Police Lt.: Well, Denham, the airplanes got him.
Denham: No, it wasn't the airplanes. It was beauty killed the beast (King Kong, 1933)
The filibuster will be eliminated this year. One, and possibly two, Justices will retire at the end of the term in June. There is a 100% guarantee that Republicans will filibuster anyone President Obama appoints, claiming approval should await the outcome of the November elections. The president has shown a belief, unsupported by events, to try to be acceptable at least to some Republicans so they will vote for him, in this case, his nominee.
They won't.
So, we will get a lukewarm nominee, and no Supreme Court Justice. The Republicans know theatre very well -- that situation will be perceived as the pathetic end of a dysfunctional government.
At that point, Democrats will truly be in a no-win position. If they eliminate the filibuster at that time, for that single purpose, Republicans will have a couple of months right before the election to denounce the 'trickery' to get 'activist' Justices seated. Nonetheless, they will have to eliminate the filibuster then because not to do so would alienate all their constituencies, and guarantee a shellacking in the 2010 elections.
More importantly, Democrats will be in a no-win position because the government will have been dysfunctional for another year and, despite it being Republicans' fault, the Democrats will be blamed because they are in control. And, they have 59 votes, more than Republicans ever had when they rammed through their agenda, and ran the country into the ground.
So, why not recognize the inevitable? Eliminate the filibuster right now. Then, the Republicans' pompous posturing will dissipate after a couple of months now, not near the election, and the Democrats will have a chance to do a "First Hundred Days" of year 2, to pass a robust agenda that will indeed have brought about change:
1) A jobs bill that actually creates jobs;
2) Approve all the president's appointments, together, one vote.
3) A financial reform bill that incorporates Elizabeth Warren's consumer protection agency and (my hope) reinstitution of Glass-Steagall.
4) Healthcare reform incorporating Joe Lieberman's former love, buy-in to medicare for those 55 and older; and a public option; and a combination of taxing high-end plans + a surtax on the wealthy (House + Senate version).
5) Student loan reform
6) Energy tax and rebate (Senator Cantwell's proposal).
While the Republicans bellyache about being steamrollered, Democrats can pass the agenda for which the nation voted in 2008, but soured on because of the dithering and dealmaking the existence of the filibuster created. Without the filibuster, no one would have had to talk to Joe Lieberman or Blanche Lincoln or Ben Nelson. (And, since no one would have had to talk to them, I bet they would have been more supportive!)
Without a filibuster, when the summer arrives, and the 1-2 Justices announce their retirements, the president can nominate really good people to the bench. One might suspect that the caliber of those people would be significantly higher than whom he might choose in the vain attempt to get Republican support.
Today, the world is disintegrating. Republicans fear the president's success, both at home and abroad. So does al-Qaeda and Ahmadinejad. They are all reveling in his troubles, because his capacity to force change abroad is limited by his inability to do it at home.
I am late to the "end the filibuster" movement because I worry about what Bush et al. might have done if there were no filibuster then. Social security would have been privatized -- and decimated by the financial collapse. Stem cell research would have been totally outlawed (passed twice by the House).
But, I am willing to take those future chances, because the country and the world cannot await an even greater than 60-vote majority that Lyndon Johnson had in the 1960s that will never happen. Eliminating the filibuster means we have to deliver for the American people, and maintain constant vigilance against another radical rightwing takeover.
Although the president is not himself a "boomer," those who control the Congress are. Many of them had their hopes and dreams for a better America, and a safer and more just world, dashed when Robert Kennedy was assassinated. It was then hijacked by George W Bush.
This is their last chance. It starts with eliminating the filibuster.
Now.
HuffPost's Senior Congressional Correspondent Ryan Grim appeared on MSNBC Monday to talk about Democratic candidates willing to turn against President Obama in the upcoming midterm...
you didn't just say we can go on and continue the agenda that the American People Voted for in 2008 and mean this monthly billion dollar give away to the INsurance and Pharma did you?
because the Campaign was on Hope and Change!
not what is being FORCED upon US
So something has to change, just so that the government can get anything done. I quite like the idea of the numbers required for cloture gradually decreasing over time or perhaps a limit could be imposed of a finite number of filibusters per session (say, six). Three or four reasonable people (which, I'm aware, may exclude the entirety of Congress) could easily work something out.
Gee
i wonder what that means?
Friends, show your support here:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Changing-the-US-Senate-rules-bring-back-democracy/278379601906?ref=mf
The Supreme Court ruled that Corporation have the same Free Speech as a Person / Citizen... So Congress needs to make sure Corporate Officers and Board Members have the same Personal responsibilities that a Citizen has... I.E., As well as the Corporation, they (all) are personally response-able for their Corporate Products!
Just for interest: do you feel the food you eat is safe and not contaminated? Why do you think that is?
How obvious and contemptously must the GOP behave before the American people see that THEY are the PROBLEM in "government isn't the solution, government is the problem"
Very interesting points...I very much liked the generational point you made at the end. Demographics will inevitably play an incredibly powerful role in many of these debates...very soon.
Some additional points regarding the filibuster:
In the January 10th edition of The New York Times Thomas Geoghegan offers "A must read" examination on the history of the filibuster and its gradual mutation into a tool that completely undermines our federal government's democratic processes. Mr. Geoghegan also provides critical suggestions on what can be done to stop its "unconstitutional" use.
Key excerpt..... ""Whether any such approach works, the founders would have expected us to do something about this unconstitutional filibuster. In Federalist No. 75, Hamilton denounced the use of supermajority rule in these prophetic words: “The history of every political establishment in which this principle has prevailed is a history of impotence, perplexity and disorder.” That is a suitable epitaph for what has happened to the Senate.""
"Mr. Smith Rewrites The Constitution" by Thomas Geoghegan from The New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/11/opinion/11geoghegan.html?pagewanted=2&em&adxnnlx=1263301276-Md21LkTbgA2fQKBIQnt4Nw
Jimmy Stewart in Frank Capra's classic "Mr Smith Goes To Washington" demonstrating the idealized and mythologized use of the filibuster.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1d19wV1GZQ&feature=related
ThomastonPaine.com”
Break up media monopolization and hold hosts accountable when they lie, incite hatred or revolution.
2. Define clearly and simply the difference between a free market Democrat vs. a free market Republican.
progressives believe in the free market and as little red tape and regulations as possible EXCEPT when a product, service or industry injures, gambles away, or detrimentally affects our citizens.
In America and probably any advanced country, people have basic needs.
1. ability to work to provide food, shelter, and clothing for their family
2. education for their children
3. Access to healthcare, not just to stay alive, but to be as productive as possible to provide for themselves and their loved ones
4. safety and security. (clean safe water, air, food and products . police safety and national security)
Republicans want us to only believe in the free market and that corproations will correct bad behavior on their own,(see Wall St.)
How much misery do we need before we realize that this pipe dream is just that...
Frankly, the only entity large enough to force change is the Government.
The debate should not be big Government vs small, it should be effective, responsible Government vs . ineffective and irresponsible Government.
This difference needs to be clearly defined .Corporate owned right wing media is controlling the message and framing the debate to protect the status quo of industries that believe in profit over Country.