The No Debate Democrats Forty-five Senators block a police reform from hitting the floor.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-no-debate-democrats-11593041122?mod=opinion_lead_pos2
A minority of the Senate, 45 Democrats to be exact, voted Wednesday to close off any debate on a police reform bill. Not against the bill, mind you. Against even allowing the Senate to debate or offer amendments to Republican Tim Scott’s proposal.
The calculation is pure election-year cynicism: Block the Senate from passing a bill that Republicans could campaign on, then denounce Republicans for refusing to pass the bill that House Democrats will pass this week that would micromanage local police departments. Blame Republicans for opposing reform when Senate Democrats were the real opponents.
Much of the press corps will play along by reporting on the House vote but treating the Senate vote as a GOP failure. The election-year calculation will go largely unmentioned as Democrats maneuver to return the Senate to Democratic Party control in 2021. It’s no accident that California Senator Kamala Harris led the filibuster as she campaigns to be Joe Biden’s running mate.
The loser here is the chance for bipartisan agreement on police reform, which shows that Democrats don’t really care about the substance of chokeholds and the rest. Their priority is using George Floyd’s unjust killing as a campaign issue to regain power.
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