"Democrats look to streamline Senate business; Want change in rules, GOP cooperation" by Carl Hulse, New York Times / December 25, 2010
WASHINGTON — Frustrated by regular filibusters and other procedural blockades, Senate Democrats are urging their leadership to negotiate with Republicans to change the rules that govern how the Senate does business....
Some Democrats, frustrated by Republican tactics, say their only option is to change the Senate rules....
Democrats say the Constitution and previous Senate rulings allow a simple majority of the Senate to rewrite the rule book on the first day of a new Congress through what they are calling the Constitutional option.
“I am definitely planning to pursue the Constitutional option on the first legislative day,’’ said Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico, one of several Democrats elected in 2006 and 2008 who have spent months mapping how to overhaul the Senate process....
Since when did you guys start caring about the Constitution?
And this is to what they are devoting their taxpayer-funded time?
Udall and others say they say they want, at a minimum, to speed up debate over the initial attempt to bring a measure to the floor and to force senators to be on the floor debating if they are blocking a measure, much like Jimmy Stewart did in the movie “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.’’
Better bring a pee pot.
By contrast, the modern version of the filibuster allows seemingly endless breaks in floor activity with rows of empty desks as a backdrop.
Sometimes I wish they would take a permanent break and leave us all alone.
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