President Joe Biden on Tuesday backed the notion of making the filibuster, a Senate procedure that essentially requires 60 votes to pass bills instead of a simple majority, more painful to carry out as Republicans routinely weaponize it to kill Democrats’ legislative agenda.
OLD SCHOOL! If they want to challenge or BLOCK any legislation, take a stand…LITERALLY. Make them stand and talk. Not only will this make Republicans think twice about their action it will also put a face to who is blocking legislation that the public is behind.
Alright let’s do this!
I do have a question who/what determines 60 votes vs simple majority? Jim Clyburn was on Hayes not too long ago and mentioned reforming the Filibuster so that more bills pass with simple majority.
Is that possible? Because you could keep the Filibuster, make it painful…I miss the talking Filibuster. While also changing what needs 60vs51 in order to get more bills (infrastructure, min wage, voting rights) passed without even worrying about it.
If Republicans are forced to talk until they drop when it means keeping minorities from voting and having various other equal privileges and rights in our society they’ll gladly do it.
O/T murder in Georgia Suspect is a muslin , just kidding see pic
FBI arrives in South Georgia after suspect captured in spa shooting spree that killed 8 (ajc.com)
At best, the 60 vote rule assumed that there was some consensus between the parties on the need for governance and what that governance was to do and so a workable compromise was there to be found.
That doesn’t exist.
A rule predicated on that assumption should, therefore, also not exist.
Joe’s got the same problem so many in our generation suffer.
He still thinks Jimmy Stewart’s character in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” was for real.
I can’t speak for other generations, but I am quite certain it is nostalgia for the falsehood promoted by that movie that moves him.
Its a great plot, but it is completely naive. And it glamorizes the filibuster and elevated it to mythic democratic symbolism.
Without that fictional representation stuck in their heads, all these “traditionalist” Democrats would all understand what a farce it is.
But just like “Its a Wonderful Life,” had nothing to do with banker reality, the filibuster in “Mr. Smith” is not anything akin to democracy itself.
Revering that hypocritical digression we call the filibuster over a Hollywood performance is a problem a lot of us older folks suffer.
I’m not one of them.
Well, no. You’ll have the grandstanders, like Cruz (Green Eggs and Ham, anyone?), that will still push this through.
But guess what? At the end, the legislation will still be voted on and passed, whether the Right likes it or not. They’re not in charge anymore. If HR1 passes, they may never be again, which will be one day too soon.
This killer is a product of our anti-religious society and has fallen victim to indoctrination from the socialist left.
F*** McConnell and his blue slip obstruction of democracy.
Get this done. Make them take the floor and hold it - publicly - if they want to attempt their blocking of the majority’s agenda.
May luck be your friend in whatever you do
And may trouble always be a stranger to you.
The filibuster needs to be eliminated.
Blocking democracy shouldn’t be”a little bit more painful”it should be very painful.
For the record, should the talking filibuster be re-instated, this is what we have to look forward to, with the GQP wanting to make this list:
5 Famous Filibusters | Mental Floss
ETA: It’s interesting to note that, in most of these cases, the bills passed anyway.
Yes, go back to this:
Thurmond, who completed the longest federal filibuster in US history (24 hours, 18 minutes) in 1957, took the minimalist route with a bucket. His aides set it up in the cloakroom so that Thurmond could pee while keeping one foot on the Senate floor.
Wendy Davis wore a urine bag during her famous filibuster in Texas.
Wine comes in at the mouth
And love comes in at the eye
That is all we shall know for truth
Before we grow old and die
I raise my glass to my lips
I look at you and I sigh
W.B. Yeats
Hoping this is just a first step. Mr. Reasonable goes to Washington, but GOP opposition to H.R.1 will force his hand.
You don’t get it do you. We aren’t talking about what was real. We are talking about what people think was real. The talking filibuster will allow Manchin and others to claim that they have reformed a process that has gotten way out of hand. People across the country will remember watching Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and will nod in approval. In the meantime the reform will greatly limit the power of a minority of a minority party that has no interest in governing from stopping America cold in its tracts.
The Republicans and the right wing media are deep into theater. This will give Fox News its theater without truly stopping progress.
Since the problem is total gridlock a measure that doesn’t fix that is worthless. And I don’t think anyone’s naive about what the Republicans are capable of and just in case there may be some babes in the woods, McConnell’s warning yesterday was a reminder. But there’s also the possibility that this is a fig leaf first step. A public talking point. There may be much more on the behind closed doors table.
You mean like storming the Capitol to halt an election certification, stealing a laptop from the Speaker and trying to sell it to a Russian intel intermediary, and then being released to Mom and Dad to watch TV in your pajamas while awaiting trial. That kind of painful?
Force the R-Senators to watch “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.”
They’ll love it.
