Filibuster Showdown Allegedly Coming

Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell, from source, HuffPo

Harry Reid disappointed a lot of Democrats when he didn't enact filibuster reform, back when the Senate's session started. It was at least the second time that he let the window pass that I'm aware of. Republicans--of course--continued to filibuster everything anyway. Well, they threaten to filibuster,  which is all they need to do anymore.

What I, and a whole lot of other liberals wanted was the classic "talking filibuster," the Mr. Smith Goes to Washington kind. That way, there couldn't be any bitching about the filibuster having been eliminated, they would just have to work for it. Wouldn't that be nice? But no, Reid had some sort of gentleman's agreement with Mitch McChinless McConnell, who is clearly not a gentleman. But now, Reid is showing some backbone (or pretending to), and McConnell is squealing like a stuck turtle tortoise pig.

I hope they do something. I know it won't be the so-called "nuclear option." Reid is worried enough that the GOP will regain the majority (a hellish, impossible-to-believe-it's-possible possibility), that he'll make this "reform" limited. Just enough to get the President's confirmations through. But I'd be thrilled if he tacked on the talking filibuster for everything else. Majority or not.

[Excerpt]

Filibuster Reform: Senate Edges Closer To 'Nuclear Option' 

The Senate edged closer to a historic showdown over presidential appointments Monday night, with Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) prepared to launch the so-called nuclear option after a rare all-senator meeting produced no compromise, but an agreement to keep talking.
"We had a very good conversation, that conversation is going to continue tonight," Reid said after the 3 1/2-hour meeting. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

Will Harry Reid Use "The Nuclear Option" on Filibuster?

Image from source, TPM

I'm not Harry Reid's biggest fan. Oh, sure, I've voted for him. Three times. But that is only because he was always better than the alternative. He was staggeringly better than his last opponent, Sharron Angle. That she even got close in the election just proves how often Reid irritates Democrats. Fortunately enough of us saw that we couldn't let that happen, and voted for him again.

What he does is get our hopes up. It's no wonder he was a boxer, because he can really get you in his corner, pulling for him. Give 'em hell, Harry! And every once in a while he lands a punch. More often he pulls them, or doesn't swing at all. It's infuriating. So it was with filibuster reform. After the last Senate filibustered damn near everything in a fruitless quest to prevent a second Obama term, Reid threatened to change the rules. To maybe make Senators actual stand in the chambers, talking for hours on end, if they wanted to throw a wrench into the works. Or maybe just make the process more difficult. Reid even extended "day one" of Senate business to keep the option around for a while longer. Then he welched.

Now, he's dangling that carrot again. And I'm in his corner again. I don't have boundless faith that he'll do it. But I'm rooting for him. Dammit.

[Excerpt]

Reid Threatens Filibuster Reform With Nuclear Option 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) threatened in his most explicit terms yet to use the so-called nuclear option to weaken the filibuster if Republicans keep blocking judicial and other nominees from coming to a vote. . .

Read more at: Talking Points Memo

Maddow: Republicans Are Lying About "Nuclear Option"

Republicans and their supporters are trying to cast the Senate reconciliation rule as "The Nuclear Option." It isn't, and they know it isn't. They aren't mistaken, they aren't misinformed, this isn't a slip of the tongue or an out-of-context moment. They are lying. Straight up. And what other cable news host but Rachel Maddow would call them on it? Rachel is made of awesome.

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Orrin Hatch For Reconcilliation Before He Was Against It

Politics can get very tiring sometimes. The lame "pot v. kettle" projection ploy is one of the most irritating. It's where whatever one side is loudly criticizing about their competition turns out to be something they themselves are guilty of. And somehow, there seems to be no public consequence to the person using it. Often times, there is even audio or video evidence that they themselves have participated in exactly the thing they are condemning. It just doesn't seem to matter.

If it's a right-wing politician (and it usually is) and he is called on his behavior on The Daily Show or Countdown with Keith Olbermann, the right-wing base will immediately dismiss the claim along with the source. If he's called on it on Meet the Press or another Sunday show, as long as the politician can evade the question when rephrased two or three times, he's in the clear. He's just got to get six or eight days down the road, until something new hits the news cycle, and voila! he's home free.

Now, I'm not saying that only the right does this. They just seem to do it more often, and more flagrantly. Remember the "nuclear option?" The threat by Republicans to eliminate the filibuster in the Senate, on the grounds that Democrats were abusing it? Now that the tables have turned, Republicans are using the filibuster more than Democrats ever did. Remember all that crappy talk about "up or down votes?" Doesn't seem to be an issue when Republicans obstruct is it? I guess the big difference is, Republicans are especially good at getting their message--no matter how untrue or hypocritical--into the "conventional wisdom" jetstream. Democrats suck at messaging. Even when they have the truth on their side.

[Excerpt]

Hatch Vows Reconciliation Will Lead To Permanent “War” Between Parties — But He Backed Many Reconciliation Bills

GOP Senator Orrin Hatch is now warning that if Dems pass health care reform via reconciliation it will lead to permanent “war” between the two parties — even though he voted for more than a half dozen GOP bills passed through the process known as…reconciliation.

Here’s Hatch, in an interview with the Salt Lake Tribune, claiming that if Dems use reconciliation it would constitute one of the most despotic acts in the history of the republic. . .

Read more at: PlumLine

GOP in Senate Set Record for Filibusters

Photo from Wikimedia

Do you remember all the threats the former GOP Senate made about using the "nuclear option?" How about the endless repetition of the phrase "up or down vote?" Yes, when Democrats used the filibuster, the GOP threatened to take it away. So they stopped using it.

Now that the Senate is nominally controlled by the Democrats, the GOP is using the filibuster with abandon. So why isn't the nuclear option on the table this time around?

[Excerpt]

Record Breaking: Senate Conservatives Use Filibuster for 62nd Time in This Session of Congress

The Republican Senate minority today filibustered an omnibus budget bill, setting a modern-day record for blocking the most legislation during a congressional session. A new report released today by the Campaign for America's Future details the 62 times conservatives have used the filibuster to block legislation (or force modification of bills) in the first session of the 110th Congress. In just the first year of this two-year Congress, their use of the filibuster in the Senate topped the previous record, reached during the entire 107th Congress. . .

Read more at: PR Newswire