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 Post subject: DADT cloture vote
PostPosted: 12/18/10 6:00 am • # 1 
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Dont Ask Dont tell repeal has just passed the cloture vote. With sixty three yes votes. We only need  fifty for the actual repeal. An amazing day


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 Post subject: DADT cloture vote
PostPosted: 12/18/10 6:08 am • # 2 
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It is indeed great news, BEP ~ but I'm not celebrating until the final vote holds ~ Sooz

Senate advances bill to lift military gay ban
63-33 vote all but guarantees legislation will pass Senate, reach Obama

Associated Press
updated 2 hours 5 minutes ago 2010-12-18T16:53:40

The Senate has voted to move ahead on legislation that would overturn the military's 17-year-old ban on openly gay troops — a policy known as "don't ask, don't tell." The 63-33 vote all but guarantees the legislation will pass the Senate and reach President Barack Obama by year's end. Republicans had blocked previous votes on the bill on procedural grounds. But with a major tax bill finished and a Pentagon study released in favor of repealing the ban, several Republicans joined Democrats in supporting the bill. Final passage could come as early as Saturday afternoon.

In earlier developments, advocates vowed to leave nothing to chance and stepped up lobbying efforts in the hours before the vote, including a silent protest in the visitor seats overlooking the Senate floor.

"We simply cannot let the clock run out and lose this historic opportunity," said Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, whose supporters vowed to sit in the Senate gallery until the law was repealed.

Repeal would mean that for the first time in U.S. history, gays would be openly accepted by the military and could acknowledge their sexual orientation without fear of being kicked out. More than 13,500 service members have been dismissed under the 1993 "don't ask, don't tell" law requiring uniformed gays to hide their sexual identity.

Under the bill, the president and his top military advisers — the defense secretary and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — are required to certify to Congress that lifting the ban won't hurt troops' ability to fight. After that, 60 days must pass before any changes go into effect.

The House approved the bill earlier this week by a 250-174 vote.

'Battle effectiveness'
A small but vocal group of Republicans led by Sen. John McCain of Arizona said the law shouldn't be changed during wartime.

"We send these young people into combat," said McCain. "We think they're mature enough to fight and die. I think they're mature enough to make a judgment on who they want to serve with and the impact on their battle effectiveness."

The Democratic push for repeal was strengthened by the release of a major Pentagon study that concluded gays could serve openly without affecting combat effectiveness. The assessment found that two-thirds of troops predicted little impact if the law is repealed.

The study was strongly backed by the Pentagon's top leadership, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

McCain has dismissed the study as flawed and cites concern among troops assigned to the front lines. Some personnel predicted openly gay troops would cause problems. Most of them were in combat arms units such as infantry and special operations.

The chiefs of the Army and Marine Corps warned Congress that repeal could pose serious problems if the law is overturned when troops are still fighting in Afghanistan.

Gen. James Amos, the head of the Marine Corps, has become the most outspoken opponent and claims letting gay troops serve openly could cost lives.

Gates and Mullen say this fear is overblown. They note the Pentagon's finding that 92 percent of troops who believe they have served with a gay person saw no impact on their units' morale or effectiveness.

The bill appeared all but dead earlier this month when Senate Republicans voted for a second time this year to block the measure. The language was tucked into a broader defense policy bill that many Republican senators said required more debate than Democrats would allow. They also objected to taking up any legislation before addressing tax cuts and government spending.

Senate Democrats addressed many of the procedural objections, including completing the tax-cut legislation. They also stripped the repeal provision from the defense policy bill.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40715888/ns ... pitol_hill



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 Post subject: DADT cloture vote
PostPosted: 12/18/10 6:33 am • # 3 
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Far from a done deal.
They probably aren't delaying so they can get more time off and will vote against the bill.


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 Post subject: DADT cloture vote
PostPosted: 12/18/10 6:39 am • # 4 
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It's not a trick. IF it were no one in their right mind would of let the cloture vote of sixty yeas pass. Now the vote to repeal only needs fifty one votes. This is literally a done deal.


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 Post subject: DADT cloture vote
PostPosted: 12/18/10 6:55 am • # 5 
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We'll see. I have no trust in any of them, be they Dems or Repugs.


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 Post subject: DADT cloture vote
PostPosted: 12/18/10 8:15 am • # 6 
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Final Vote today at three pm.


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 Post subject: DADT cloture vote
PostPosted: 12/18/10 8:16 am • # 7 
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Good luck, then.


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 Post subject: DADT cloture vote
PostPosted: 12/18/10 10:40 am • # 8 
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Just got home and I am truly thrilled that now we can CELEBRATE THIS DONE DEAL!!!

Sooz


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 Post subject: DADT cloture vote
PostPosted: 12/18/10 10:42 am • # 9 
The New England Rs, Kirk, etc all came through!!!!!!

YAY!!!!!!


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 Post subject: DADT cloture vote
PostPosted: 12/18/10 10:50 am • # 10 
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Congrats!
There's something to be said for stand-alone bills - they usually pass or fail on their own merits.


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 Post subject: DADT cloture vote
PostPosted: 12/18/10 11:07 am • # 11 
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Yea!!!

Obama was expected to sign it next week, although the change wouldn't take immediate effect. The legislation says the president and his top military advisers must certify that lifting the ban won't hurt troops' fighting ability.Image After that, there's a 60-day waiting period for the military.

More than 13,500 service members have been dismissed under the 1993 law. Image


Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos has said he thinks lifting the ban during wartime could cost lives.

"I don't want to lose any Marines to the distraction," he told reporters this week. "I don't want to have any Marines that I'm visiting at Bethesda (Naval Medical Center) with no legs be the result of any type of distraction." Image 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...-capitol_hill/?GT1=43001






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 Post subject: DADT cloture vote
PostPosted: 12/18/10 11:13 am • # 12 
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"I don't want to lose any Marines to the distraction," he told reporters this week. "I don't want to have any Marines that I'm visiting at Bethesda (Naval Medical Center) with no legs be the result of any type of distraction."

Wonder how long it will take fossilbrains like General Amos to realize that the biggest "distraction" of them all is the one he and his ilk constantly promote - war itself.


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 Post subject: DADT cloture vote
PostPosted: 12/18/10 5:18 pm • # 13 
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obama said he would get it done, and he did. gotta hand it to him.


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