Cafe de Mello

I have to confess that if you cut me, I bleed blue, and I like nothing better than an excuse to run down a Republican politician like a mentally deficient skunk in the middle of the road, leaving behind only verbal road kill. The likes of John McCain, Sarah Palin, Bobby Jindal, and John Boehner (he's a boner no matter how he says his name is pronounced), all have such deer in the headlights reflexes these days that, hell, mashing them flat isn't even sporting. Nor does it advance the cause of change in America. The true enemies of change now are Democratic senators who cry crocodile tears over Republican opposition.

I am not talking about Evan Bayh (should be Evan Sold) of Indiana and his coalition of spineless concervadems. They at least are forthright about embracing the status quo at the behest of their corporate masters. While they rolled over on their backs and bared their throats like frightened curs when Bush was driving the country into ruin, now they think they are safe and are barking like big dogs. A few growls from Harry Reid or Rahm send them cowering back into the pack with their tails between their legs. They need to see that the Democratic leadership has as much bite as the Republicans used to.

And therein lies the problem, Harry Reid and many in the main body of Democratic Senators are no more committed to change than Bayh's coalition, but they have found an even safer way of embracing the status quo. They are letting the Republicans take the blame for stopping change, while they cry crocodile tears over not having a filibuster proof majority. Oh me! Oh my! Whatever shall they do? Bollocks!

If Reid and the Democratic leadership really wanted to pass President Obama's initiatives, they have a number of options. Perhaps the easiest would be demanding the Republicans actually filibuster legislation they want to prevent from coming up to a simple majority vote.

[I'm going to assume that anyone who has read this far understands that it is the vote to cut off debate on a bill (cloture) that requires sixty votes not passage of the bill itself. (If you need a refresher see "Filibuster and Cloture" at the US Senate Website and "Nuclear Option" at Wikipeda.]

Under Senate Rule 22, all the Republicans have to do is indicate that they intend to filibuster and unless the presiding senate officer is sure that there are sixty or more votes to end the filibuster, the legislation is considered to be under filibuster and cannot be voted on. If Reid suspended Rule 22 such phantom filibusters would not be allowed. The Republicans would have to hold the floor (continue talking) 24 hours a day while a quorum was present to prevent the bill's being brought to a vote.

Such a procedure would soon exhaust Senate Republicans, and they would have to carefully pick and choose what legislation they really wanted to filibuster. When real, on the floor filibusters were required, the filibuster was seldom used.

The Democratic leadership has other options as well, one of which is known as the "nuclear option." Also known as "The Constitutional Option," since constitutional intent seems to have been for most legislation to require a simple majority to pass, this is a parliamentary maneuver that would have the effect of allowing cloture on a simple majority vote from that point forward. (See "Nuclear Option" for a description of the maneuver.)

In May of 2005 Senate Republicans readied the use of the Nuclear Option to end Democratic filibusters that prevented the Republican majority from seating 9 overly conservative judges nominated by President Bush. Unfortunately, as it turns out, Democratic Senators agreed to a compromise that prevented the use of the Nuclear Option. Had they held the line then, the filibuster would not be a problem now.

Now they could use the Nuclear Option to clear the path for passing President Obama's legislative agenda. The Republicans would scream like stuck pigs, but given their earlier threat to use the option, their screams would fall on deaf voter ears.

But don't worry, gentle reader, no nuclear option will be forthcoming. Nor will we be treated to the sight of exhausted Republican Senators reading the phonebook to keep a filibuster going after rule 22 is suspended. The Democratic leadership no more wants progressive change than the Republicans do. Hiding behind Republican resistance may keep these skunks from ending up as political roadkill, but they still stink.