The Military-Industrial Complex Wins
- The Constitution be damned, once again both Democrats and Republicans dropped their pants and bent over for the Military-Industrial Complex and their insane desire for eternal war.
(Yahoo News) - Sen. Rand Paul’s attempt to sunset congressional authorizations for the nation’s overseas wars failed Wednesday, with nearly all of the body’s Republicans and a sizable chunk of Democrats voting to table his amendment.
Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Dean Heller, R-Nev., were the only other Republicans to back Paul’s effort. More than 30 Democrats voted in favor of it.
Paul forced a vote on his amendment to the defense appropriations bill, arguing that the current 2001 and 2002 Authorizations of the Use of Military Force (AUMFs) are out of date and that the U.S.’s conflict against ISIS and other groups is illegal.
The amendment would have phased out the AUMFs in six months without replacing them, forcing Congress to explicitly define the parameters of its conflicts abroad by passing a new authorization during that time. The original AUMFs were aimed at fighting al-Qaida in Afghanistan and authorizing the Iraq War.
“That war is long since over, the war has long since lost its purpose, and it’s [a] long time [since we’ve had] a debate in Congress about whether we should be at war or not,” Paul said.
President Barack Obama requested a new AUMF for the fight against ISIS in 2015, which was dead on arrival when he sent it to Congress. But Obama has also insisted he had the authority to battle ISIS under the 2001 resolution, because the group grew out of al-Qaida.
Some senators bluntly speculated about the political reasons their colleagues have avoided the tricky debate on authorizing a new war for 16 years.
“Most members of the Senate … do not want to cast a vote for fear they will vote the incorrect way as history will judge,” said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. Hillary Clinton, for example, was haunted during both her presidential runs for voting to authorize the invasion of Iraq.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said he feared that Congress would never vote on war again if it didn’t sunset the authorizations Wednesday, arguing that the body was abdicating its constitutional duty for political gain.
“It is very easy for the Congress to say authorizing military force is too hard, too difficult, so we outsource it to the executive branch,” Murphy said.
Paul threatened to torpedo all amendments on the defense spending bill if he was not given a chance to offer his, according to one of his aides.
“Who in their right mind thinks Congress will do their job without being forced to do their job?” Paul said on the floor. “Do your job. This is your constitutional role.”
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2 comments:
is now to you do write something !!
The present experiment of crossing orange Frankenstein with Mr. Magoo, is not only a disaster but has set the stage for the creation of a new civil war. I shouldn't say new because it has never really ended. Just like the Korean war, the continued differences between entities of strife, never go away. They tend to go into hiding until another right wing nut job comes along and picks the scab, causing it to start bleeding and festering again. The Federalist's are now all in place (Supreme court judges) to alter the enshrined doctrines of democracy. They will make sure to cede judicial jurisdiction to the present leader and that will spell the end of a once proud democratic people. This is all too apparent to many who see the rule of law belonging to the nation. Democracy is over and America will be great again. This time it will be known for it's fascism led by an autocratic despot, named Donald J Trump! A great big disappointment!
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