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Coyotl

(15,262 posts)
Mon Dec 9, 2013, 11:46 AM Dec 2013

Juan Williams: Sen. Jeff Merkley is the man of the year in Congress [View all]

My Senator!

Juan Williams: Sen. Jeff Merkley is the man of the year in Congress
12/09/13 06:00 AM EST http://thehill.com/opinion/juan-williams/192419-juan-williams-merkley-is-man-of-the-year-in-congress

The 2013 winner of top political player on Capitol Hill is…


Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.)


The senator stands out as the leader of the Democrats’ historic move to go to the “nuclear option,” ending the paralysis by threat of filibuster that tied the Senate in knots for the last five years.

The junior senator from the Beaver State showed a lot of political bite, in the form of persistence, and has become a left-wing hero as a result.

Merkley, with a big assist from Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), won the biggest vote of the year on Capitol Hill by convincing Democrats they were being trapped by Senate tradition into acquiescing to GOP obstruction.

The two first-term senators successfully argued to the Democratic caucus that the GOP’s use of more than a quarter of the filibusters in history against President Obama’s nominees was one of the root causes of today’s dysfunctional Congress.

They charged GOP obstruction with undermining the right of the Democrats’ in the Senate to govern .............
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