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Careful What You Wish For
Newshoggers.com —
... By BJ
It is not only beauty that lies in the eye of the beholder, but also the utility of certain institutions. Steve Benen, Kevin Drum, 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.
There isn't anything really wrong with their arguments, and the way the filibuster is being used these days is clearly problematic, but for anyone with a memory going back more than a couple of years, the arguments sound awfully familiar, just from a ...
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 ...
End the Filibuster? Careful What You Wish For!
The Moderate Voice —
A short note on Steve Benen’s righteous indignation over at The Washington Monthly:
TIME TO REFORM THE FILIBUSTER…. One of the striking aspects of the political process on the Hill is how quickly everyone has adapted to a once-rare tactic becoming routine. Senate filibusters used to be exceedingly rare — a dramatic challenge only to be used under extraordinary circumstances. Only recently has the political world accepted, without so much as a discussion, the notion that literally every key measure must enjoy a 60-vote ...
Filibuster Reform: Is The Time Right?
Outside The Beltway | OTB —
... that it’s fine for Republicans to oppose Barack Obama and the Democrats. He adds, though, that “The filibuster was never intended to become a routine requirement that all legislation needs 60% of the vote in the Senate to pass. But that’s what it’s become. It’s time for reform.” Steve Benen and ...
Targeting the filibuster again
Hot Air » Top Picks —
... that Democrats and liberals seem suddenly interested in ending the filibuster in the Senate, or at least some of them do. Now that the Democrats have the majority, the filibuster — so important just three years ago — now is the nadir of Beltway power abuse. Steve Benen makes that argument for Washington Monthly : TIME TO REFORM THE FILIBUSTER…. One of the striking aspects of the political process on the Hill is how quickly everyone has adapted to a once-rare tactic becoming routine. Senate filibusters used to be exceedingly rare — a dramatic challenge only to be used under ...
Ari Melber: Harry Reid Promises Republicans He'll Never Call Their Bluff (HuffPo Response)
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com —
... to make their Republicans colleagues filibuster anything. I know, it seems like the Republicans filibuster everything, since key legislation is routinely subjected to a 60-vote requirement under the threat of a filibuster.Those filibuster threats are rarely called, however, so the minority party gets to exert leverage without looking obstructionist. After watching this absurdity playing out in the stimulus debate, ...
Best News I've Heard All Year
Obsidian Wings —
... the filibuster – if 51 Republicans think they can dismantle it next term, let them try. I promise not to raise a single objection to using reconciliation. The main justification, however, for the Democrats' attempt to enact reform through reconciliation is simply that the filibuster has gotten completely out of hand. More precisely, the move is justified because of the combination of filibuster abuse with the GOP’s non-interest in good faith negotiation. Numerous people have written about the skyrocketing filibuster rates since 2006 – the ...
