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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: filibuster

filibuster stories: 34 news summaries

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OPINION


 GOP Traffic-Jam Ploy 
 Is Snarling Senate 

Stalling tactics are making Democrats turn on each other

Nov 19, 09 9:43 AM CST
(Newser) - Senate Democrats are starting to turn on each other like angry drivers stuck in rush-hour traffic thanks to Republican obstructionism, writes EJ Dionne. Republican senators are eating every word they once said against filibusterism and are stalling even legislation that they support in a Machiavellian effort to keep the Democrats... More »

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Congress • Senate • Senate Democrats • Senate Republicans • legislation • filibuster • health care reform

opinion

Call Lieberman's Bluff—Make Him Filibuster

Senate rules make delay tactic too easy for fence-sitters

Nov 13, 09 2:29 PM CST
(Newser) - The filibuster is supposed to be a last resort. It allows the Senate minority, when it's willing to engage in endless debate—at the cost of holding up the chamber’s other business—to challenge legislation. But today, senators need only signal their intention to filibuster to stall a bill,... More »

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Joe Lieberman • filibuster • health care reform • Ben Nelson • US Senate • Republicans

ANALYSIS

Why the Senate Health Bill Will Move at a Crawl

Dems will be lucky to get it through before xmas

Nov 12, 09 4:55 AM CST
(Newser) - The House version of the health bill galloped from introduction to passage in just 10 days, but the Senate's version won't be through until Christmas at the earliest. Suzy Khimm at the New Republic explains the reasons for the snail's pace.
  • The Senate has to vote on a “
... More »

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health care • Senate • Harry Reid • filibuster • health care reform

Steven Pearlstein

Dems Should Embrace a Health Care Filibuster

Open, Senate debate is preferable to backroom negotiations

Nov 11, 09 1:07 PM CST
(Newser) - The Senate is broken, writes Steven Pearlstein , its members so mired in dysfunction they don’t even realize how undemocratic current legislative practice is. The mere threat of a filibuster is enough to kill a bill, a fact that "violates the letter and spirit of the US Constitution."... More »

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health care • Congress • Senate • filibuster • health care reform • public option

DC GOSSIP

 Lieberman Won't Sink 
 Health Reform: Reid 

Indy senator promises he'll vote with Dems to end filibuster

Nov 3, 09 8:43 AM CST
(Newser) - Forget all the grandstanding about joining a GOP filibuster of health care reform if it contains any kind of public option: Sen. Joe Lieberman won't do it, Harry Reid tells liberal interest groups, who tell the Hill . He has a deal with the Connecticut Independent, the majority leader claims. Lieberman... More »

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Congress • Senate • Harry Reid • Democratic caucus • Joe Lieberman • filibuster • cloture • health care reform • health insurance industry • concessions

Meghan McCain

Lieberman's 
Name Ain't 
Benedict 

We need more pols who cross party lines, says maverick junior

Nov 2, 09 1:54 PM CST
(Newser) - Joe Lieberman’s taking a lot of heat for saying he’ll join a GOP filibuster of the health care bill, but Meghan McCain thinks it’s the kind of courageous stand we need more of in politics. “It’s no secret I have an aversion to partisan politics... More »

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Joe Lieberman • filibuster • maverick • health care reform • moderate • Meghan McCain

Lieberman Threatens Filibuster Over Public Option

Independent's warning is bad news for Harry Reid

Oct 27, 09 2:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - Joe Lieberman doesn't want a public option, and he warned today that he would join a Republican filibuster to try to prevent one from becoming law. The statement by the Democrat-turned-independent is bad news for Harry Reid's prospects of getting 60 votes in the Senate. Lieberman said he told Reid... More »

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Congress • Senate • Joe Lieberman • filibuster • health care reform • independent • public option

 GOP Plans 
 Stall Tactics for 
 Health Bill Fight 

Opponents hope long debate will force voters to 'understand this thing'

Oct 19, 09 1:02 PM CDT
(Newser) - Lacking the votes for a filibuster and increasingly resigned to the fact that Democrats will stand united, GOP senators have a novel strategy to stall the health care reform bill: They’re going to stall it however they can. The Democratic plan “is inconsistent with the American people,”... More »

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Congress • GOP • Senate Republicans • legislation • filibuster • health care reform • John Thune • Obama administration • floor debate • Richard Burr

Only the President Can Save the Public Option

Reid, Obama will decide what gets voted on in the Senate

Sep 30, 09 10:08 AM CDT
(Newser) - Pretty soon, Barack Obama is going to have to step in and referee the fight over the public option. No matter what the squabbling Senate Finance Committee winds up agreeing on, it’ll be Obama, together with Harry Reid, who decides what the Senate ultimately votes on, and how that... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • filibuster • Senate Finance Committee • health care reform • public option

 Harkin: I've Got 
 Votes to Pass 
 Public Option 

Democrats have votes to break filibuster, pass bill, he says

Sep 29, 09 2:04 PM CDT
(Newser) - Sen. Tom Harkin sees no good reason Democrats can’t pass a health care bill that includes a public option. “I have polled senators, and the vast majority of Democrats—maybe approaching 50—support a public option,” the newly minted Health, Education, Labor and Pensions chairman said today.... More »

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Senate • filibuster • health care reform • Tom Harkin • Health, Education, Labor & Pensions • public option

analysis

Franken Victory Could be Nightmare for Harry Reid

Majority leader faces 'a lot more pressure'

Jul 6, 09 8:29 AM CDT
(Newser) - Al Franken brings Harry Reid a potential extra vote—but he also brings the Senate majority leader a massive headache, Politico reports. “What’s really changed for us?” says a leadership aide. “Nothing, really. Except there’s a lot more pressure.” That may be an understatement: Democrats... More »

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Congress • Senate • Harry Reid • Senate Democrats • filibuster • Al Franken

Analysis

Chill Out, Democrats;
60 Votes Means Bupkis


Jul 1, 09 9:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - Al Franken is a senator at last, giving the Democrats their first 60-vote supermajority in 30 years. But that might not mean much, writes David Lightman of McClatchy Newspapers. Two of those votes belong to seriously ill senators, and another two are merely semi-reliable independents. Add in the disparate local... More »

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Senate Democrats • filibuster • Al Franken


 Franken: 
 I Can't
 Wait to
 Start Work 

Senator-elect stresses loyalty to state, downplays Dem. supermajority

Jun 30, 09 5:06 PM CDT
(Newser) - Al Franken said he was “thrilled and honored by the faith Minnesotans placed in me” after the state Supreme Court declared him the winner of the Senate recount, CNN reports. "I'm so excited to finally be able to get to work " said Franken, who added that he... More »

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Democrat • Norm Coleman • filibuster • Minnesota • Al Franken • senator • recount • US Senate • Minnesota recount

updated

 Coleman Concedes to Franken 


Jun 30, 09 3:16 PM CDT
(Newser) - Norm Coleman isn't going to drag out Minnesota's Senate fight any longer. Coleman conceded the race to Al Franken today, hours after the state's Supreme Court decreed that Democrat Franken was the rightful winner of November's election, reports the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "Further litigation damages the unity of our... More »

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Senate • Harry Reid • Senate Democrats • Norm Coleman • filibuster • Minnesota • Al Franken • disputed election

OPINION

Undivided Govt. Means Real Change; Hope We're Ready

If Dems get 60 seats, it will seem almost 'unnatural'

May 15, 09 10:13 AM CDT
(Newser) - With Democrats seemingly about to take a filibuster-proof Senate majority, the US is finally going to see a government able to carry out campaign promises—which seems “almost unnatural” after ages of gridlock, writes Michael Kinsley in the Washington Post. “High-church moderates” claim a balance of power is... More »

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Congress • filibuster • congressional Democrats • President Obama

 Specter: I'll 
 Filibuster the 
 Dems If Needed 

Former Republican says GOP let him down

May 3, 09 11:53 AM CDT
(Newser) - Arlen Specter may be a Democrat now, but the erstwhile Republican senator says he’s not afraid to use the F-word: filibuster, Politico reports. Specter told NBC’s Meet the Press he hasn’t promised to be “a loyal Democrat” and made the switch after realizing through “polls... More »

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Democrats • Arlen Specter • filibuster • US Senate • Republicans

 Specter Defects to Democrats 


Apr 28, 09 11:38 AM CDT
(Newser) - Arlen Specter is jumping to the Democrats, leaving the party excruciatingly close to a filibuster-proof Senate majority, reports Politico. Sources say VP Joe Biden was key to the effort to recruit the Pennsylvania senator. “Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Joe Biden • Senate • Senate Democrats • Arlen Specter • Senate Republicans • Ed Rendell • Republican Party • filibuster • Democratic Party • President Obama • Minnesota recount

Dems Fast-Track Health Care Overhaul

Filibuster-proof tactic likely to enrage GOP

Apr 25, 09 5:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - Democratic leaders in Congress have agreed to adopt a filibuster-proof tactic to get President Obama's health care bill passed before the year is out, reports the New York Times. The tactic—known as "budget reconciliation"—will let the bill pass the Senate with a simple majority instead of... More »

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Congress • Senate • filibuster • health care reform • Obama administration • President Obama

OPINION

Senate Dems Are Tanking
the Party... Again

Why the left can't seem to govern

Mar 30, 09 1:06 PM CDT
(Newser) - Congressional Democrats killed Bill Clinton’s agenda, and Jimmy Carter’s agenda, and it looks like they’re gunning for Barack Obama’s, too, writes Jonathan Chait in the New Republic. George Bush didn’t win the popular vote and had just 50 GOP Senators, but was still able... More »

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Barack Obama • Congress • Democratic Congress • Democrat • filibuster • reconciliation • George W. Bush • Obama administration

Don't Use Budget Process for Big Reform: GOP to Obama

Procedure would allow Democrats to pass agenda with 51 votes

Mar 24, 09 11:34 AM CDT
(Newser) - To circumvent a likely 60-vote minimum in the Senate for big-ticket bills like health reform, President Obama is considering pursuing proposals through a budgetary tactic known as reconciliation, where just 51 votes are needed and no filibustering is allowed. But Republicans are having none of it, Politico reports. Senate Republican... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Senate • Senate Democrats • Jon Kyl • Mitch McConnell • Senate Republicans • filibuster • Rahm Emanuel • health care reform • reconciliation • bipartisanship • federal budget • Robert Byrd • Obama administration • President Obama • Tom Carper

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