Those of us who called for filibuster reform at the beginning of this Congress got some vindication this week when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid admitted on the Senate floor that we were right:
“If there were ever a time when Tom Udall and Jeff Merkley were prophetic, it’s tonight,” Reid said in his floor speech yesterday. “These two young, fine senators said it was time to change the rules of the Senate, and we didn’t. They were right. The rest of us were wrong — or most of us, anyway. What a shame.”
I don’t think I’ve ever given Harry Reid bad advice. But it’s nice to have him admit that he was a dunderhead. So, if we hold on to our control of the Senate, I assume that Harry Reid will deal with the Republicans with the requisite harshness that they deserve. Right?
Even better .. if we take back the House .. and hold the Senate .. I hope Reid remembers … because there is still a lot left to be done .. besides .. I think even Reid realizes .. if we do both of what I state above .. and the President gets his second term .. hopefully hope is not lost
He’ll cave on the power lines…
What a delightful image!
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"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Makes me sick. It couldn’t have been more obvious that the GOP were pursuing a scorched-earth policy of obstructionism from early 2009 on, but somehow Harry Reid, in all other respects a master of Senate rules and procedures, is just now figuring that out. Good lord, iirc GOP Senators like Tom Coburn were abusing the rules even before the Dems took over. “Unforced error” is a phrase that frequently comes to mind but doesn’t do justice to the enormity of the matter.
You and about 5,000 others on blogs, alone, told Harry if you can’t abolish the senate then at least abolish the filibuster.
For years, if not for decades, people have been saying this.
For years, if not for decades, people have been saying this.
Which makes one contemplate if we might not still be saying it for years, if not decades, more.
No, it will be next year when the Republicans have 51 or 52 Senators.
Mitch McConnell is smart enough to realize that the filibuster is and has always been a massive impediment to progressive legislation.
Will McConnel be the leader? Or will it be a Teabagger? They are taking no prisoners. After I saw Manzullo, a conservative stalwart pulled down by freshman Tea Party candidate Kinzinger with the full backing of the House leadership, I realized a revolution is happening in the Republican Party. They started out using the Tea Party but are winding up with the Tea Party using them.
The Republican Party started out a a party of Northern Progressives with a strong tilt toward the upper middle class. It then morphed into the party of the Robber Barons and big city machine politicians. After the Crash of ’29, the machine pols became Democrats because that’s where the money was and the Republican Party was solely the province of the country club set. Barry Goldwater pulled it further Right into Libertarian country and Ronald Reagan riding a wave of blue collar reaction brought in the precursors of the Tea Party, disaffected blue collar workers and unreconstructed racists but with the rich firmly in control. W gave the party over to the Religious Right but with the rich sucking down their tax cuts and corporate control. Now the Tea Party revolts against the rich, particularly the banksters and will totally give the party over to the crazies. Meanwhile, the Rich are hedging their bets with the DINOs. When the Tea Party wrests all control from them, they will flood their money into the Democratic Party which will become the party of the new robber barons. We can see this as Rahm Emanuel pulls down the old machine and replaces it with a corporate machine.
The prospects are not good for the sane parts of the 99%
I think an outright abolition would be bad. But it should be modified:
Ambassadors, cabinet appointments, appointments to staff: no filibuster, no holds, 30 day limit on delay
Judges: no holds, limit on filibuster, ideally no filibuster
Bills: limits on filibuster, outright statement that the chamber is a majority-rules chamber, not a 60-vote chamber
I disagree on judges. I think the president won, they should get any cabinet or staff they want. Judges are lifetime appointments, and are political in nature as we’ve seen.
Wrong. We’ve played this game before. It’s called “Election Year Jibber Jabber”, where people like Harry Reid talk big. Then after you win, we go back to business as usual.
Been there, done that. Oh, and dry powder.
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It’s fine if he believes it to be true and if we keep the Senate he may try to change it but he’ll 50 other Senators to go there with him and I don’t think there’s 50 Democrats who agree with him on this.
My question is whether this statement represents a change in Reid’s thinking, or a change in his vote count?