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Old 31st December 2012, 09:59 AM   #29
Meadmaker
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Originally Posted by JoeTheJuggler View Post
If you're not suggesting something like the nuclear option (remove the Senate filibuster forever), then what are you suggesting?
First, that people pay attention to the parliamentary tricks. That doesn't seem likely to happen, but we can dream.

Second, that rules be modified so that it's easier to force a vote. This is especially true in the Senate where any Senator can block any bill, and you have to get 60 publicly recorded votes to stop him. Would I go nuclear on the filibuster? Maybe. At the very least, I would demand a return to the "old style" filibuster, which would force filibusters to be very public displays.

Right now, a Senator can filibuster without most voters even knowing it's happening.


What really prompted this was the failure to vote on "Plan B". It went down because of lack of support from right wingers, and now there is no plan in the House. I'm really confident that someone could craft a compromise that would get the moderates in both parties to support it, but such a plan would never get to a vote. Boehner, in particular, couldn't allow that to ever come to a vote on the floor, because his own party would have him strung up for letting it happen.
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