THREAD: a point worth addressing is "how would/should VP respond if GOP retained its majority, then voted to suspend/amend a Senate Rule depriving the presiding officer of power." Paragraph 6 of the article wasn't as strong as it could have been, on that point.

The problem with that attack is encapsulated in the Senate's official history (cited graf 7) - https://t.co/UwF93b9YaA

The Senate's official history on its https://t.co/gLTPXi8eiT site recounts the Constitutional fact that the majority leader's presiding powers are derivative.
A power informally delegated by the VP can be taken back, so the Senate history accurately describes the majority leader as "an emperor without clothes." So, if the VP used presiding power to give priority to a senator moving a House-passed bill to the floor, and . . .
. . . the House purported to override that action by 1) self-recognizing the ML to do something different, and then 2) sustaining a point of order limiting the VP's presiding power, what would be the legal basis and remedy for that action?
Several principles intersect here that arise from agency rulemaking. But first, we have to recognize the Supremacy Clause - the Constitution is a superior law to any other law, rule or precedent.
The Senate Rules describe the powers of the Presiding Officer, and can be suspended or amended by the majority, but that action would not be valid if it deprived the VP of her constitutional presiding power. The Constitution is supreme over the rule, not the other way around.
Then, look at Senate Rules restricting the presiding power like other rulemaking - it must be within the scope of statutory (or, here, constitutional) authorization. The Constitution endows Senate with power to "chuse its other officers" BUT not the presiding officer.
Only a Constitutional amendment could divest the VP. So to the extent Senate Rules were applied to do so, it would violate Art. 1 Sec. 3 and the Supremacy Clause.

And then, return to the idea that the majority leader's presiding power is derivative/delegated by the VP . . .
. . . or, a glass cannot be smaller than the water poured from it. If the Senate limited the presiding officer's powers, those limitations must apply to the majority leader and VP equally, or conversely would be an unconstitutional limitation of the VP's presiding power.
We have precedent in the agency context, analyzing whether a rulemaking exceeds statutory authority. The Constitution being the supreme statute under its own Supremacy Clause, rulemaking that made the derivative ML power larger than VP's power would violate those precedents.
How would that play out? If VP recognized a Senator to move a bill, and Mitch tried to stop her? A floor fight on this topic COULD generate a Supreme Court petition, and in this hypothetical, VP would have standing to petition, and I believe the court would hear it. . . .
. . . and resolve in her favor. Would that take more than a minute? Sure? Is it worth teeing up and doing? Good God, there are hundreds of House-passed bills that would save and improve American lives.
Many have wide popular support and would draw enough GOP votes to pass the Senate, or cause the rejecting Senators to lose their seats if their votes were on record. Sure, it's worth doing. And even the possibility of divesting the ML's power, seriously posed, could deter abuse.
Another point was raised - didn't the early Senate successfully rebel against the VP's presiding powers? Such data prior to Marbury v. Madison isn't relevant to the framework here, because at that time, SCOTUS did not assert jurisdiction to review laws or rulemaking.
I hope this is helpful, and I am still happy to address any "debunking" if it is cited. Several have said "but this was already debunked," but thus far no one has presented that putative "debunking" to me for review.
My head was seemingly doing this constitutional/rulemaking analysis when I wrote the article,but I failed to fully unpack and explain it. Always a mistake, whether for judges or the public! So consider this thread my reply brief, if you will.

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Part of what is going on here is that large sectors of evangelicalism are poorly equipped to help people deal with basic struggles, let alone the ubiquitous pornography addictions that most of their men have been enslaved to for years.


On the one hand, there's a high standard of holiness. On the other hand, there's a model of growth that is basically "Try Harder to Mean it More." Identify the relevant scriptural truth & believe it with all of your sincerity so that you may access the Holy Spirit's help to obey.

Helping sincere believers believe and obey the Bible facts is pretty much all the Holy Spirit does these days, other than convict us of our sins in light of the Bible facts.

If you know you are sincere and hate your sin and believe the right Bible facts as hard as you can but continue to be enslaved to your pornography addiction, what else left for you to do? Just Really, Just Really, Just Really Trust God and Give it to Him?

To suggest that there are other strategies available sounds to those formed in this model of growth like one is also suggesting that the Bible is insufficient, but it also suggests something just as threatening- that there are aspects of reality that are not immediately apparent.
There is some valuable analysis in this report, but on the defense front this report is deeply flawed. There are other sections of value in report but, candidly, I don't think it helps us think through critical question of Taiwan defense issues in clear & well-grounded way. 1/


Normally as it might seem churlish to be so critical, but @cfr is so high-profile & the co-authors so distinguished I think it’s key to be clear. If not, people - including in Beijing - could get the wrong idea & this report could do real harm if influential on defense issues. 2/

BLUF: The defense discussion in this report does not engage at the depth needed to add to this critical debate. Accordingly conclusions in report are ill-founded - & in key parts harmful/misleading, esp that US shldnt be prepared defend Taiwan directly (alongside own efforts). 3/

The root of the problem is that report doesn't engage w the real debate on TWN defense issues or, frankly, the facts as knowable in public. Perhaps the most direct proof of this: The citations. There is nothing in the citations to @DeptofDefense China Military Power Report...4/

Nor to vast majority of leading informed sources on this like Ochmanek, the @RANDCorporation Scorecard, @CNAS, etc. This is esp salient b/c co-authors by their own admission have v little insight into contemporary military issues. & both last served in govt in Bush 43. 5/

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