by the Left Coast Rebel
Senator-elect Rand Paul of Kentucky is impressing me more by the day. A recent incident (Thursday of this week) in the bowels of the United States upper chamber of Congress highlight Senator Paul's willingness to call out leadership on both sides of the aisle for lack of adherence to principles (or not having any principles, whatsoever).
Having said that, Harry Reid is an easy target on the Libya war issue and the National Review, via. Memeorandum, has the story:
Washington — Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.), a Tea Party favorite, has boxed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) into a corner. After a quiet day of quorum calls and speeches, Reid abruptly adjourned the upper chamber Thursday and postponed votes until Monday. According to numerous Hill staffers, Paul deserves some credit for the impasse.I wish we had video of the incident above but Rand Paul's comments on the Senate floor the day before will do just fine:
Here’s the back story: On Wednesday, Paul, with little notice, attached an amendment to the small-business re-authorization bill. The amendment, which chastises President Obama for his actions in Libya, urges members to adopt the president’s own words as “the sense of the Senate.”
To make his point, Paul quoted, in the legislative language, from Obama’s 2007 remarks on the subject: “The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.” According to Paul’s office, “the measure aims to put the Senate on record affirming Congress as the body with constitutional authority on matters of war.”
GOP sources tell National Review Online that Paul’s proposal flummoxed Reid, who does not want his members to have to weigh in on Obama’s dusty quote about congressional authority, even if the vote is only to table the measure. (Continue Reading)
