trent lott Archives

Trent Lott on Ted Cruz – “Cut His Legs Out from Under Him”

Just as House Speaker John Boehner was concluding a brief press conference on Monday afternoon—declaring that House GOPers would once again send to the Senate a bill funding the government that would block Obamacare, practically ensuring a government shutdown—I bumped into former Republican Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, who now works at Patton Boggs, a powerhouse law and lobbying firm in Washington. Glad not to be part of the mess? I asked.

“I’m of two minds,” Lott said. “I’d like to be in the arena and help work something out. But it’s gotten too nasty and too mean these days. I couldn’t work with these guys.”

What do you think of how Boehner and the House Republicans are handling this?

“They’ve made their point,” Lott huffed. “It’s time to say enough and move on.” Referring to the die-hard tea partiers in the House Republican caucus, he added, “These new guys don’t care about making things work.” Lott noted that in the mid-1990s, he warned then-Speaker Newt Gingrich not to force a government shutdown. “I knew it wouldn’t be good for us,” he said.

So how does this end? Lott said he still was optimistic that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell could step in and negotiate a deal—maybe a short-term continuation of spending. (Not too long ago, I noted that the odds of a successful McConnell intervention were low.)

I asked Lott if his old GOP pals still serving in the Senate have lost control of their party. How do they feel about that? I inquired. Lott shook his head: “That Ted Cruz. They have to teach him something or cut his legs out from under him.”

Cut his legs out? Yeah, Lott replied with a chuckle.

Even Republican Leaders Admit To Being Obstructionists – Harry Reid Promises Change

His name is Trent Lott. He was the Senate Minority Whip for the Republicans and in 2007 when Democrats took control of the Senate, Trent explained how a small minority of Republicans were being successful in controlling the majority – by being obstructionists.

Lott explained the strategy: “The strategy of being obstructionist can work or fail… So far it’s working for us.”

That was then, and Lott is no longer in the Senate. But his “obstructionist strategy” continued through Obama’s first term and with over 370 filibusters, Republicans have shown the country that they have no intention in working with the President or Democrats in accomplishing anything. They have shown no will to compromise. Their goal is to try and make President Obama’s presidency a failure.

The Washington Post listed some of the bills that died because of the Republican Block Party. These bills include:

The DREAM Act
The DISCLOSE Act
Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)
The Public option
Paycheck Fairness Act
Permanent middle-class Bush tax cut extension
Rescinding of the upper-income Bush tax cuts
Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act
Emergency Senior Citizens Relief Act
Creating American Jobs and Ending Offshoring Act
American Jobs Act
The Buffett rule
Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act of 2011
Repeal Big Oil Tax Subsidies Act

With the new Senate starting in January, many are looking towards Senate Leader Harry Reid to make changes to the Filibuster process, thereby, taking away some of the Republican’s power in blocking bills. Making these changes are not going to be easy. The filibuster’s original goal was to bring a sense of balance to the Senate when it’s used accordingly. So expect Republicans to put up the fight of their lives trying to keep that status quo.

Harry Reid however, is promising change. He explains:

“We’re going to change the rules. We cannot continue in this way. I hope we can get something that the Republicans will work with us on.”

“But it won’t be a handshake, we tried that last time. It didn’t work.”

If Reid is serious about making changes to the Filibuster, this could be the next big fight in Washington after the Fiscal Cliff. January is approaching, and all eyes would be on Harry Reid.