Democratic efforts to push through more than 100 public lands and water bills in the lame duck session are reaching a fever pitch, with the recognition this is the last chance many of them have to become law.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has tasked Democratic leaders on at least three committees to come up with a list of bills that could get past a GOP filibuster.
They may also need to be able to secure the two-thirds support that would be needed if the House tries to expedite the package without amendments in a tight legislative calendar.
Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) told reporters Thursday that she has given Reid a draft list of bills to consider. That evolving list is believed to include plans to provide protection to the Chesapeake Bay, Great Lakes, Lake Tahoe, the Gulf of Mexico and the San Francisco Bay.
“The issue is getting 60 votes, which we think we can,” Boxer said.
This is like having over 100 people try to get out of a building that's on fire through a small window. Having all of them try to get through the window all at once will just ensure that none of them will. It'd cause a major traffic jam.
The same will happen here. Lumping all of the bills is doomed to fail. While a few of the bills may have enough bipartisan support to pass individually on a normal day, all-together, there is no way.
One of the things that enraged voters this election was that Pelosi was having people vote on legislation that she said that she had no idea what was in it, and the only way that they could find out was to pass it. Even though it doesn't look like the Democrats have heard the American people, it seems that the Republicans have, and I don't see them letting that happen. Besides, Senate Republicans have already said that they're going to insta-filibuster any bill that doesn't have anything to the tax cut extensions or the federal budget.
This monster bill will be DOA on the Senate bill.
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