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Time to reform the filibuster
Political Animal —
... yesterday that there's a problem when "a party can win the presidency, the House, and the Senate by landslide majorities but still can't pass big parts of its program because it needs 60 votes in the Senate." The filibuster, he reminded us, was "never intended to become a routine requirement that all legislation needs 60% of the vote in the Senate to pass." Matt Yglesias, highlighting this chart, explains the history of the tactic, and notes how this is something of an accident. He concluded, "None of this has ever been a good idea. But when it was genuinely reserved as an ...
Careful What You Wish For
Newshoggers.com —
... , and Matt Yglesias are looking to do away with the filibuster and the related requirement that the Dems need 60 votes in the Senate to pass major legislation. ...
Filibusters Again
Political Animal —
Filibusters Again Steve , Matt Yglesias , and Kevin Drum are all calling for reform of the filibuster. I agree. I am of two minds on the question of eliminating it entirely. (To anyone who thinks it's just obvious that the filibuster should be eliminated, I have three words for you: Janice Rogers Brown .) But what seems absolutely clear is that if it is kept around, it ought to be transformed back into a tool that is actually painful for the minority to use, and that they will therefore use only when they feel very, very strongly. As Kevin wrote: "The ...
Filibusters Again
Obsidian Wings —
... Steve Benen, Matt Yglesias, and Kevin Drum are all calling for reform of the filibuster. I agree. I am of two minds on the question of eliminating it entirely. (To anyone who thinks it's just obvious that the filibuster should be eliminated, I have three words for you: Janice Rogers Brown.) But what seems absolutely clear is that if it is kept around, it ought to be ...
Filibuster Reform: Is The Time Right?
Outside The Beltway | OTB —
... and Matt Yglesias agree. I’m not sure where those four were on the issue when the Republican majority was pushing towards the so-called “nuclear option” when Democrats were blocking votes on President Bush’s judicial appointees. But, seeing as how I was in favor of the idea then and no intervening facts other than the inconvenience for my political preferences have changed, I think they’re right. And, as Matt notes, the problem has gotten progressively worse since the Republicans took over the minority status. I don’t now — nor did I then — oppose the filibuster ...
On the Indefensibility of the Filibuster
Lawyers, Guns and Money —
With the discussion here and elsewhere in the blogosphere about the filibuster, I thought it was worth trying to get to the core of the issues. It is true, as djw and I have argued in detail, that the mere fact that the filibuster is "counter-majoritarian" does not make it a bad thing. But it's also true that it's not enough to point out that the American system has other counter-majoritarian features: each one requires its own justification. And when you think of things that way, it's pretty obvious that the filibuster is indefensible. ...
Ari Melber: Harry Reid Promises Republicans He'll Never Call Their Bluff (HuffPo Response)
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com —
... concludes that a senator who filibusters "can't be forced to keep talking for an indefinite period of time." Republicans could filibuster without actually having to talk much, goes the argument, so calling their bluff won't work. Grim's article, "The Myth Of The Filibuster: Dems Can't Make Republicans Talk All Night," also recalls one incident in 1988 when a talk-less filibuster worked. But it's all beside the point.
The problem, as many observers have documented, is that both parties have turned the once-rare filibuster into a ...
Filibusters skyrocket under Republican minority in 110th Congress.
Think Progress —
... ,” Kyl said. The Republicans have become experts at using Senate filibusters — or often just the threat of filibusters — to block the Democratic agenda while in the minority. As this ...
Markos Moulitsas Warns Harry Reid: Franken Win Takes Away Your 60-Vote Excuses (VIDEO)
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com —
... If this is any indication, progressive pressure will ramp up on the Democrats and the Obama administration to sideline Republicans if they obstruct Democratic priorities (something sure to happen on health care reform, especially regarding a public option) since they ostensibly no longer have to rely on attracting Republican votes to pass legislation in the Senate (something many progressives didn't believe was valid in the first place.) ...
Alan 'Die Quickly' Grayson Seeks 55-Vote Supermajority
MoJo Blog Posts: mojo —
... today that "full-blown unanimous obstruction is something new under the sun...Dems, for better or worse, never tried to make every single bill a destruction test of the opposing party's governance." The filibuster was not consistently abused until the Dems reclaimed control of Congress in 2007. During the Reagan administration, for example, there were as few as 20 cloture votes per congressional term, compared to more than 100 in the 2007-2008 term, twice what was necessary in the preceding six years. ...
