Friday, December 10, 2010

Gutsy play: Sen. Bernie Sanders in the 6th hour of his filibuster.

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Like him or hate him, he's standing up... literally... for what he believes in.

I've got my doubts about this bill. Too much, too fast, not enough examination and discussion.

Sen. Sanders is 70 years old. How long can he hold out? The rules say he has to stand, he has to keep talking, but he can maintain control of the floor as long as he does meet those requirements.

Wiki tells us:

A filibuster in the United States Senate usually refers to any dilatory or obstructive tactics used to prevent a measure from being brought to a vote. The most common form of filibuster occurs when a senator attempts to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a bill by extending the debate on the measure, but other dilatory tactics exist. The rules permit a senator, or a series of senators, to speak for as long as they wish and on any topic they choose, unless "three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn"[1] (usually 60 out of 100 senators) brings debate to a close by invoking cloture under Senate Rule XXII. This means that as few as 41 senators, which could represent as little as 12.3% of the U.S. population, can make a filibuster happen.


You can watch it streaming live at C-SPAN.
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2 comments:

Lew said...

As long as he keeps a real filibuster going, the Dems can't pass anything packed with pork as they usually do.

Maybe he is finally doing something positive for once, without realizing it.

Martin Hash said...

There's a tacit agreement that Republicans keep giveaways to the masses in check, and the Democrats keep giveaways to the elite in check. When one side is not doing their job, the other side has reason to be concerned.