Tom Harkin: 'Fireworks' And Shot At Filibuster Reform Coming Jan. 5

Freshman Democrats Want Filibuster Reform in January
Before heading into a Caucus meeting, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) briefed reporters today on ideas for introducing a "constitutional option" to reform the Senate in the next session of Congress. The two-step plan, roughly: on January 5, when votes are taken to organize the Senate, get 51 members to agree to adopt new rules, then get 51 votes on a package that reforms Cloture so that objecting to Legislation forces continuous debate. "I think all of you have observed th...

Udall keeps filibuster reform drumbeat going
Sen. Tom Udall continues to advance his cause of changing the Senate rules to reduce the role of the Filibuster and the ability of a minority of senators to delay Legislation from being voted on — in some cases indefinitely — in the Senate. “The institution is broken,” Udall said on a Conference Call with reporters. “It’s broken, it needs help.” This echoes an argument that Udall made earlier this week on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show. “A fi...

Dems signal push for filibuster reform
Democrats will make an attempt to reform the Senate's Filibuster rules, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said Wednesday. Brown joined other members of his party who have been signaling, in the closing days of the lame-duck Congress, that their party is likely to seek changes to longstanding Senate rules that require 60 votes (instead of a simple majority of 51) to advance most pieces of Legislation in the chamber. "I think you're going to see attempts to do that," Brown said Wednesday morning on M...

Dems signal push for filibuster reform
Democrats will make an attempt to reform the Senate's Filibuster rules, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said Wednesday. Brown joined other members of his party who have been signaling, in the closing days of the lame-duck Congress, that their party is likely to seek changes to long-standing Senate rules that require 60 votes (instead of a simple majority of 51) to advance most pieces of Legislation in the chamber. "I think you're going to see attempts to do that," Brown said of the prospects for ...

Is the push to reform the Senate becoming a real movement?
It's worth noting that for the first time, the push to reform the Senate and change the Filibuster is taking on the feeling of a real movement -- one with real institutional support on the left and a growing power base within the Senate itself. In recent years, calls to reform the Filibuster were mostly confined to crazy Bloggers and a handful of cranky, wild-haired Senators on the margins. But that is clearly changing. A range of proposals that seem strikingly well thought through -- from a r...

Filibuster Reform
I am encouraged by the growing chatter about Cloture reform.  On the first day of the new Congress (January 5), the Senate could force a vote on a motion (that can’t be filibustered) holding that a majority can change the rules by confirming or rejecting a ruling by Vice-President Biden (acting as the presiding officer).  If this threat is credible enough, a two-thirds Supermajority may come together to stave off radical reform and make a series of more modest (but still helpful)...

Worth a try
I doubt this will go anywhere, but it’s worth a try: Senate Democrats will make a dramatic effort to reform the rules of the chamber when the next Congress begins, one of the body’s primary Filibuster-reform advocates said Wednesday morning. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who has championed a weakening of the procedural mechanism that allows the minority party to hold up Legislation, predicted “Fireworks” on Jan. 5, 2011—the day on which the Senate can, he argued, reva...

Indoor Fireworks
A friend sends this HuffPo story where Tom Harkin talks some smack about Filibuster reform: Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who has championed a weakening of the procedural mechanism that allows the minority party to hold up Legislation, predicted “Fireworks” on Jan. 5, 2011—the day on which the Senate can, he argued, revamp its rules by a simple majority vote. The scenario is that Democrats propose a rule change, Republicans object, Biden overrules that objection, and 51 Democrats...

Dems Decry Hostage-Taking Is It Real Conviction or Convenient Rhetoric?
Calling the behavior of Republicans “hostage taking” has become the new buzz phrase used by both President Obama and Democratic congressional leaders. It is a decent analogy for how the Senate Republicans have exploited the Senate’s rules. The 41 Senate Republicans have used the Filibuster and the other horribly broken rules of the chamber to demand major concessions and effectively control the legislative process. If Democrats actually feel they have something akin to a host...

Filibuster Reform Is Coming
Mark my words: the Filibuster will be reformed in the next Senate, just in time for the Republicans to retake it in 2012. If the Democrats ever retake the Senate, I am most certain, the right will find some other way to hijack real reform in America. The Senate should be abolished. It's anti-democratic. It's that simple. ...

Meghan McCain: My Father Will Filibuster Dont Ask, Dont Tell Repeal
Meghan McCain: ‘My Father Will Filibuster’ Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Meghan McCain predicted that her father Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) — who was once open to repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell — would filibuster the measure if it ever comes before the Senate. Appearing on MSNBC’s ‘The Last Word’ with Lawrence O’Donnell, McCain said that while the Senator would definitely oppose the measure, the ban will eventually be overtu...

Grassley votes yes on tax bill, Harkin no
Iowa's two senators split on Legislation passed in the Senate on Wednesday to extend for two years the Tax Cuts enacted under President George W. Bush. Republican Chuck Grassley, elected to a sixth term last month, voted for the extension. Democrat Tom Harkin, in his fifth term, voted against it. Harkin, who voted for the measure during a test vote on Monday, switched to a no vote. He was among three Democrats to reverse, along with Byron Dorgan of North Dakota and Tom Udall of New Mexico. Aid...

Senate Overwhelmingly Passes Tax Bill
The Senate passed President Obama’s tax package 81-19, with 13 Democrats, 5 Republicans and independent Bernie Sanders voting no. Three Democrats - Tom Harkin of Iowa, Byron Dorgan of North Dakota and Tom Udall of New Mexico - switched their “yes” votes Monday to “no” votes. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) also flipped his vote, from no to yes, saying he changed his mind after talking with his minister and reading letters from constituents struggling in the economic d

Time To Fix the Filibuster
The Senate easily overcame a Filibuster yesterday to pass a major package of Tax Cuts supported by the president and both parties. For a moment, it was possible to imagine that this troubled institution could function effectively. But the tax deal is an exception, and a rare one, to the culture of obstruction that has long plagued the Senate, especially for the last two years. Use of the Filibuster -- debating indefinitely as a means of preventing a vote or other action -- has skyrocketed, slo...

House passes DADT repeal. Not that it matters or anything.
By Michael J.W. Stickings Well, the Senate may be paralyzed by Republican obstructionism and the stupid Filibuster rule, but at least the House passed DADT Repeal. That's something, even if Republicans opposed it. (Presumably because they hate gays. How else to explain support for a bigoted policy rejected by an overwhelming majority of the American People and that the Military itself opposes?) Something that will result in nothing, though, because the Senate isn't about to budge, even if Demo...

Filibuster Reform Now Is A Bad Idea
Not that there is a snowball's chance of it happening, but now is most definitely NOT the time for Filibuster reform in the Senate. In the upcoming Congress, a Republican House will be passing all kinds of bad bills. President Obama seems unwilling to be a Veto (pun intended) point in the process. Our last best hope for limiting the damage is in fact the Filibuster in the Senate. Apparently, many folks are hopeful of some good things coming out of the next Congress. I'm not one of those people...

Biden on Some of his "Outrageous" Comments: Colleagues "Kid" Me
Vice President Biden gets panned by the media and "Saturday Night Live" for what he says, and apparently his colleagues at the White House do too. In talking about his role as vice president, he noted he may say something "outrageous," and fellow staff at the White House do "kid" him about it, he said in an interview on MSNBC Thursday. Biden is known for his verbal gaffes, including an awkward moment the first week he assumed the role where he pointed out Chief Justice John Robert's misspeaking ...

Biden Blasts Republicans Over Christmas Comments
Visit MSNBC.com for breaking news, world news, and news about The Economy The Washington flap over who is showing disrespect for Christmas continued as Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. blasted Republicans for using the holiday as an excuse to avoid voting. “Don’t tell me about Christmas,” a clearly irritated vice president told NBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Wednesday. “I understand Christmas. I have been a senator for a long time. I have been there many years where we go right up

Who (and what) could still trip up DADT repeal
Somewhat amazingly, it now seems more likely than not that the Military's widely loathed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy will be repealed in the coming days. This outcome was hard to imagine just a week ago, when -- not for the first time -- Repeal proponents were unable to muster 60 votes to end a GOP-led Filibuster of a Defense Authorization bill that included Repeal language. But immediately after that failed Cloture vote, Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins announced their plans to file a new, st...

Who (and what) could still trip up DADT repeal
Somewhat amazingly, it now seems more likely than not that the Military's widely loathed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy will be repealed in the coming days. This outcome was hard to imagine just a week ago, when -- not for the first time -- Repeal proponents were unable to muster 60 votes to end a GOP-led Filibuster of a Defense Authorization bill that included Repeal language. But immediately after that failed Cloture vote, Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins announced their plans to file a new, st...

Joe Biden: Hey, Did You Ever Notice Sometimes I Say Really Dumb Things?..
Now that he mentions it… (The Hill)- Vice President Biden, in a network television interview, listed as one of his professional attributes his penchant to “say something outrageous.” The gaffe-prone vice president sat down with NBC’s Andrea Mitchell in an interview that aired Thursday to discuss a variety of issues, including his role within the Obama Administration. Biden, a longtime senator from Delaware, touted his ability to deal with Congress as well as his propen...

White House gives up on getting Kyl's support for New START
As senators lined up Thursday to give speeches about the New START Treaty on the Senate floor and the debate kicked into high gear, the White House formally abandoned its drive to work with Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) on ratifying the treaty. Following Kyl's Press Conference Wednesday afternoon, during which he and 11 other GOP senators pledged to oppose the move to finish the treaty this year, the administration decided to make good on its promise to force a vote during the Lame Duck session and att...

The political pendulum of potential revolution
Guest post by Nicholas Wilbur Nicholas Wilbur is an award-winning reporter and opinion columnist turned political junkie and critic. He is the founder of the blog Muddy Politics and lives in New Mexico. (Ed. note: This is Nicholas's third guest post for us. You can find his first two, both on the Obama-GOP tax deal, here and here. -- MJWS) ********** A friend asked me recently, "Is there a revolution approaching?" It was not a stupid question. Given the turmoil in Washington over Tax Cuts, i...

Cloture Vote to Advance Obama-GOP Tax Deal Passes with Bipartisan Support, Now Headed for Senate Vote
Monday, December 13, 2010 By Matt Cover Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari) (CNSNews.com) - The tax rate and Unemployment benefit Compromise package gained enough votes on Monday to move forward for a full Senate vote, surviving several threatened Filibusters. The measure is expected to pass with Bipartisan support later in the week. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) held the vote open for several hours on Monday due to inclement weather in much...

Reconciliation
Recap: An estate-tax primer; how the tax deal could hurt Obama in 2012; and House Dems should either demand bigger changes to the tax deal or leave it be. 1) The return of the Anonymous Hedge Fund Manager! 2) It's really, really cold in Washington right now. 3) I don't usually link to my media appearances, but I thought this spot with Dahlia Lithwick and David Sirota was a pretty good discussion of the law, politics and policy of both the Individual Mandate and the Public Option. 4) Tom Harkin i...