With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heading to Congress this week to lobby for them to do something to kill the ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran, the White House is making it clear they intend to veto the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act.
The act, pushed by hawks in the Senate, would effectively give Congress veto power over the negotiations, and is being sought with a tacit assumption that the Congressional leadership would block any deal, per Netanyahu’s request.
Sen. Bob Corker (R – TN) one of the bill’s sponsors, is arguing Obama’s veto threat shows he “feels he is the only one who speaks for the citizens of our country.”
Yet giving Congress veto power over the deal during the negotiation phase would make completing the talks all but impossible, and would leave the US negotiators in a weaker bargaining position, as they couldn’t necessarily deliver what they promise.
AIPAC is lobbying heavily against the negotiations, and has been supporting Congressional efforts to either get a veto power over the talks, or failing that to sabotage the talks with a new round of sanctions violating the interim deal.
Keystone Kops in all their glory!!
Senator Corker needs to get a clue that President Obama was popularly elected by a majority of the American people, and that our President does indeed speak for and act on behalf of all citizens of the United States of America. That is the way our Constitution has established our national Government, leaving members of Congress to speak for and act on behalf of the citizens of the several States that elected them. Senator Corker also needs to understand that he was elected by the citizens of his State, not by the citizens of Israel. Further, Senator Corker needs to understand that our Constitution's Bill of Rights was designed primarily to protect the free speech rights of US citizens or legal residents, not foreign politicians such as Israel's Prime Minister. Apparently what Senator Corker does understand is that he is a mouthpiece for AIPAC and Israel. Why the voters of his State put up with that is beyond me.
"Senator Corker needs to get a clue that President Obama was popularly elected by a majority of the American people"
A little less than 21% of the American people, actually.