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Harry Reid: Filibuster Reform Will Be Pursued In The Next Congress

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Jenna Bluehut
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« on: November 08, 2012, 01:40:46 am »


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Harry Reid: Filibuster Reform Will Be Pursued In The Next Congress


Posted: 11/07/2012 1:12 pm EST Updated: 11/07/2012 1:45 pm EST


WASHINGTON -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) pledged on Wednesday to change the rules of the Senate so that the minority party has fewer tools to obstruct legislative business.

In his first post-election press conference, the Nevada Democrat said he wouldn't go so far as to eliminate the filibuster, which requires 60 votes for the chamber to enter and exit the amendment and debate process. But in remarks meant to preview a more combative approach during the next session, he warned Republicans that obstructionism as a tactic won't be tolerated -- or as technically feasible.

"I want to work together, but I also want everyone to also understand, you cannot push us around. We want to work together," Reid said.

"I do" have plans to change the Senate rules, he added. "I have said so publicly and I continue to feel that way ... I think the rules have been abused, and we are going to work to change them. We will not do away with the filibuster, but we will make the senate a more meaningful place. We are going to make it so we can get things done."

Reid has gone down this path before, flirting with the concept of rules reform after the 2010 midterm elections. But he backed off the idea under pressure from some of the chamber's longer-serving members, including those within his own party.

Sources close to the majority leader say the intervening time period has hardened his belief that the Senate is too dysfunctional to leave its rules untouched. And in an interview over the summer with The Huffington Post, Reid outlined the specific details of what he had in store for the next Congress.

"The first thing is the most important thing," Reid said the interview. "Do away with motion to proceed. Just do away with it. I favor the filibuster. There's a reason for the filibuster. I understand it. It's to protect the rights of the minority. The Senate was set up to protect the rights of the minority ... so that's the no. 1 issue, and the rest of the stuff we can deal with if there's a filibuster conducted. Those are the kind of things -- if we get the motion to proceed out of the way, we can debate it, one, to cloture. That's good. So that's the no. 1 biggie."

Even with Democrats set to control the Senate -- indeed, even set to expand their current majority -- the avenues for Reid to pursue rules reform aren't entirely clear.

There has historically been some debate over whether the majority can change the Senate rules at the beginning of each term, or whether two-thirds support is needed, per the Senate rules. The question hinges on whether the Senate is a "continuing legislative body" or whether each new term marks a new Senate. Those who want to change the rules using a majority vote argue that past Senates cannot bind the hands of future legislative bodies.

Whatever the historical record, the basic fight comes down to numbers. No matter what the Senate chair rules, a majority can overrule the chair. However, that will likely be unnecessary, as Vice President Joe Biden is known to be a supporter of filibuster reform, and a believer that the constitution allows the majority to write new rules at the start of a term.

Some Republicans may be willing to go along as well, hoping to have the rules in place for the next time they control the upper chamber, which could come as soon as 2015.
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Europa
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« Reply #1 on: November 11, 2012, 05:34:58 pm »

Dems, GOP fight brewing over curbing filibusters
By ALAN FRAM | Associated Press – 5 hrs ago

http://news.yahoo.com/dems-gop-fight-brewing-over-curbing-filibusters-123939041.html

Associated Press/Susan Walsh - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. gestures as he discusses Tuesday's election results during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012. …more
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WASHINGTON (AP) — A brewing and potentially bitter fight over Democratic efforts to curb filibusters is threatening to inflame partisan tensions in the Senate, even as President Barack Obama and Republicans explore whether they can compromise on top tier issues such as debt reduction and taxes.
A potential showdown vote to limit Senate filibusters would not come until January. Democrats are threatening to resort to a seldom-used procedure that could let them change the rules without GOP support, all but inviting Republican retaliation.
That fight is looming as the newly re-elected Obama and GOP leaders prepare to use the lame-duck session of Congress that starts Tuesday to hunt for compromise on the "fiscal cliff" — the nearly $700 billion worth of tax increases and spending cuts next year that automatically begin in January unless lawmakers head them off.
That effort will be contentious enough without added animosity over efforts to weaken the filibuster. Unless a filibuster compromise is reached, the dispute could produce sour partisan feelings that might hinder cooperation on legislation when the new Congress begins work in January.
Filibusters are a procedural tactic that lets the minority party block bills that lack the support of at least 60 senators. Democrats seem likely to command a 55-45 majority in the new Senate, making 60 a difficult hurdle.
Frustrated by the GOP's growing use of filibusters, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is considering a Senate vote in the new year to limit their use.
"I think that the rules have been abused and that we're going to work to change them," Reid, D-Nev., told reporters this past week. "We're not going to do away with the filibuster, but we're going to make the Senate a more meaningful place, we're going to make it so that we can get things done."
Democrats say that vote to change the rules would require a simple majority of senators, and they argue that the Constitution lets Senate majorities write new rules for the chamber. That, in effect, would mean Democrats could change the rules over GOP opposition, assuming 51 Democrats go along.
Republicans say they filibuster legislation because Reid blocks them from offering amendments. They also note that Senate rules require that the body's procedures can be changed only by a two-thirds majority.
Changing Senate rules by simple majority, rather than a two-thirds vote, is rarely done and referred to as "the nuclear option" because it is considered an extreme move that can trigger all-out partisan battling.
The Senate's arcane procedures require the consent of all senators to do almost anything. An embittered minority party can use the chamber's rules to force repeated votes and delays that can grind work to a virtual halt.
Don Stewart, spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., would not say what Republicans would do should Democrats try changing the rules by simple majority vote.
"We hope Democrats will work toward allowing members of both sides to be involved in the legislative process — rather than poisoning the well on the very first day of the next Congress," Stewart said.
Republicans also note that in public remarks Reid made on the Senate floor in January 2011 during a discussion with McConnell, Reid agreed to oppose "any effort in this Congress or the next to change the Senate's rules other than through the regular order." That was a reference to Senate rules requiring two-thirds majorities for rules changes.
Democrats say it is Republicans who broke the January 2011 informal deal the two leaders discussed because McConnell said he would use procedural delays "with discretion."
Instead, Democrats say, Republicans frequently have used stalling tactics to prevent the Senate from even beginning to debate bills. They then bog down debate by insisting on votes on piles of amendments, including many on unrelated issues that are designed to score points in future election campaigns, Democrats say.
Reid wants to prevent filibusters on "motions to proceed," which let the Senate begin debating a bill, and aides say he might consider other restrictions as well. Reid plans to discuss it with fellow Democrats in the postelection session. Discussions with McConnell could occur as well, Democratic aides said.
Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon has proposed filibuster limits that include requiring senators delaying legislation to talk continually about it on the Senate floor, much like the senator portrayed by the actor James Stewart did in the 1939 movie "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington."
That type of filibuster has been extremely rare for decades.
The use of filibusters by senators, usually those in the minority, is one of the key ways the chamber differs from the House, where the rules usually let the majority prevail unimpeded. Senators in the majority often complain about the minority's excessive use of filibusters, but are usually cautious about limiting the procedure because they know their own party can fall back into the minority after any election.
According to the Senate Historian's Office, the number of "cloture petitions" — a procedural step that sets up a vote to end a filibuster — was 68 in the two-year session of Congress running from 2005 to 2006, the last time Democrats were in the minority.
But that number has exceeded 100 for each of the past three two-year sessions, all of which have seen Republicans in the minority, peaking at 139 in the 2007-2008 session. There have been 109 in the current 2011-2012 session, with several more weeks of lame duck meetings expected.
Reid spokesman Adam Jentleson said that while Democrats are open to compromise, McConnell "has got to know that the American people on Tuesday completely rejected his entire approach to governing, obstruction and gridlock at every turn."
McConnell spokesman Stewart said Republicans already compromised in the informal 2011 agreement that Democrats broke.
"Doing hyperpartisan actions doesn't lead to partisan compromise," he said.
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Volitzer
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« Reply #2 on: November 12, 2012, 02:17:51 pm »

No doubt they want to push martial law but can't get it done if the filibuster rules apply.
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Misty Allen
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« Reply #3 on: November 12, 2012, 09:43:12 pm »

Well, shucks, if they wanted to push martial law through, you think the Republicans would stop them??  Huh  They are today's version of the Nazi Party, except they hate more people than the Nazis did!
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Volitzer
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« Reply #4 on: November 13, 2012, 08:43:50 am »

This is what the 2 Globalist Parties are opting for.
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