Sam, the Republicans are doing it again – throwing up obstructions, roadblocks, and unacceptable delays.
There used to be a principle in Washington: When the people elect a President, the President should get the team he wants to implement the people’s will.
But now, the Republicans are using the silent filibuster to quietly stymie progressive laws to protect workers, regulate Wall Street excesses, and rein in big polluters.
They can’t change the law, so they’re using the silent filibuster to block the nominees the President needs to enforce the law.
It’s outrageous. And I’m blowing the whistle. Will you join me?
Sign my petition at FixTheFilibuster.com: Demand that Senate Republicans lay down their filibuster threat and give these qualified nominees an up-or-down vote:
http://www.reformthefilibuster.com/...
We’re talking about the Secretary of Labor, the Administrator of the EPA, the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and all five members of the National Labor Relations Board.
See a pattern? These are people whose job it will be to ensure that the big and the powerful are held accountable. Republican extremists don’t like accountability. After all, these extremists are the ones who let Wall Street run wild, leading to the Great Recession. And they continuously deny global climate change on behalf of the oil and gas industry.
Go to FixTheFilibuster.com and sign the petition. Your signature helps me make the case to my Senate colleagues that it’s time for an up-or-down vote. No more delays:
http://www.reformthefilibuster.com/...
Fight on.
Senator Jeff Merkley
You can sign Merkley's petition here:
http://www.reformthefilibuster.com/...
Merkley has been warning his fellow Democrats that if Democrats don't use the nuclear option now, the Republicans will use it when they're in the majority:
The New Republic has a great piece out about Merkley's history with the filibuster that's also worth a read:
http://www.newrepublic.com/...
Jeff Merkley is one of the small handful of Americans who actually remembers a time when the Senate was a competent legislative body. In 1976, he interned for a summer for liberal Republican Senator Mark Hatfield. He was given responsibility in the office for tracking the Tax Reform Act of 1976. In this era before the Internet or C-SPAN, it was customary for Senate staff members to sit in the gallery every day and watch the debate, so they could inform their bosses about what votes would come up on a given day.
“There were no agreements between the parties on amendments,” Merkley said. “The Chair would call on whoever he heard first. And they would have the debate. There was never a thought about a filibuster. Lyndon Johnson, in six years as majority leader, only filed for cloture once. Harry Reid has done it 391 times.”
This breakdown of Senate norms since the 1960s has amplified the ability for the minority to block progress. Minority Republicans now routinely require a 60-vote threshold for everything, and deny unanimous consent on even the most mundane business. Even in that short window in 2009, when Democrats had 60 votes and the ability to overcome filibusters, Republican obstructionists would use various tactics to force long delays and slow down the Senate calendar. It's gotten so bad that nobody even wants to be a Senator anymore. - The New Republic, 7/11/13
Please do sign Merkley's petition when you have a chance:
http://www.reformthefilibuster.com/...