More Proof the Senate is Broken

[phantom power]

If you ask the American people if we should give large sums of foreign and military aid to a country that seemingly harbored Usama bin-Laden and which imprisoned and tortured someone who tried to help us find him, most people are going to say 'no.' It is for situations like this that the Founders created the Senate and had the senators selected by state legislatures instead of directly by the people. Yes, the House of Representatives will always be vulnerable to this kind of passion of the moment, but the Senate was supposed to be insulated enough that they could take the heat and make rational decisions even when public opinion was inflamed. We screwed that up when we decided that we had too much corruption in the state legislatures and too little accountability from our senators. It is a trade-off, and Rand Paul is showing us the downside right now. I am going to quote Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, because, in this case, he is completely correct:

"Pakistan is a country with nuclear weapons that is hanging by a thread. I think [the Paul Amendment] would be a very bad idea," Graham said. "They've opened up the supply routes; they have been helpful in some areas.

"We live in dangerous times, and I am very worried about the possibility of a nuclear-armed Pakistan falling into extremist hands. So no, now is not the time to disengage from Pakistan," Graham said, before noting that the funds should have "some conditions."

Senator Graham is correct, but asking politicians to vote for continued aid to Pakistan under these conditions less than sixty days from an election when Muslims are assaulting our embassies and consulates is not a recipe for a rational result.

Senator Rand Paul is being supremely irresponsible. He should be castigated from the rooftops. The decision on how to treat Pakistan should be made by the administration, in consultation with Congress. Funding should not be cut off just because the junior senator from Kentucky has found an irresistible tool of demagoguery.

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2012/9/14/91327/8358

[karynnj]

1. It would be nice if you put this in context

Rand did try to put an amendment pertaining to foreign aid for Pakistan, Libya, Egypt and Yemen on the veterans' bill. Senator Reid did NOT allow this amendment to go to a vote. John Kerry strongly argued that the amendment should not be attached to the bill and spending just 15 minutes of debate on something this important was wrong. He argued that Paul could file it as a bill and it would be debated in the SFRC. Senator Reid did NOT allow this amendment to go to a vote.

Paul has his video out in places like Heritage arguing that the Senate does not allow debate.

[DURHAM D]

2. Seems to me this is proof the senate is working.