19-0 the so called ‘tough’ Iran bill passed the Senate committee. After that, liberal RINO Bob Corker of Tennessee went on the evening news shows touting how he and the ‘bi-partisan’ group had prevailed over Obama on forcing him to get Congress approval for any nuke deal with Iran. Problem is the bill doesn’t stop Obama in any way. In fact, it does the opposite, by granting congressional Democrats an easy excuse for voting to allow Obama to end the sanctions against Iran without political consequence.
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| Republicans (Corker) cave to Obama on Iran |
>On Wednesday, Republicans declared victory over President Obama after passing a bipartisan bill designed to stifle Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran. There’s only one problem: the bill doesn’t stop Obama in any way. In fact, it does the opposite, by granting congressional Democrats an easy excuse for voting to allow Obama to end the sanctions against Iran without political consequence.
Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) announced the deal on Wednesday, touting his own role in reaching the deal: “The secretary of state was continuing to push back against our role. They came to the right place, ultimately. Right before a 19-0 vote in the committee.” Commentator George Will called the bill a revolt “against presidential Caesarism.”
There were three ways for Republicans to stop President Obama’s Iran deal from the Senate. First, Congress could have passed a veto-proof bill declaring that Obama’s agreement constituted a treaty requiring 67 votes for ratification in the Senate. That, obviously, would have shot the deal to hell, since virtually all Republicans and some Democrats oppose the deal.
Second, Congress could have passed new sanctions right now with a veto-proof majority, or passed a bill with a veto-proof majority requiring that Obama not remove the sanctions without congressional approval. That would have cut the legs out from underneath Obama in his negotiations and ended his ability to unilaterally soften the sanctions regime.
Third, Congress could have insisted on linkage between the nuclear deal and Iran stepping back from its connections to international terrorism. That language would have destroyed any Iran agreement since they continue to pursue terrorism across the Middle East, aggressively pushing in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, and Yemen, among others.