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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has muzzled Senators Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) from doing what constituents elected them to do---Vote. Have a public opinion.
Rubio and Cotton had proposed amendments to the Iran nuclear agreement.
Rubio was calling for an amendment that would require Iran to acknowledge Israel's right to exist as a state, while Cotton's required Iran to take specific steps, including "full access to suspicious sites" before getting relief from sanctions.
What's wrong with either of them? How can either of these be unacceptable to Republican leadership?
In "Politicland," decisions are often driven more by, well, politics then by what is actually the right thing to do.
McConnell has used his leadership to muzzle Rubio and Cotton.
Cotton told his colleagues, "If you are in the Senate and you don't want to vote, you should leave."
Rubio told them on the record, "If you don't want to vote on things, don't run for office...Be a columnist. Get a talk show."
Cotton's amendment required full disclosure of Iran's nuclear development including submitting to "a fully-verifiable, anytime anywhere, no notice inspections regimen."
Cotton had added Rubio's amendment to his own as a second degree measure because he said, "They [Iran] continue to say that Israel will be wiped off the map. And if they get nuclear weapons they will have the means to do so."
Senate Majority Leader McConnell has now taken actions that bypass both Rubio and Cotton, after they used a floor tactic to attempt to force a vote on the two amendments.
Following McConnell's action, Sen. Cotton Tweeted, "Congress must stand up and protect U.S. from a nuclear Iran..."
This episode raises the question of priority among elected leaders--personal interests or best interests of the country?
Sen. Rubio said, "Everyone who runs for office knows that what we are called to do here is vote on issues that we sometimes are uncomfortable on."
He said, "Don't tell me that we can't have votes on things. You can argue that we shouldn't pass them and I'll argue against you. But don't tell me that we can't even vote on them."
"Because," he continued "then what you're saying is you want to be protected from taking a position on them; you don't want to take a position that you think is tough. And that I find to be unacceptable.
Politicians often create legislation that they can vote "for" in one case and "against" in another so they can then report back to their constituents what they believe the folks want to hear.
We've seen it in DC and we've seen it in Olympia.
Most of us would agree. That is unacceptable.
All of us are required to make decisions everyday. That's life. The basis from which we make those decisions is often more important than any single decision, because it creates a direction in our lives.
And often reveals our true character.
Today on the radio I'm talking about the 5 basic principles for discerning God's will in our life decisions.
1. Follow What Has Already Been Revealed
2. Sometimes God's Guidance Is Not Immediately Recognized (Oswald Chambers)
3. God Expects Us To Use Our Own Intelligence.
4. God Doesn't Show Us More Than We Need To Know.
5. How God Guides Us Is His Responsibility. Ours Is To Be Informed, Keep Listening And Keep Walking.
You may join me from anywhere in the world, live at 9 AM PDT or rebroadcast at 7:30 PM PDT. Here's how.
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Blessed.