GARY BAUER

To: Friends & Supporters

From: Gary L. Bauer


Will Harry Nuke The Senate?

Just when you think the atmosphere in Washington can't get any worse, Senate Democrat Leader Harry Reid is threatening to procedurally blow up the Senate.

Reid has scheduled votes next week on a number of Barack Obama's most controversial nominees. Senate Republicans have been using prolonged debate, or the filibuster, to block these nominations. But now Sen. Reid is threatening to change the Senate's rules unless the GOP backs down.

Normally, it takes a super-majority of 67 votes to change the Senate's rules. But there is a precedent that permits a rules change with just a bare majority of 51 votes. This move is so extreme, it's known as the "nuclear option."

So why are Republicans risking it? Most of these nominees are far left ideologues. But Reid is also demanding that the Senate vote to confirm four individuals Barack Obama initially installed using recess appointments that were later declared illegal by two federal courts. Here's how Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell explained it:

"Senate Democrats are getting ready to do permanent damage to this body to confirm three unconstitutionally appointed nominees by a simple majority vote. If this isn't the definition of a power grab, I don't know what is: the president appoints three people unconstitutionally. The second highest court in the land confirms that they were unlawfully appointed. And Senate Democrats want to break the rules of the Senate to confirm them. … So this isn't really a fight over nominees at all. It's a fight over these illegal, unconstitutional nominees."

If Republicans don't concede to Reid's and Obama's demands, Reid has informed the White House that he is prepared to invoke the "nuclear option" to change the Senate rules so that filibusters on executive nominations could be stopped with 51 votes, instead of 60.

Reid's move would justify future majority leaders invoking the "nuclear option" on judicial nominations and then legislation, eventually leading to the end of all filibusters. That would effectively turn the Senate into a smaller version of the House, where the majority rules with an iron fist.

By the way, when Democrats stonewalled George W. Bush's judicial nominees, the Republican Senate majority briefly considered this same option. Guess who ran to the Senate floor to oppose it? Barack Obama and Harry Reid.

For the moment, it's not entirely clear whether Reid has the votes to prevail. With 54 Democrats in his caucus, at least two Democrats are believed to be against the move and two more are reportedly undecided. Other Democrats have expressed reservations, knowing that there will be a future Republican majority in the Senate, perhaps even after next year's elections. It could come down to Vice President Joe Biden casting the deciding vote.

If Reid follows through on his threat, Republicans have vowed to shut down the Senate. Stay tuned!


Keeping Faith With Our Troops

This week a broad coalition of organizations, including my public policy organization American Values, came together to sound the alarm against growing religious bigotry in the military. Our action was prompted after a series of disturbing events that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.

For example, last year the Obama Administration attempted to censor Catholic priests in the military. In April news broke that an Army Reserve unit in Pennsylvania had received a briefing that labeled "Evangelical Christianity" and "Catholicism" examples of "religious extremism." In May a painting featuring a Bible verse at an Idaho Air Force base was taken down after it was deemed "repugnant" by the left-wing Military Religious Freedom Foundation.

Much of the attack on faith is coming from Mikey Weinstein and his so-called Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Weinstein's efforts have nothing to do with religious freedom. Instead, Weinstein is waging a battle to purge faith from military.

The day after the Boston Marathon bombings, Weinstein published a column about "bloody monsters," "monsters of human degradation, marginalization, humiliation and tyranny." He warned about "their rapacious reign of theocratic terror."

Weinstein wasn't writing about Islamic jihadists. He was referring to "fundamentalist Christian monsters" inside the U.S. military. He even told the Washington Post recently that he wants officers court-martialed for sharing their faith.

That is why a number of groups dedicated to religious liberty have stepped forward to defend the religious freedom our soldiers. A website has been created at militaryfreedom.org.

If you are serving in the military and may be concerned about a possible violation of your religious rights, please visit this site. If you have friends or family members serving in uniform, share this with them. There are helpful resources available, including a link to an allied organization providing legal assistance.


Social Issues And Conservatives

I recently spoke with Jeremy Dys, president of the Family Policy Council of West Virginia, about the state of our culture, politics and public policy. It was a wide-ranging discussion on issues such as the sanctity of life, traditional marriage, the family, economic policy and the precarious position of values voters.

Is there any hope for the Democrat Party? Should values voters stick with the GOP? My answers might surprise you. Click here to listen online.

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