Republican Freshman Senator To His Colleagues: 'The People Despise Us All'

[gotsnowgotslush]

Nebraska's Ben Sasse was elected to the U.S. Senate a year ago this week.


"Let me flag the painful, top-line takeaway," said Sasse on Tuesday.

"No one in this body thinks the Senate is laser-focused on the most pressing issues facing the nation. No one."

"Some of us lament this; some are angered by it; many are resigned to it; some try to dispassionately explain how they think it came to be. But no one disputes it."

"If I can be brutally honest for a moment: I'm home basically every weekend, and what I hear — and what I'm sure most of you hear — is some version of this: A pox on both parties and all your houses. We don't believe politicians are even trying to fix this mess."


"To the Republicans, to those who claim this new majority is leading the way: Few believe that."


"...in reference to rules changes Democratic leaders made to get President Obama's judicial nominations done while they still had the majority last year:

"Few believe bare-knuckled politics are a substitute for principled governing. And does anyone doubt that many on both the right and the left now salivate for more of these radical tactics?"

(There was, of course, no answer to this rhetorical question.)


So in sum, Sasse said: "The people despise us all."

http://www.npr.org/2015/11/03/454368957/freshman-senator-to-his-colleagues-the-people-despise-us-all



Senator Ben Sasse Maiden Senate Floor Speech

Freshman Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) delivers his maiden speech on the Senate floor one year after being elected to office.


http://www.c-span.org/video/?c4558256/senator-ben-sasse-maiden-senate-floor-speech

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

4 Nov 2015 | Author: us |

He (Sasse) said after the speech that he felt a little like “a skunk at a garden party” delivering his pointed remarks, but he intended it to be a humble commercial for how he plans to approach floor debates. That was a product of the schedule, as McConnell made legislation to approve the Keystone XL pipeline a top priority for the new GOP majority, as it is for the Louisiana Republican. “It is interesting because as a child I would read about how the Senate was a great deliberative body."

Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia seated right in front of him, Sasse highlighted Byrd’s importance to the institution, saying “he forced the Senate to grapple with its history, specific duties and unique place in the architecture of Madisonian separation of powers.”

Speaking with CQ Roll Call, Sasse, 43, said he probably began studying Byrd while in his twenties. Sasse referred several times in his remarks to “Socratic speech,” a kind of discourse in which all involved consider not only their own point of view but others’ as well.

"A good executive always takes account of all the arguments, Sasse said. “Socrates said it was dishonorable to make the lesser argument appear the greater — or to take someone else’s argument and distort it so that you don’t have to engage their strongest points."

(Complete quote-

"Socrates said it was dishonorable to make the lesser argument appear the greater — or to take someone else's argument and distort it so that you don't have to engage their strongest points. Yet here, on this floor, we regularly devolve into bizarre partisan-politician speech. We hear robotic recitations of talking points.")


Won’t Sasse’s colleagues ignore him, too?

"I actually plan to engage people,” Sasse replied. “I guess they can ignore me, but part of the reason I want to preview this is so it doesn’t seem so jarring when it actually happens."

He’s going to debate them, whether they like it or not…

“If it’s not the Senate, where will this deliberation happen?” Sasse asks me, before he bounces out of his chair to head off to a meeting. “I think we’d be much better off if the people who have this job had to actually argue about what the policy agenda of the country should be over the next decade.” If the Senate’s most interesting egghead has his way, there will be a lot more arguing soon to come.

“If I can be brutally honest for a moment: I’m home basically every weekend, and what I hear — and what I’m sure most of you hear — is some version of this: A pox on both parties and all your houses."

Sasse’s third historical icon is Robert Byrd, the late West Virginia Democrat—chosen not for his segregationist views, but for his 100-speech series on the history of democracy.

http://us-news.us/ben-sasse-in-senate-floor-debut-offers-stinging-criticism-of-state-of/

 

[KingOrfeo]

Sasse also proposes abolishing the Senate. (Well, not really a proposal, more of an ironic thought experiment.)

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE)


“I therefore propose a thought experiment: If the Senate isn’t going to be the most important venue for addressing our biggest national problems, where is that venue?”
Sasse wondered aloud.

“Where should the people look for the long-term national prioritization? Or, to ask it of ourselves, would anything be lost if the Senate didn’t exist?”

“Again, this a thought experiment, so let me be emphatically clear: I think a great deal would be lost if the federal government didn’t have a Senate, but game out with me the question of, ‘Why?’” the senator continued.

“What precisely would be lost if we had only a House of Representatives, rather than both bodies?”


http://www.rawstory.com/2015/11/tea...st-if-we-had-only-a-house-of-representatives/

gsgs comment-

Sasse draws President Woodrow Wilson into his argument for eliminating the Senate, but Sasse does not elaborate with any quotes, examples, or sources.

There is no illumination, as to why President Wilson would consider that option.

(I did read about the difficulties that President Wilson had with the Senate.)

/end gsgs comment.

 

[JackLuis]

Some Republicans are smarter that others, at least in their first terms.

 

[NeverEndingMe]

and the obama slaves keep on enabling ... as long as the welfare rolls

Nebraska's Ben Sasse was elected to the U.S. Senate a year ago this week.


"Let me flag the painful, top-line takeaway," said Sasse on Tuesday.

"No one in this body thinks the Senate is laser-focused on the most pressing issues facing the nation. No one."

"Some of us lament this; some are angered by it; many are resigned to it; some try to dispassionately explain how they think it came to be. But no one disputes it."

"If I can be brutally honest for a moment: I'm home basically every weekend, and what I hear — and what I'm sure most of you hear — is some version of this: A pox on both parties and all your houses. We don't believe politicians are even trying to fix this mess."


"To the Republicans, to those who claim this new majority is leading the way: Few believe that."


"...in reference to rules changes Democratic leaders made to get President Obama's judicial nominations done while they still had the majority last year:

"Few believe bare-knuckled politics are a substitute for principled governing. And does anyone doubt that many on both the right and the left now salivate for more of these radical tactics?"

(There was, of course, no answer to this rhetorical question.)


So in sum, Sasse said: "The people despise us all."

http://www.npr.org/2015/11/03/454368957/freshman-senator-to-his-colleagues-the-people-despise-us-all



Senator Ben Sasse Maiden Senate Floor Speech

Freshman Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) delivers his maiden speech on the Senate floor one year after being elected to office.


http://www.c-span.org/video/?c4558256/senator-ben-sasse-maiden-senate-floor-speech

 

[The_Trouvere]

and the obama slaves keep on enabling ... as long as the welfare rolls

Where would you be without welfare? You've never worked a day in your life.