Obama gets Iran deal win as Senate Dems amass enough votes (UPDATED)

[Omaha Steve]

Last edited Wed Sep 2, 2015, 11:46 AM - Edit history (1)

Source: AP-Excite

By ERICA WERNER

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama secured a landmark foreign policy victory Wednesday as Senate Democrats amassed enough votes to ensure the Iran nuclear deal survives in Congress despite ferocious opposition from Republicans and the government of Israel.

Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland became the crucial 34th vote in favor of the agreement.

"No deal is perfect, especially one negotiated with the Iranian regime," Mikulski said in a statement. She called the accord "the best option available to block Iran from having a nuclear bomb. For these reasons, I will vote in favor of this deal."

The backing from Mikulski, who is retiring next year, gives supporters the margin they need to uphold an Obama veto of a congressional resolution of disapproval if Republicans pass such a measure later this month.

FULL story at link.

Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20150902/us--congress-iran-nuclear-546f1c3061.html

---

I will update this when it becomes available.

[Drunken Irishman]

1. Suck on that, Schumer.

[47of74]

37. Totally agree. And a big up yours to the following individuals....

Tom Cotton (R-Traitor)
Chuck Schumer ("D"-Netanyahu)
Joe Liebermann (?-Douche)

[Sunlei]

61. Thank you for your public service 47 of 74. Republicans have needed this form for a long time.

[Betty Karlson]

79. Who came up with that form?

It's fabulous and brilliant!

[2banon]

49. This!^^^^^^10000!

[brooklynite]

55. I suspect Schumer announced his opposition knowing full well it would survive.

[dorkzilla]

56. AMEN to that!

And thank you to Senator Gillibrand for doing the right thing!!!

Fuck Schumer.

[orange you glad]

59. And Menendez

And Bibi, too!

[rpannier]

80. With you on that

100% x 100

[4lbs]

81. Definitely! Now, send a ham to both Schumer and Menendez. It serves two purposes....

1.) It will show them how much of a pig's ass they are on this issue.

2.) It is guaranteed to be one thing that AIPAC *WON'T* want from them.

[Botany]

2. Lame Duck = Bad Ass

Thanx to John Kerry and Erinie Moniz.

[Duval]

16. Love this picture! Thanks! eom

[fadedrose]

33. I thought he was called...

the "untethered" President Badass....

I secretly believe he is living the part of Michael Rennie in the Day the Earth Stood Still. With this man, absolutely nothing would surprise me...

[George II]

3. Great news.....she's going out with a bang!!!

[lamp_shade]

4. Another source...

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mikulski-backs-iran-deal-giving-obama-last-needed-vote-2015-09-02

[Fred Sanders]

5. President Obama IS awesome! Please ignore all mass media spin and GOP heads exploding to come to the contrary!

That stunned silence you hear is a mass media scrambling to the propaganda war rooms to put a war-loving and Bibi-consoling spin.

No way the propaganda masters and propaganda warriors in ther posh boardrooms high above the rubble and rabble far below in Rockefeller Square had a Plan B (for Bomb) when Team Obama clinches the victory before the fourth quarter even started!

Please ignore the weapons of mass distraction when deployed, they are all unarmed.

Landmark and Legacy Victory.

Many more to come in in the next 17 months of Obama's awesome reign over the American Christian caliphate.

.................

I will stay on this thread - not the many others to be posted - until you update.

Make this a No Spin Zone!

[lamp_shade]

6. ^ ^ like ^ ^

[Botany]

9. Who is gonna tell Lindsey Graham the news?

Clutches pearls stumbles to fainting couch .....

[Fred Sanders]

11. That deserves it's own thread!

[Botany]

21. The "Southern Bell" was having a hissy fit in NYC yesterday

http://observer.com/2015/09/lindsey-graham-rails-against-iran-nuclear-deal-outside-kirsten-gillibrands-office/

[Fred Sanders]

24. Priceless...."losing it" on a regular basis is not a good trait in a politician in my judgment.

Kerry now on CNN Live with REAL Breaking News...total opposite of 'breaking' news on a Trump utterance....now being the consummate diplomat, child'splaining in a weary way to the Usual Idiots lying about the deal,.......while surely having a Great Happy Happy Joy Joy inside..."I will dispel some of the misinformation that has been circulating in Congress".

Go get me, sir.

And congratulations, sincerely.

Time to celebrate, America, and, to repeat, fuck the usual gloom and doomers and the mass media that refuses to let Americans celebrate anything.

[Cha]

67. "Now that Obama reversed the economic collapse, passed Obamacare, killed bin Laden & got the..

David Corn
✔ ?@DavidCornDC
Now that Obama reversed the economic collapse, passed Obamacare, killed bin Laden & got the #IranDeal I wonder what the next failure will be
4:46 AM - 2 Sep 2015 · Washington, DC, United States
588 588 Retweets 506 506 favorites

http://theobamadiary.com/2015/09/02/irandeal-veto-proof/#comments

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

47. One senator protesting at another senator's office -- not cool

I've never heard of that happening before. Usually such protests take place on the floor of the Senate. Standing in front of Senator Gillibrand's New York City office throwing a tantrum is -- to use a Southern term -- just plain tacky.

[davidpdx]

89. She should send him a box and a note

In the box put one little sausage, on the note put: "if you ever do that again I'll make sure you regret it"

[zentrum]

22. ^^Fabulous^^

[2banon]

53. Schumer and Graham can go cry in each other's arms with their mindless fear mongering.. n/t

[Iliyah]

23. Corporate media allowing wing nuts to spout "end days"

Cruz, Graham, Hukster, Trump, Bushies and their cronies and the rest of the chorus of doom and gloom will be out in full force with all the coverage the media will give them.

"Give peace a chance" - Pres O.

[Fred Sanders]

30. Without doom and gloom pervading the electorate how will they ever vote for a fascist strongman??

Celebration of the achievements of President Obama must be like kryptonite to the silly doom and gloomers and the sky is falling screamers that inhabit the media and the GOP.

I say....bring in the kryptonite! If not now, when?

What a bunch of downers they all are, am I right?

[Cha]

65. Well Done, Fred! Thank you!

[mainstreetonce]

7. Good

for the Bad Ass POTUS

[RedSpartan]

8. Party time!

[AllyCat]

27. Is that The Wiggles?

[Android3.14]

51. I think it's from Zoolander

[PotatoChip]

32. Ok, now ^that^ is pretty funny.

Good stuff!

[joshdawg]

10. Was just over at Yahoo forums.

Wow! All of the whining and crying and threatening going on over there makes me proud of our President more than ever.

[Fred Sanders]

13. At Yahoo, that whining and heads exploding and complaining would be "the usual". Thanks for the sacrifice!

[SoapBox]

17. Isn't Yahoo just awful.

Talk about trolls and haters.

[rpannier]

78. Stopped going there a couple of years ago

I can find that information from sources that attract less crazy people

[still_one]

12. That is great, but I will hold off celebrating until the vote officially happens.

[Fred Sanders]

14. Then you will be missing one helluva party!! Please stay! Americans do not celebrate near enough.

[still_one]

18. I don't trust the republicans and what they will try to do. They have been discussing a "plan B",

for some time, with the hopes to mess things up:

"Opponents of the Iran deal aren’t expecting the Congressional vote next month to go their way, but they are already planning for the day after their loss. Republicans in Congress are preparing several bills to sanction Iran. Even if those never reach a vote, the proposals could be problematic for Democrats well into 2016."

...

In the Senate, Kirk is now working with Marco Rubio to explore new legislation, several Senate aides said. Menendez is working separately with Lindsey Graham. Kirk and Menendez also have a bill to reauthorize the Iran Sanctions Act, set to expire at the end of 2016, for 10 more years.

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-08-25/republicans-plan-iran-sanctions-after-vote-on-nuclear-deal

So while what is happening is good, it is far from over

[Fred Sanders]

20. Fantasy and pandering to the base in a Presidential election year, meet Mr. Veto Pen and Mr. Filibuster.

[still_one]

36. Even Kerry isn't taking a "victory lap". The administration realize that if they can get a

few more votes, the veto will NOT even be necessary, which is an even more important statement

[Fred Sanders]

38. That is true, to an extent. But the Plan C for the GOP will be a huge whine about no up and down vote....

even when they agreed to no such vote just 3 months ago!

Whatever garbage oozes out of the pieholes of any GOP politician the mass media will declare it apple pie!

[still_one]

46. No question the republicans will spew out their garbage, but if we can get the deal approved without

a veto, it will effectively prevent a republican Plan B

[Duval]

15. Just heard Alan Grayson on MSNBC

talking briefly about this. He mentioned the prospect of a Republican filibuster. Guess we'll have to "wait and see" how this pans out. Sigh! Just read on Kos that 7 more Dems needed to block filibuster.

[still_one]

19. The republicans also have a "Plan B" which concerns me, where they will try to reauthorize the

sanction based on different criteria

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-08-25/republicans-plan-iran-sanctions-after-vote-on-nuclear-deal

[DCBob]

29. Just for show... they cant overide a veto.

[Fred Sanders]

34. It is not a filibuster and it does not matter one wit....remember the agreement passed by Congress of 3 months ago?

This is all they got...theatre.

[karynnj]

48. A Republican filibuster?? That makes no sense

Unless, so many Republicans were so impressed by Lugar's words that they now support it and an APPROVAL resolution has more than 50 votes -- and they are trying to stop that by filibustering it.

That is actually what SHOULD happen, but that is not our current dysfunctional state.

[Divernan]

25. Bravo & thanks from a grateful world, Senator Barbara Mikulski!

[NewJeffCT]

26. Kind of disappointing all Senate Democrats

haven't signed up to support the treaty. The support seems to be trickling in here & there.

[geek tragedy]

40. This is a war and peace issue, so they should take their time and vote their conscience.

I think that's why the red state Senators--Donnelly, McCaskill, Tester--are voting for it--they'd rather lose an election than have dead and maimed kids from their states on their consciences.

[ozone_man]

72. +1

Hopefully we/they have learned the lesson of Vietnam. And more recently, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Diplomacy is the way to avoid these senseless wars.

[BlueCaliDem]

41. My guess is, they're holding out for pork deals. eom

[DCBob]

28. My Senator!

Love her! This is great news showing that good things can still get done in this congress.

Cheers to President Obama and the rest of his team pushing this through!

[fadedrose]

31. Good news, Steve

Thanks...

[Renew Deal]

35. Good news, but I have a feeling this isn't completely over.

[Fred Sanders]

39. It is as completely over as Obamacare was completely over but the GOP had 59 pandering votes to

repeal it anyway...it is all now just pure theatre to pander to the ever willing to be pandered to base...any blubbering is good enough if it involves hating the Muslim foreign-borne usurper President the base sincerely believes to be true.....according to all polls.

[maxsolomon]

42. Our Senate is a fucking worldwide embarassment

34 Democratic Senators should have been lined up THE DAY THE DEAL WAS ANNOUNCED.

International Diplomacy is too important for these kind of games. We look like spoiled squabbling children to the EU. But they're probably used to it at this point.

[BumRushDaShow]

43. K&R

And my Senator (Casey) came out in support earlier this morning.

We just need to make sure we have a good turnout come the general election in 2016 so that we can retain the White House and hopefully pick up more seats (and maybe, just maybe take back a legislative chamber).

[raindaddy]

44. Great News!

This has got be O's greatest foreign policy achievement!

[ananda]

45. Oh God, that's a relief!

I hate cliffhangers.

[NYCButterfinger]

50. Good. we need to hope that Iran does not cheat

on this deal, it is very important that Iran does not have a nuclear weapons program. Mikulski was right to do so. We'll see if Mark Warner and Cory Booker will support the deal.

[harun]

70. Why? It isn't like they can use them, things finish rather quickly for them if they do.

[SnakeEyes]

82. You are assuming they are rational.

Or will be controlled by rational people in the future and not those that think they can hasten the end times and want to.

[harun]

86. Iran hasn't started a war with anyone in hundreds of years. I'd call that rationale. A certain

other unnamed country can't quite say that.

[SnakeEyes]

88. Sure you can call their history rational

if that is your criteria.

Currently, I'd say their rhetoric is pretty out there and I'd rather take those that threaten violence at their word.

[harun]

90. It's just politics. Judge by actions, not what they are saying.

[laserhaas]

52. Woo Hoo - PEACE at last

Ain't it great!

[BlueMTexpat]

54. Thank you so much for posting this!

I wrote to Senator Mikulski THREE times to urge her support of this bill.

I received a response to my second letter in which she mentioned that several constituents had been concerned about the deal's adverse impact on Israel.

In my third letter, I posted links to J Street, to the 340 rabbis' endorsement, and to the ex-Mossad chief's endorsement, among others. I also mentioned that, as a MD voter, I believed that she as a member of the US Congress owed more to the US and to this President than she did to Israel and to the Israeli President.

I also mentioned that, according to most experts, Israel's two major problems today are not military: they are the in-area demographics and the growing trend toward de-legitimization of Israel in the global community due to Israeli policies of demolishing Palestinian houses in the West Bank, settling hard-liners on those lands, and continuing to treat Gaza as a 21st-century version of the Warsaw Ghetto.

Voting against this Iran Deal would only serve to isolate both the US and Israel even more - which is the far more dangerous course.

Whether those arguments were among those that persuaded her - or whether she had the good sense to come to that conclusion on her own - I am very happy that she did so. Now, I hope that Senator Cardin will have the good sense to do the same.

[chuckie29]

74. I wrote to Sen. Mikulski also

I thought it was my email that convinced her. But I only sent one email, so you have me beat. I sent one to Senator Cardin also, but have heard crickets. Maybe it's good that she doesn't need to solicit any more campaign funds.

For those talking about filibusters and veto over-rides, I think that was the point of 34 Senators. Foreign policy is under the purview of the Executive branch unless the terms are made illegal by legislation. If the executive branch vetoes that legislation, the veto could be overridden by 2/3 of the Senate and 2/3 of the House. There are probably enough votes in the House but they need both houses to veto. In the Senate, 2/3 * 100 = 66.6666 (67 votes). If 34 are in favor, there are not 67 votes available to override (34+67=101) and it makes no difference what the house does. I may be wrong, I've never seen it spelled out except noting that 34 Senate votes is what the President needed, so I'm just filling in what I think I know about the Constitution. I assume somebody will tell me if I'm wrong.

[SunSeeker]

57. K & R

[Martin Eden]

58. Sanity prevails.

Wish it would happen more often.

[sorechasm]

73. Celebrate Sanity!

Such a rarity these days. Thank you PBO and SOS Kerry (who never gets enough credit.)

[TBF]

60. I think Mikulski is correct -

we've got to try a peaceful approach. I know some folks would rather just engage militarily, but I have to believe the vast majority of people in Iran (like the US) really don't want war.

[Hekate]

62. My smile for the day -- actually a big grin for the big win

[NastyRiffraff]

63. She's my senator!

Love her. We'll miss her at the end of her term. I wrote to her today to thank her for her support for this deal and also for all she has done in her years in the Senate.

[Cha]

64. Thank you, President Obama, SOS Kerry, VP Biden, and all the Dems who joined in!

Mahalo Steve~

[Dopers_Greed]

66. Poor Bibi

I wonder which repug the RNC will send to "console" him tonight in bed

[historylovr]

68. K & R

[Karma13612]

69. Thank goodness! Great news. ! eom

[sueh]

71. Great news! I look forward to a veto by Obama.

[BeanMusical]

75. Thank you Omaha Steve!

[underthematrix]

76. I love my President

[Spitfire of ATJ]

77. How many read, "No deal is perfect" and thought, "That's what Republicans WANT is no deal at all."..

They NEED Iran to be a boogeyman just like they needed UBL.

[JoePhilly]

83. But Obama is a puppet of the MIC.

I learned that right here on DU.

[Corey_Baker08]

84. HE'LL YEA THIS IS A HUGE VICTORY FOR THE PRESIDENT & THE WORLD! :-)

[Corey_Baker08]

85. We Must Not Forget Secretary Kerry Deserbe a Alot Of Credit

[harun]

87. DINO's against this should be ashamed, and primaried.

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