately to Republican senators on Wednesday…

Translation: “We won’t vote for it because we don’t trust Obama to do the ‘right’ things”

White house response:

“Modernization is needed. As the paper notes, the weapons complex was underfunded” for the five previous years. “It took several years of underfunding in the period before the president took office to get in this hole,” he said. “President Obama has a plan to get us out of it.”

[Squink]

Brent Scowcroft on Republican opposition to nuclear arms control treaty:

“It’s not clear to me what it is,” said Brent Scowcroft, a former national security adviser to President George H.W. Bush who noted that this START treaty is not very different from previous ones negotiated and ratified under Republican presidents. “I’ve got to think that it’s the increasingly partisan nature and the desire for the president not to have a foreign policy victory.”

START puts Richard Lugar on the spot

None of that "No one could have imagined? horseshit from Brent. There’s a former NS advisor who can think his way out of a wet paper bag!

[Happy_Fun_Ball]

@Squink

Brent Scowcroft on Republican opposition to nuclear arms control treaty:START puts Richard Lugar on the spot

None of that "No one could have imagined? horseshit from Brent. There’s a former NS advisor who can think his way out of a wet paper bag!

Wow, did you read some of the hate in the comments of that article? Is Politico a super right-wing site? Those comments read like it is Fox Nation or Free Republic.

[Squink]

@L. G. Butts

Wow, did you read some of the hate in the comments of that article? Is Politico a super right-wing site? Those comments read like it is Fox Nation or Free Republic.

Wikipedia:

After liberal watchdog group Media Matters for America accused Politico of having a “Republican tilt,” Politico’s Ben Smith answered: "Media Matters has a point: …that Bush’s public endorsement made us seem too close to the White House.

The whack jobs over at Conservapedia:

Politico pretends to be unbiased but their reporting has leaned overwhelmingly to the left. They consistently attack conservative positions and people such as congresswoman Michele Bachmann and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin…

[Squink]

Russia’s Medvedev warns of new arms race

Medvedev called for closer cooperation with the United States and the European Union, holding out the prospect of closer ties two decades after the Soviet Union’s collapse ended the Cold War.

He said tension would ratchet up fast, forcing Russia to bolster its military arsenal, if Western offers of cooperation on a system to defend against missile threats failed to produce a concrete agreement.

The warning appeared to reflect wariness in the Kremlin over uncertainty about Senate ratification of New START, the nuclear arms limitation pact Medvedev signed with President Barack Obama in April…

Republicans seem willing to bring on a new cold war in their effort to deny president Obama victory.
Will our children thank them as a new generation learns ‘Duck and Cover’ from Bert the Turtle?

[Pierrot_Le_Fou]

@boytyperanma

In order to ratify such a treaty it requires 67 votes in the senate.

A quorum only requires 51 senators. So the minimum number of senators needed is 35.

[Lantern]

@Squink

Brent Scowcroft on Republican opposition to nuclear arms control treaty:START puts Richard Lugar on the spot

None of that "No one could have imagined? horseshit from Brent. There’s a former NS advisor who can think his way out of a wet paper bag!

Wow that article makes for depressing reading. This is a treaty supported by Baker, Kissinger and Scowcroft and yet has almost no support among GOP senators? It illustrates how extreme and nutty the GOP has become . It's not a party fit to govern a country and it's hard to see how the US can conduct an effective foreign policy with this level of craziness in one of its major parties.

[Squink]

GOP Senator to Dems: If you try to pass DADT, Republicans won’t pass START

Senator Bob Corker doubled down on his contention that if Dems move on DADT, Republicans will be less likely to support START
…
Corker said he wasn’t issuing a personal threat, and was merely commenting on the reaction of his Senate GOP colleagues. When I pressed Senator Corker on whether Republican Senators would really base their decision on START on whether Reid held a vote on DADT, Corker didn’t answer directly.
"That being thrown into the middle of this debate is causing many Republicans to want to see START pushed back and candidly is causing them to oppose it,

[ElvisL1ves]

They don’t have 40 votes. Suck it, Bob.

[Captain_Amazing]

@ElvisL1ves

They don’t have 40 votes. Suck it, Bob.

They only need 34, though. Do they have that?