Over at The Plum Line, Greg Sargent has an important post about the way the debt ceiling fight could end without triggering a cash-crunch crisis for the federal government. Greg thinks is could be one of two possibilities. First, the House GOP could agree to a version of the plan first proposed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) that helped solve the last debt ceiling fight in August 2011.
Second, Greg says that the same combination of Democrats and some Republicans in the House that voted for the fiscal cliff deal would likely approve the McConnell plan or a clean debt ceiling increase if the GOP leadership allowed the vote to take place.
Both options are plausible for a basic reason Greg does not mention: The GOP seems to be coming to the conclusion that fighting over the debt ceiling is not its best option.
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Our country has so many urgent needs and two of them are the need for jobs for millions of unemployed people, and the need to upgrade our aging, crumbling infrastructure. Our current policy -- enforced by GOP filibusters of bills to fix the country's infrastructure -- of not fixing our infrastructure to "save money" is starting to cost way more than it saves, and this can only get worse. Hey, I have an idea, why don't we hire unemployed people to fix up our needs-fixing infrastructure, and help get our economy moving again.
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There is a big push going on to get the Senate to "fix the filibuster" so the majority can rule, and the minority will stop obstructing literally everything. Today is a DAY OF ACTION for contacting senators to let them know that you want them to FIX THE FILIBUSTER! Tell them to co-sponsor S.Res. 4, the Merkley-Udall Rules Reform Package.
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Senate Republicans have been using filibusters to block ... everything. You might not even know it, because the filibuster is no longer the talk-all-night event that most people expect. Democrats are trying to fix this by restoring the old "talk all night" rules. They only need two more votes. Make a call to add your voice to the pressure.
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TODAY is a day of action demanding that the Senate fix the filibuster and make them talk. Pick up the phone right now and urge your Senator to support Senate Rules Reform. Call 1-866-937-5062 or text FIXTHESENATE to 69866.
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The filibuster used to be an important tool that gave the minority a voice in the Senate. But the Senate made a mistake and changed the rules, which enabled an obstructionist minority to block ... everything. There have been more than 380 filibusters in the last few years! It is time to change the rules back to the old "make them talk" system. Thursday, Jan. 3rd, is a day of action demanding that the Senate fix the filibuster and make them talk. So pick up the phone right now and urge your Senator to support Senate Rules Reform. Call 1-866-937-5062 or text FIXTHESENATE to 69866.
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There is a chance to reform the filibuster in January, with a proposal to "make them talk." Will the Charlie Browns in the Senate let Lucy pull away the football yet again? As George 'W' Bush said, "fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."
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Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley took to the white board to explain the talking filibuster and why we need to reform the Senate. Merkley White Board: Its time to Reform the Senate with a Talking Filibuster Fix The Senate Now. You can sign the petition. The filibuster used to be an important tool that gave the [...]
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Yesterday I noted that the main Senate Republican arguments against filibuster reform pretend that Democrats want to do away with minority filibusters, when in fact the proposals on the table simply ensure that filibusters be conducted in public view. Today, the National Review’s Daniel Foster adds to the misleading. In his piece, “The Plot to [...]
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In today’s Wall Street Journal, Republican Sen. John Barrasso has an irate oped intended to rally the public against Democratic proposals to end filibuster abuse. But in his tirade he neglects to mention one important fact: the Democratic proposals still allow minority filibusters. Barrasso spends most his time complaining that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid [...]
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