As I called the R's in another forum.....This is freaking hillarious and sad at the same time in that the R's have just become cariactures of sane people:

Debt Ceiling Bluff Called By Harry Reid, Leaving Mitch McConnell To Filibuster Himself

WASHINGTON -- A move to embarrass Democrats backfired on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell Thursday as the Kentucky Republican proposed a vote on raising the nation's debt ceiling -- then filibustered it when the Democrats tried to take him up on the offer.

On Thursday morning McConnell had made a motion for the vote on legislation that would let the president extend the country's borrowing limit on his own. Congress would then have the option to disapprove such hikes, in a fashion similar to one that McConnell first suggested during last year's standoff over the debt ceiling.

The minority leader apparently did not think Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) would take him up on his offer, which would have allowed McConnell to portray President Barack Obama's desire for such authority as something even Democrats opposed.

Reid objected at first, but told McConnell he thought it might be a good idea. After Senate staff reviewed the proposal, Reid came back to the floor and proposed a straight up-or-down vote on the idea.

McConnell was forced to say no.

"What we're talking about here is a perpetual debt ceiling grant, in effect, to the president, " McConnell said. "Matters of this level of controversy always require 60 votes."

Sixty votes are required to end a filibuster during debate on a bill and hold a vote.

Democrats immediately seized on McConnell's reversal, noting it was the sort of obstruction that they think warrants changes to the rules on filibusters.

"What we have here is a case of the Republicans here in the Senate once again not taking yes for an answer," Reid said. "This morning the Republican leader asked consent to have a vote on his proposal. Just now I told everyone we're willing to have that vote, an up-or-down vote, and now the Republican leader objects to his own idea, so I guess we have a filibuser of his own bill."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/0 ... f=politics

I always thought he should go fillibuster himself.
He apparently agrees.

Izzit true? Cannot stop smiling!

Congress Votes To Strike ‘Lunatic’ From Federal Law
By Shaun Heasley
December 6, 2012

With near-unanimous approval from Congress, a bill is headed to President Barack Obama’s desk to strip yet another term deemed offensive to people with disabilities from federal law.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 398 to 1 Wednesday to pass a bill that would remove the word “lunatic” from the nation’s laws. The measure was easily approved in the Senate in May and now advances to the White House for Obama’s signature.

Backers of the bill known as the 21st Century Language Act say it’s an effort to update U.S. law for the times. The word “lunatic” originates from Latin and the outdated belief that mental issues were triggered by changes in the moon. The term is now considered derogatory by many with mental illness and other disabilities.

“Federal law should reflect the 21st century understanding of mental illness and disease,” the bill’s chief sponsor, Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said in introducing the measure earlier this year. “The continued use of this pejorative term has no place in the U.S. Code.”

The effort to strip “lunatic” from the nation’s books comes two years after Congress voted to replace the term “mental retardation” with “intellectual disability” in many areas of federal law.

The sole House vote against the bill came from Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, who told the Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill that he has no problem with the word “lunatic” being used in federal law.

http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2012/12/ ... tic/16904/

I have absolutely no problem calling Louie a lunatic. I doubt though that his lunacy has anything to do with the moon phases.

Who votes such a guy into office?

Louie Gohmert is definitely THE PRIMO LUNATIC in the House ~ but he does have some mighty tough competition nipping at his heels ~

Sooz

This is like the bully getting taken down ~ and the real beauty here is that McConnell did it to himself ~ good job, Mitch! ~ Sooz

Democrats watch in awe as McConnell filibusters himself
By Eric W. Dolan
Thursday, December 6, 2012 17:12 EST

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) introduced legislation to raise the debt ceiling on Thursday, apparently with the intent of showing that even Democrats would not support such a bill.

However, McConnell’s plan backfired after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) called for a vote on the legislation, which would have given the president the authority to raise the federal debt ceiling on his own. The top Senate Republican was forced to filibuster his own bill.

“What we have here is a case of Republicans here in the Senate once again not taking ‘yes’ for an answer,” Reid said, after McConnell announced his filibuster. “This morning the Republican leader asked consent to have a vote on this proposal, just now I told everyone we were willing to have that vote — up or down vote. Now the Republican leader objects to his own idea. So I guess we have a filibuster of his own bill, so I object.”

Apparently aware the incident would bring media attention, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) expressed astonishment at McConnell’s legislative antics.

“What just transpired deserves a word,” he remarked. “Sen. McConnell came to the floor this morning and offered a change in law that would help us avoid the kind of obstruction and the kind of show downs we’ve had in the past over the debt ceiling.”

Durbin explained “to those who don’t follow the Senate” that by calling for the legislation to be passed by a 60-vote majority, McConnell had filibustered the bill. He said this was probably the first time in history that a senator had filibuster his own proposal.

Reid and other Democrats have called for the Senate’s filibuster rules to be reformed, claiming that Republicans have abused the parliamentary procedure and obstructed lawmaking.

Watch video, uploaded to YouTube, below:



http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/12/06/democrats-watch-in-awe-as-mcconnell-filibusters-himself/

That's gotta be the funniest thing to happen in the Senate in recent history.
Please, please keep McConnell, unless Bozo the Clown comes back to life.
He's simply too entertaining.