A few weeks ago I reported that my New Year’s prediction of faux filibuster reform seemed about to come true. Well, it now looks like Harry Reid is about to embrace a version of “reform” that, to us unwashed, looks a lot like the status quo.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) still wants filibuster reform. But he’s voicing support for a set of changes to the current filibuster rules that would fall short of the more sweeping proposal from leading reformers, and the leading Senate champion of filibuster reform believes Reid’s proposed changes are not strong enough.
In a locally aired interview over the weekend on a PBS affiliate in Las Vegas, Reid said he wants to require an obstructing minority of senators to occupy the floor and speak only after cloture has been invoked to begin debate. In other words, 41 senators could silently block debate from beginning, but once 60 senators vote to move to debate, filibustering senators must speak on the floor.
(via TPMDC)
Let’s see. Right now it takes 60 votes to pass a bill. This reform appears to …well it appears to..so far as I can tell it reforms things so that it will take 60 votes to pass a bill, only they have to be cast at a different stage of the process, and after they’re cast, the filibusterers get to keep filibustering until they get tired, some hint they can’t do now. I’m sure there’s an improvement in there somewhere, but I’m just not a subtle enough thinker to find it.
On the other hand, this reform appears to be better than the “bi-partisan” reform endorsed by Carl Levin, which would have made things even worse. We must be thankful for little favors.
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