While the pundits have been talking and the candidates have been campaigning for Senate up in MA, the attorneys have been busy too.
Now, following a review of the laws covering interim Senators, it is apparent that as of the time the polls close on Tuesday, Paul Kirk is no longer a MA Senator.
It seems that all of the threats of continuing to serve or not certifying the election in a quick and timely manner are now rendered moot.
Appointed Senator Paul Kirk will lose his vote in the Senate after Tuesday’s election in Massachusetts of a new senator and cannot be the 60th vote for Democratic health care legislation, according to Republican attorneys.
::snip::But in the days after the election, it is Kirk’s status that matters, not Brown’s. Massachusetts law says that an appointed senator remains in office “until election and qualification of the person duly elected to fill the vacancy.” The vacancy occurred when Senator Edward Kennedy died in August. Kirk was picked as interim senator by Governor Deval Patrick.
::snip::
But based on Massachusetts law, Senate precedent, and the U.S. Constitution, Republican attorneys said Kirk will no longer be a senator after election day, period. Brown meets the age, citizenship, and residency requirements in the Constitution to qualify for the Senate. “Qualification” does not require state “certification,” the lawyers said.
An appointed senator’s right to vote is not dependent on whether his successor has been certified, the lawyers said. In Massachusetts, the election of a senator must be certified by the governor, the governor’s council, and the secretary of state – all of them Democrats.
If Brown wins narrowly and a recount is being conducted, Democratic lawyers might claim that he hasn’t been “duly elected.” Republican attorneys believe, however, that a candidate has actually been elected, though it won’t be clear who that is until the recount is completed. In Massachusetts, a recount can occur if the margin of victory is less than half a percent of the total vote.
So, when the polls close, Paul Kirk ceases to be the 60th vote for the Dims in the Senate.
If Brown wins, and indications are strong that he will, then the Dims no longer have the magic 60 seat number.
View at EasyCaptures.com
“and nope, I couldn’t hold back the truth about your character and those like you. And you clearly can’t deny it either.”
You just couldn’t hold it back could you, but surely that is also considered a ‘character trait’ isn’t it? Pot calling kettle black? Looks like it’s something coming of the south end of a horse traveling north. I gotta get upwind.
Cary, are you throwing in with haha?
I ask because haha is guilty of pathological narcissism. Haha and his ilk want to ram something down the throat of the people that will harm them financially and medically just so they can feel good about themselves and morally superior to others. If you want to talk about selfish, how come Conservatives devote more time and money to charity than the left? That’s selfish all right.
Throw in the unhinged hatred of the left, their pathological denial of reality, racism, and fascist tendancies, and the true “selfish bastards” come to light. If you think it’s Conservatives, then you have become as mentally ill as haha.
Tell you what haha, PLEASE keep pushing the dems to pass healthcare reform. PLEASE!!
It will make November that much better for the GOP.
Guess that answers the question about the same kindergarten, Curt…. LOL
The same IP address? Wow. That liberal “intelekshual” superiority we keep hearing about sure is amazing!
The choice of the name haha is an interesting one, surely he doesn’t refer back to Lord Haha the English Aristocrat, (at least he had the accent) who broadcast propaganda for the National Socialists during WWII and was never caught to be brought to justice for his treason, when the war was over. Some of these Leftist Trolls try to be so clever with their treasonous rants: I don’t doubt that he thinks of himself as fiendishly adroit with his ingenious moniker and its hidden deceit.
Hard Right:
It’s the prevailing attitude with the left that no on will bother to dog their footsteps as the conservatives are presently doing.
Haha/Cary figured Curt didn’t know any better…..as no one who is familiar with a computer could be so stupid to pull that idiocy he pulled. I saw it right when it came up and thought geeeez…..
Just an fyi….we have been talking to Cary via email and think we have everything ironed out, so he is unbanned. He has always been fun to argue with, and this incident was more then likely just some misplaced anger but hopefully that’s all behind us now.
Cary wrongly thought we were as dumb as the stereotype they have created for us .
Word to you leftists-we understand you better than you do.
Dang….
I leave for an hour to go have dinner with my wife only to come back and find that the moonbat sock puppets have already been swatted.
I missed all of the fun….
Hi Cary!
Cary, I’m afraid that it would be a shameful waste of my time.
Your terminal bias would require more patience and tolerance for fools
than I could muster right now and I doubt that you would enjoy it anyway.
I have more pressing issues at the moment.
My comments on Haitians come from a six month deployment during
the Clinton Regime. Haiti was then and is now a hellhole and has not changed.
We are pounding taxpayer dollars down a rathole. First hand experience.
I doubt if you have that in any Third World Countries. But thanks for your interest.
That’s all the time I have today for you. I have troopers in two provinces to look after
and they merit more of my attention than you do.
@Curt: Sounds like a genuine Rodney King moment. We’ve bridged the great divide with a New York lib! If we keep this up he’ll be voting GOP in November!
Thought about the Cary that had posted here previously when I saw the name, but the personality of the new Cary wasn’t a fit. Maybe he will do some splainin.
@MataHarley:
There goes plan C, Pelosi just had to admit she doesn’t have the votes!
Personally, I’m betting Reid’s figured out he doesn’t even have the 51 in the Senate either, Missy. I’m betting there are few Senators willing to go that route.
@MataHarley:
Reid’s count will probably drift out later, Pelosi’s announcement saves Reid from putting his out.
They’ve tried to put on a new face today, rolled out quite the welcome mat for the brand new Senator-elect, killing him with kindness. Hope he’s watching his step, he’s spent his career in office dealing with liberals and should be waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Edit to add:
Here you go Mata, from Roll Call:
Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said House and Senate leaders are moving rapidly to try to salvage a health care reform bill that no longer has the votes for final passage in the Senate.