Repugs do not need "Nuclear Option".

[longship]

All they need is to threaten the "Nuclear Option". Apparently that is sufficient to stop all filibusters.

When you call your Senators, tell them that they are giving the Republicans the benefit of the "Nuclear Option" without them even invoking it. If Democrats are afraid of the filibuster, the Repugs have gotten precisely what they want. The bad part about this is that the Repugs do not have the down side of having to actually pull the trigger, an act which might not go so well for them with US voters.

We must call their bluff on this. Not only to stop Alito from ascending the the court, but to take back minority rights in the Senate. Democrats have the right of the filibuster. If they do not use that right, they lose that right.


on edit: clean up wording.

[mmonk]

1. Bingo

That's what I've been trying to say.

[samhsarah]

2. Or they can threaten to "Clean our Clocks"

that seems to work too.

[ewagner]

3. Agree

call their bluff and then beat them at their own game...

they need only 51 votes to pull off the nuclear option but some Republican Seantors are NOT in favor of it. If we could flip a few of those, they would lose....some "old time" Repubs hate the idea.

[Sydnie]

4. Very interesting article here

It was written when Meirs was the choice, but the info is just as good when applied to any "nuclear option" vote.
---------

In the 88 years since the adoption of Rule XXII, senators from both sides of the aisle have threatened the "nuclear" option more than a half-dozen times. Each time, the Senate has been loath to drop this particular bomb on its own house, and for good reason.

The rules of procedure adopted by the Senate are "the only weapon by which the minority can defend themselves" against "the irregularities and abuses … which the wantonness of power is but too often apt to suggest to large and successful majorities," as Thomas Jefferson warned. (T. Jefferson, A Manual of Parliamentary Practice, § I.)

<snip>

The Republicans should reconsider the nuclear option, given the ensuing fallout should it succeed. Under traditional parliamentary procedures, it is a violation of fair procedure to employ a motion to table in order to defeat a measure (Robert's Rules, pp. 207-209). This is so because permitting a motion to table to have this effect closes debate on a simple majority vote, when a two-thirds majority is required. Acting in defiance of this long-standing rule of parliamentary procedure would set a dangerous precedent, one the Republicans may find themselves chafing under in the future.

Prior to the Republican sweep of Congress and the White House, Sen. Frist and other Republicans proposing the gag measure freely invoked filibuster. For example, they filibustered six of President Clinton's judicial nominees, all of whom were ultimately appointed after they received a majority vote. Moreover, the Republican minority succeeded in blocking 60-plus nominees in committee. This tactic is unaffected by the proposed rule change, as are other similar types of filibuster, including placing a hold on a nomination, refusing to report a nomination out of committee, objecting to unanimous consent agreements, being absent during quorum calls, and voting against cloture.


http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1111781921564

[Squatch]

5. It's Nuc-u-lar

[FogerRox]

6. use it or lose it

SHUT IT DOWN

SHUT THE SENATE DOWN

[uppityperson]

7. That's what I have been telling them.

By being afraid to use it, they've alreay lost it. Call their bluff.