Congress will get its say, and it will get ugly, but the Iran Deal will make it across the finish line … as it should.
The way things stand now, President Obama will only need one-third plus one vote in one of the Houses of Congress to avoid Congressional rejection of the Iran Deal. We can assume that whatever is in the final product will be disapproved by the Republican-controlled Congress. That's what they do.
The fun starts when the President vetoes the Congressional Resolution of Disapproval. The Senate will then vote on a Motion to Override the President's Veto. If all 100 Senators are present and voting, the motion would require 67 votes to succeed. That could happen. Who, amongst the Democratic minority, is going to stand up and fight for their President? Fight like they meant it, and want to win.
Pretty slim pickings, indeed. Minority Leader Harry Reid has announced his retirement and, therefore, has less influence. Likely incoming Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York takes pride in calling himself “Israel's Protector”.
OK. One would hope he also has some warm feelings towards the USA and its President … we'll see.
If the Senate were to vote to override the President's Veto, the matter would go to the House of Representatives.
Thank goodness for the People's House and for Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi in particular.
Pelosi is a winner, not a whiner. When she was Speaker and ran the House, she ran the House. She's been a target of the blow-dried pretty boys and girls at FOX for fifteen years. She takes the hits and keeps on keeping on. No hurt feelings. It's not her style.
Pelosi is a straight shooter. She doesn't like slick operators. She didn't appreciate the Netanyahu caper, where he slithered into the House Chamber for a Joint Session Address without notice to her Democrats or to the White House. Didn't appreciate it one bit.
If the question of overriding the President's Veto gets to the House, and if all 435 Members are present and voting (House membership is now 433, with 2 vacancies), 146 votes would sustain the President's Veto.
Interestingly, last week 150 House Democratic Members released a letter to President Obama, commending his efforts in the negotiations with Iran. One of the organizers of the letter was Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, a daughter of Jewish immigrants from Lithuania. Also signing the letter was House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi.
The number of signatories on the letter, 150, is a signal to one and all that, if it comes to it, the votes will be there in the House to sustain the President's Veto. It's the sensible thing to do.
Nancy will see to it.
Conclusion
Be ready for an unprecedented amount of slime to be thrown against the wall in the next six weeks. Iran will be blamed for everything in an effort to get something to stick.
President Obama's motives will be questioned. He doesn't love America. It's all about his legacy. Garbage.
It's the Adelson / Netanyahu way. Take it with a grain of salt.
I will post again on Wednesday, June 3, 2015 (or before, if the news flow dictates) and, for the time being, I will try to post on the first Wednesday of each month.
Comments are welcome at tomc[at]wednesdayswars[dot]com. Comments will be addressed in subsequent posts.