What the F*ck Are These People Talking About? - Esquire

[moose65]

44. Hmmm

As far as I know, the filibuster can only be used in two ways - to prevent the Senate from beginning debate on a bill, and to prevent the Senate from ending debate on a bill. Right? Once the Senate invokes cloture on a bill, the actual vote on the bill itself only needs 51 votes to pass, right?

The motion to proceed (to begin debate) should not be subject to a filibuster. The party in power should get to set the agenda and decide which bills to debate. To prevent a cloture vote, the minority party should have to stay on the floor and keep debate open, by reading the phone book or whatever, until they pass out on the Senate floor. The purpose of the filibuster is to make sure the minority party is heard during debate. Today’s Republicans don’t want to debate - they just want to block everything.