Reform the filibuster already

[toine]

Good grief... So Mitch McConnell is now filibustering himself...

McConnell asks Harry Reid to call vote on his debt ceiling bill. Reid agrees to have up or down vote in senate. McConnell wants 60 votes to pass. Reid tells him to get bent. McConnell is left to filibuster his own bill which he asked for a vote on. What a bloody embarrassment.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/1...ef=mostpopular

[RayClay]

McConnell's last gasp of obstructionism

[Superbelt]

I think Mitch McConnell actually just ensured the Filibuster gets reformed in the next Congress. What he did was just surreal. I think he pushed over some Democratic fence sitters who were afraid of changing Senate rules on 51 votes on the first day of next term.

[Jim in NYC]

And while we're reforming the filibuster, maybe we should give the not-so-distinguished Senator a tour of the nearest funny farm.

[Fandango]

I think Mitch McConnell actually just ensured the Filibuster gets reformed in the next Congress. What he did was just surreal.

What an embarrassment to the Senate Minority Leader. This certainly won't get as much play in the general media as it should, because it is a rebuke of how his leadership (and party) have operated in recent years. I have always said that filibuster reform needs to be done in a very cautious manner, and I don't want to see it taken away entirely. But how the GOP has used it over the last 4 years has rendered the Senate completely broken, and something needs to, and hopefully will, change.

[Superbelt]

Neither do I. I don't want to see it go away at all. I just want to see talking filibusters. It's currently bull**** with no responsibility on the objectors side.

[thelittlecheese]

Everybody wants the filibuster rule thrown out when it's their favorite party in power. But when it's not your favorite party, these same folks desperately cling to it like a life raft. Bottom line is I do like the rule as it allows the minority party to have some representation for their states.

[karhu]

I have always said that filibuster reform needs to be done in a very cautious manner, and I don't want to see it taken away entirely.

Neither do I. I don't want to see it go away at all.

Everybody wants the filibuster rule thrown out when it's their favorite party in power.

Hrmmmm....

[Superbelt]

Everybody wants the filibuster rule thrown out when it's their favorite party in power. But when it's not your favorite party, these same folks desperately cling to it like a life raft. Bottom line is I do like the rule as it allows the minority party to have some representation for their states.

'Filibuster reform' doesn't mean getting rid of the Filibuster. The Filibuster doesn't actually currently exist. Filibuster reform, brings it back.

No one who 'objects' has to actually filibuster. It just triggers a 60 vote threshold. So anyone can go ahead and object to as much legislative action as they want, and never have to actually do anything to sustain that objection.

It's stupid. If you feel so strongly about an issue, be willing to hold to floor.

[Fandango]

Neither do I. I don't want to see it go away at all. I just want to see talking filibusters. It's currently bull**** with no responsibility on the objectors side.

Yeah we have very similar, if not exact, mindsets on what should be required from a filibuster going forward...but the current setup only leads to deadlock, disfunctional government and zero accountability

[toine]

between 1920 and 1970 there was an average of about 1 filibuster per year. I read that we were at around 180 (looking for link) for 2012 alone... How is the senate not broken?

Democrats, too, abused the filibuster during Bush's term. Republicans have even managed to one-up them during Obama's term.

[Superbelt]

http://killfil.com/senators/