There are some behind the scenes, “bi-partisan” negotiations about filibuster reform going on in the Senate, featuring the usual suspects:
“I think we’re having hopeful discussions,” Sen. John McCain told TPM. “We’re doing everything we can, but I don’t know if we’ll succeed. … I can’t tell you the back and forth but we are having discussions.”
Asked if negotiators have made any progress, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) quipped, “I’m sure they have — I just don’t know about it.” And is he aware of any concessions Democrats have been willing to make to avoid using the Constitutional option? “No.”
(via TPMDC)
Several years ago the bi-partisan-niks effectively removed the filibuster as a tool the minority Democrats could use. The basic deal was that the filibuster would not be ruled unconstitutional by the Republicans as long as the Democrats did not use it. It was a true bi-partisan solution, meaning that it gave the Republicans everything they wanted, including carte blanche to use the filibuster without restraint once they were in the minority, which, of course they have done, and they and the compliant media have forgotten all about the constitutional argument they advanced.
If this present group makes a deal it’s safe to say that the result will be a deal in which the Republicans agree to a set of restrictions that they will either ignore, or which will, in fact, not restrict them. That past deal worked because there were six Democrats perfectly willing to sell out their party and stick to a deal not to filibuster, guaranteeing the Republicans the 60 votes needed to end any filibuster. There is not a single Republican in the Senate who could be trusted not to violate a pledge of that sort.
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