A more productive Senate already this year than last year? - Granite Grok

A more productive Senate already this year than last year?

From The Hill:

The new Republican-controlled Senate has already voted on more amendments in one week than the Democratic-controlled Senate considered in all of 2014.

Republican senators applauded the feat when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced it on the Senate floor.

“We’ve actually reached a milestone here that I think is noteworthy for the Senate. We just cast our 15th roll-call vote on an amendment on this bill, which is more votes — more roll-call votes on amendments than the entire United States Senate [did] in all of 2014,” he said.McConnell made his announcement while colleagues were in the midst of churning through a batch of 10 amendments

Gosh, the only big differences I know of in the Senate are:

  • The Republicans hold the majority
  • Democrat Harry Reid is no longer the Majority Leader (who controls what gets voted upon) – it is Republican Mitch McConnel.

So, as far as those rants of last year that the Republicans were the “obstructionist party” kinda ring hollow now, don’t they?  Let me be clear (as Rush would say, a little Obama lingo) though – it ISN’T the volume that matters but the quality of the legislation that actually passes.  And for Republicans, it should always be to closer move the country towards the philosophy expressed in the Platform otherwise why bother?

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