The reason McConnell and Reid are thrashing out a deal is because clearly McConnell believes that Reid has the votes to push through unilateral filibuster reform under the Senate rules if they don’t come up with a compromise.

Given that if McConnell does nothing, he gets the worst possible situation (Hm, that sounds remarkably like a certain fiscal cliff scenario) what exactly do you suggest he should do? Do nothing, keep conservative purity, achieve nothing, or work with Reid and get something.

Yet again great rhetoric, terrible politics. The Democrat party solidarity is railroading the GOP right now and you’re playing right into their hands.

Oh, sure, take this issue to do the filibuster deal on McConnell. Can’t wait to do the filibuster on the debt ceiling with Harry.

I swear its enough to make me tune out and that’s what I think they all want.

I think you’re giving McConnell far too much credit. The Republicans are quite fine with a good bit of the Democrats’ agenda, they just don’t want to take the blame for any of it. So….by doing away with the filibuster, they can alleviate any pressure from conservatives to oppose the endless spending bills, gun control bills, immigration “reform” and other Democrat initiatives because, after all, they won’t have the votes to stop any of it since they no longer have the power to filibuster. Everybody wins! (Unless you’re a conservative).

This is serious as you state, so I’m in a quandry as to why you would post a link to the Huffington Post, a known left leaning site. The article does not include evidence that a deal is being cut as per your 1st sentence. It points out that different plans are being tossed around but I don’t see a final deal being cut.
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So how can McConnell block the farse that they are still in session? That’s the solution we need and any deal to change the filibuster rules in place needs to be quashed as it’s our only way slow down the Left’s agenda. Idea’s Erick?

Yeah, I remember back in the day, when $1 trillion was real money…

Cant we get someone to FILIBUSTER the rules changes?

I mean seriously, Reid doesnt do a budget in 3 years and now he is keeping ‘first day’ open for a month.

This is how democracies die.

I read that the McCain-Levin proposal is just for two years. So IF we gained the Senate in 2014, the rule expires just when we need it. What an idiot McCain is and I’d like to suggest that AZ voters should be encouraged to berate him daily.

If you can’t see that the WHOLE POINT of this is to marginalize non-Establishment Republicans, you are blind. This is a deal between Reid and McConnell to put Tea Party Senators and the “too conservative” into a box where their filibuster threats can be safely ignored.

It is part and parcel of an overall understanding between Establishment Republicans and Dems which is causing Establishment Republicans to cross the aisle in the House to vote with Dems as they did on the Fiscal Cliff and are apparently about to do on the debt ceiling as well. We should have seen signs of this understanding when Boehner demoted “disloyal” (to him) Tea Party Republicans from Committee positions.

There is Civil War in America right now — and it is the Establishment Republicans who are waging it and winning it, against the non-Establishment Republicans who apparently haven’t even figured out that they are in such a fight yet, or that the Establishment Republicans have allied with the Dems against them.

Yeah, you can say “vote them out in the primaries” but the Establishment Republicans will use their power to consolidate the lobby money, the RNC has already said that it might start anointing primary candidates (who exactly do you think THAT is aimed at), and they will find quiet support if not outright donations in some races from complicit Dems.

Yes, conservitas, and Becky5 has a nice post below that spells it out succinctly.

Also, establishment republicans won’t be primaried so again, the veritable question from one other great poster – who to call? what to say?

Sadly, I can now see why the Heritage Fund was such a beacon for the Senator from Carolina. Good luck to the 5 (?) senators that are now deemed radicals because they had support from the TEA (taxed enough already) Party.

Yeah, right the ol’ “let them win so they pass stuff and its so bad then we win and GAME OVER” … its naive and wrong.

They get power. They use it to burrow in and gain more power. Immigration reform and more govt dependents than ever is the tipping pt. GAME OVER.

I would question any poll that suggests the public is in favor or some filibuster reform since I doubt more than 30-40% of the public knows the definintion. And I for one, am in favor of gridlock given the current balance of power and if it means filibustering every bad law or infringement of our rights, then filibuster away. Passing the Left’s agenda is worth stopping with whatever means we have.

I’m sorry for your plight Athena and commend you for trying and yet finding it hopeless. If only there were more patriots in AZ that would have voted him out last go round. Yep, I’m with Perry in that we need gov’t to be inconsequential in our lives, regardless of what else you think of the man, he had this part right.

We need the filibuster to cool the heels of our Democratic friends who are often hot to make drastic changes to our Republic. That said I don’t support anonymous holds or silent filibusters.

Let’s stand up and proudly make our case the American people. If we have any hopes of changing minds and winning national elections it won’t be by hiding our positions.

The filibuster shouldn’t just be a tool for stopping bad legislation, in the hands of Republican Senators it should be a bully pulpit.

What ever happened to the three day rule that we the people, were going to have to read bills?
Apparently it went into the same trash as the “so called” fiscal cliff deal they agreed upon after 1 am and the Senate had three minutes, it might have been four, to read before they voted.
I am sick of all the entrenched pols that have ruined our republic, both dem and republican.

These guys would disagree

http://faculty.washington.edu/jwilker/353/353Assignments/Gold_Gupta_JLPP_article.pdf

Erick, this gov thinks it is the great almighty, they don’t care what anyone thinks. I see only one solution to ending this. The people must ban together, ,at least those who still believe in a free republic and make clear that we will not accept their continued violation of our rights and the law!

Sometimes the Republicans have to stand and fight and even lose this round. A loss of a battle does not mean the war is over so why surrender before all options are known?

How the public will respond in states that value guns and do not need more laws may have an impact on Democrats that renders their removing filibuster harmful to them politically.

What goes around comes around. Remove filibuster to push Gun control that restricts an enshrined Right should have consequences.

Also, GOP can do the same to Ds in future whe they are a minority caucus.

The disgrace of a Senate that can not or will not pass a budget as required under a leader like Reid is compounded by his attempts to further cripple the minority.
A Fillibuster clearly indicates a strong minority opposes a legislative attempt by the majority.
Requiring more than a simple majority makes it necessary to have more than a squeaker and this is consistant with the traditions and purposes intended for the Senate.
Unfortunately we no longer seem to care for our form of Government in our march to “Transform” America,
Increasingly we see the Democratic party as an ideological opponent of the Constitution and traditions of the United Statesd of America.
God help us if we continue to forgo being a Federal Republic with the free people in charge and allow Government control to change the culture, economy and governance of this country.

I am with Dick Morris on this. Go back to a real filibuster. Not this procedural crap that let’s the congressman sit in his office waiting for meeting schedules or phone calls. They have to go back and work the crowd, stand and talk, persuade for hours if necessary.
Any limits on filibuster will come naturally then because it will be tougher to pull that instead of the easy way.

The more gridlock the better. Pay them to do nothing is most of the time better than the alternative. Of course I’d rather have a part-time legislature with term limits. Plus no lifetime benefits of ANY KIND.

But that’s me . . .

Yeh. Why do we have to register cars?

Another way to send a shot across the bow?

Eighteen states have recall provisions. Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin all have recall of some kind available to their voters.

The websites of secretaries of state and numerous other websites provide detailed instructions on how to proceed. Usually there are detailed procedures for preparing and filing such petitions.

The recall of federal and state legislators must be considered at present to have a questionable likelihood of success. While, unquestionably, large segments of the American population feel alienated from their politicians, political organizations, as in
the past, will subsidize serious legal challenges to any recall petitions. The courts have precedents and complex constitutional arguments to prevent petitions from succeeding.
However, the composition of the U.S. Supreme Court has changed and different results are possible.

Recall efforts may serve other purposes, such as a focus for building consensus and organizations and as a warning to politicians that their conduct is not appreciated.

Every public officer in the state of Arizona
Arizona Constitution, Article 8
No grounds necessary
http://www.azleg.gov/const/Arizona_Constitution.pdf

I like Tar and Feather but, we are not allowed to do that today.

Thumbs up
me too

I like that.

A way to create a “Citizen’s government” would be to push through an amendment creating term limits. My fantasy scenario would be as follows: House, 5 lifetime non-sequential terms. Senate, appointed by the state legislatures to no more than 2 terms lifetime. If we must elect senators then their terms also must be non-sequential. (There would never be a reelection in Congress)

I would also like to see the states be allowed to dissolve Congress and force immediate elections. The President shouldn’t have that power, but a majority of the states should.

State recall provisions don’t apply to federal offices. The Constitution sets the rules for federal elections.

I suppose you can blame Bill Frist. It is helpful to remind oneself that Republicans threatened to change the Senate rules with 51 votes.

May I suggest starting here, the issue is very complex and can not be covered in this post. A bit of research on your part will clarify.

http://www.uscitizensassociation.com/pdfs/Recalling%20U.S.%20Senators%20and%20Congressmen.pdf

As posted above each State is a bit different.

Republican in the general…..

The US government under Democrats is a spoils system mostly for cronies who work in the government and do services for needy or infrastructure, contracts etc. and Solyndras. Recovery Act, that failed stimulus plan of shovel ready jobs threw us deeper in debt in middle of a recession. Then came Obamacare and its costs plus the Auto bailouts and ownership of GM.

Democrats ran up record public debt and have no plans to repay it. Some one will down the line. We always pay the piper. .

Government by Democrats is also a bank robbery on a runnway train cruising through the Rockies on a clear day with not much in its way as it picks up speed Jan 16, 2013.
They want the money anyway they can get it.
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Citizens’ government is a libertarian theme that I happen with which I happen to agree. The notion that it should come naturally is probably a pipe dream. But if unintended consequences didn’t muck up the works, then I’d be all for a way to legally force it a bit.
I sure wish people were more civic minded which is not to be confused with ‘activist’ in any way, shape, or form. Activists most generally are selfish groups by necessity/definition. A lot of them suck sooooo bad.

I can remember when twenty dollars was real money.

it is not the loss of America that we need to fear most…. it is what replaces America.

The argument is that the existing rules are irrelevant unless the new Senate chooses to adopt them. That’s why they say it can only be changed with a simple majority on the first day of business. While the existing rules say they continue to the next Congress, that isn’t necessarily binding.

Erick, i disagree with you. Conservative politicians are being summarily discharged and conservative citizens have lost any real representation. self-described republicans hang the conservative labels on themselves long enough to get elected then make backroom deals that are completely contrary to our values. it is happening on a state and municipal level as well. Agenda 21 may be an urban myth, but there is an agenda- take a look at The international property maintenance code adopted by the new cities. the name alone should scare people.and the provisions enable govt. to virtually control private property. I challenge you and your readers to read it, discuss it with your local reps- their reaction may surprise you. our local governments- primarily republican- are becoming increasingly oppressive and expensive having learned well from their national counterparts.
when Zell Miller disavowed the democratic party he said he did not leave the party, the party left him. the republican party has not only left us, it is demonizing us. the only fear these morons have is the fear of losing power. the answer is a third party– i call it the afl-cio- americans for liberty conservatives intent on opposition-{ cant reisist the jab at unions}.

at this point i have more respect for democrats- at least they admit who they are.

I see Boehner reverting to the ways of Bob Michel, who was content to go along and get along and be everyone’s friend. And the Senate Dems had to have been shocked when Trent Lott decided to “share the power” when he was Majority Leader. Gee, I can’t recall any stories about Dems “reaching across the aisle.”
When it began to look like some incumbents might be voted out, who came up with the McCain-Feingold Perpetual Return to Congresss Act? Part of what allowed 60 Republicans to be elected in 2010 was money from the outside PACs, because McC-F assures — what’s the number now? — 98% re-election.

I know I’m preaching to the choir, but: my copy of the Constitution is silent on the right to keep and drive automobiles. But to keep and bear arms? Something about “shall not be infringed…”

Certainly the Senate has the Constitutional power to adopt its rules of proceedings. And under that Constitutional power, the Senate has adopted rules, among which are:
- The Senate is a continuting body
- The Senate rules shall remain in force unless amended according to the Senate rules
- Changes to Senate rules require one day notice in writing
- Changes to Senate rules require 2/3 majority (irrespective of Party, by the way)
The Senate did not have to adopt these rules. But they did and, since they have determined these to be the rules of their proceedings, under the Constitution they are obliged to conduct their business according to them. That is what the Constitution requires. Sen. Byrd (et al) are trying to duck that. The Senate did not have to declare itself a continuing body – but it did; the Senate did not have to declare 2/3 majority for rule changes – but it did. The Senate did not have to declare itself to be bound by the rules of the preceding Senate – but it did. (etc.) And having established their rules of conducting business the Constution says that they are bound by them.