[Much thanks to my friend G. We've had many conversations, online & off, over this subject, over the years, and he's been a great source - RS]
"I don't remember the old-timey filibusters well enough to know whether the majority having to hang around is so. And I don't have time right now to look it up. I just remember: how they had to fill everyone's offices and the cloakroom and all with cots, and how cranky everyone got at having to show up in the chamber in bathrobes."
"AND by all means, lets require the filibusterers ACTUALLY TO DO IT."
In the interests of possibly never hearing or reading any more comments like that, I'm putting up this long essay on what it really means to launch and curtail a filibuster.
Filibusters are governed by Rules XIX and XXII of the Senate. All a filibuster is is a form of obstruction where a Senator (or more than one, theoretically, but you don't see that often) attempts to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a proposal by extending a debate on that proposal.
Reconciliation: An Introduction
Reconciliation: an Introduction
We can all agree that we're on the homestretch of the health care reform debate, even if the final decision is still off in the distance.
I've seen questions about how the reconciliation process would work in the Senate. Along with those questions, I've seen a lot of mistaken thinking on how that process would work. Essentially, people seem to think that it's the knife that will cut the Gordian knot of Senate procedure and debate.
It's not. Let me explain, based on my experience in the Hill.
Remembering Stephanie
I got too overwhelmed with last-minute stuff to do for my photo show last night (6-10 p.m. tonight, Brandt Gallery, 1028 Kenilworth, Tremont) after I got home from our city Dems Club candidates endorsement meeting that, even though this was on my mind, I didn't have time to post.
Yesterday would have been Stephanie Tubbs Jones' 60th birthday. In politics that is pretty young (Robert Byrd or Strom Thurmond, anyone?), and in a way, her career and her influence were really just ascending when she was suddenly taken from us on August 20th of last year.
Stephanie undoubtedly would have been in the forefront of the fight for affordable access to health care for everyone. She was passionate about such issues that affected people in her district – and it seemed like she knew half of them personally. Yet she's passed the torch to a worthy successor — Marcia Fudge, whose outward style is quieter and more serious, but who seems to be no less passionate about the same issues. Marcia too has been an eloquent, no-nonsense supporter of a strong public option (In fact, she signed on to HB 676, the universal single-payer bill, but realizing we live in the real world, she is on board with the first big, important step).
Robert Byrd
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