THE DAILY BLADE: There’s Many A Slip ‘Twixt The Cup And The Lip
For the last two days Washington, D.C. has been all atwitter over the possibility that Dems might lose control of the Senate before the first minute of the first 100 hours.
The House needs each and every Dem vote in the Senate to pass all the legislation that Speaker Nancy Pelosi promised to push through during this period: Enact every recommendation made in the 9-11Commission Report, raise the minimum wage, enable the government to negotiate drug prices directly with the pharmaceutical companies to lower costs for senior citizens, halve the interest rate on student loans and undo President Bush’s ban on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.
The political calculus is that if Sen. Tim Johnson’s (D-SD) health problems prevent him from serving on or before January 4th when the 110th Congress convenes, the governor of South Dakota, Mike Rounds, could replace him with a fellow Republican – which would mean that the 51-49 Democratic majority becomes a 50-50 split. This is tantamount to Republicans retaining control because Vice President Dick Cheney would cast the tie-breaking vote.
But the math doesn’t quite add up, because under the Seventeenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, a state governor may appoint a replacement if there is a vacancy - as when a sitting senator dies or resigns.
As of this writing, Johnson is recovering, but remains in critical condition after emergency surgery to repair bleeding in his brain caused by a rare and sometimes fatal, congenital malformation of blood vessels. After visiting him in the hospital Thursday afternoon, the U.S. Capitol physician said Johnson was on "an uncomplicated postoperative course."
According to Senate historian Donald Ritchie Senate rules also permit lawmakers to serve out their terms unless they resign or die – and absent commission of a crime, no senator can be forced out.
So Johnson can retain his seat even if he is incapacitated and never shows up to vote. That would mean the Dems would have a one-vote majority, and cannot afford a single defection on any piece of legislation.
The ground becomes even shakier for the Dem platform when you consider the Grim Reaper may be stalking a couple of other Dems, as John Fund notes in OpinionJournal’s Political Diary (subscription required): "Hawaii is represented by two 82-year old Democrats, Daniel Inouye and Dan Akaka, and Hawaii's Republican Governor Linda Lingle would presumably nominate someone of her own party if a vacancy developed."
Though admittedly ghoulish, this new political parlor game is kinda fun. At 89 years old Robert Byrd (D-WV) is even older than Hawaii’s senators. But the governor of WV Joe Manchin III, is also a Dem so Republicans would not gain a seat should Byrd meet his Maker. If Manchin (who is pro-life, and favors tax cuts) replaces him with a Blue Dog or moderate Dem, he does Pelosi no favors.
But there is one other elderly senator representing a state with a governor who belongs to a different party: 74-year old Ted Kennedy. Were Sen. Kennedy to be unable to complete his term because of morbidity or mortality, you would think - as The Stiletto did - the governor of MA, Mitt Romney, could replace him with a Republican.
Well, you’d be wrong because in July 2004 when the delusion that John Kerry might actually win the presidency was at its peak, the MA state legislature stripped Gov. Romney of his power to appoint an interim senator until the next biennial election. Should something untoward happen to Kennedy – or even to Kerry, for that matter - the post would remain vacant until a special election is held. Of course, this scenario becomes moot come January, when Governor-elect Deval Patrick, a Dem, takes office.
The Stiletto states unequivocally that she does not wish ill on anyone – especially during the holiday season.
Editorial Note: The Stiletto was writing this post in the wee hours of the morning (though not as wee as 4:20), and the original version referred to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a context that was irrelevant since this post concerns the Senate. Also, the state of MA doesn't fill vacancies in the U.S. Senate the way other states do - surprise! The post has since been corrected for clarity and accuracy.
Court: Murderer Didn’t Get Burned Because Juror Didn’t Smoke
The Ohio Supreme Court unanimously rejected an appeal from death row inmate Phillip E. Elmore, whose lawyers argued that the jury was anxious to reach a verdict quickly because the judge disallowed cigarette breaks during deliberations. Only one member of the jury was a smoker and Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, who authored the opinion, noted that "There is no support in the record for Elmore's claim that the juror who wished to smoke was under any additional stress occasioned by 'mentally wanting, and physically needing to smoke tobacco."' Elmore bludgeoned his ex-girlfriend to death, on her son's wedding day. The jury needed just six hours to convict Elmore and another three hours to recommend his execution.
You’d Think With Seven Legs It Would’ve Run Faster
Rick Lisko is a deer hunter, but his last kill occurred when he accidentally ran over a young buck running across the road. Or was it a young doe? The ruminant had both male and female genitalia. Yup, another shemale deer (third item, "The Daily Blade," November 29, 2006). But the freakiness didn’t stop there. This deer had seven legs – several growing from the back legs and another from one of the front legs. The extra legs were three- to four-inches long, looked like "crab pinchers," according to Lisko. Although the deer gave Lisko "the creeps," he had the animal butchered and ate it. "It was tasty," he tells The Associated Press.
Just curious to know if the author knows much about our government and how it operates. Johnson is a Senator, Pelosi is a member of the House of Representatives. Different animals, so how does Johnsons problem become Pelosi's?
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Well, everyone screws up once in a while. Considering that there are 457 entries and 147,899 words on this blog, a screw up was bound to happen sooner or later. The problem here was a very, very tired Stiletto moving paragraphs around too many times and juxtaposing things that should not have been. The post has since been corrected, but the point was supposed to be that Nancy Pelosi wants to get all this stuff enacted, but nothing the House does will matter if the Senate doesn't play ball. The House proposes, the Senate disposes.
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