Reply #15: How Nuclear Option Works

[Repealer]

If the Demos can get 51 votes together they can pass every bill they want and the GOP can jump in the lake for all the good it will do them.

The Republicans used the  NUCLEAR OPTION in 2005 to get their judicial appointments approved, so they have no come back when the tables are turned.

Are the Demos stupid or are they just Republicans in disguise.

Running the country is not an exercise in collegiality, but a maximum use of the sheer POWER your party can muster.



NUCLEAR OPTION http://uspolitics.about.com/od/usgovernment/a/filibuster.htm
In 2005, then Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist threatened to end Democratic filibuster of judicial nominees by something called the "nuclear option." It is actually a series of steps designed to bypass the two-thirds vote requirement to change rules:

1. The Senate moves to vote on a controversial nominee.
2. At least 41 Senators call for filibuster.
3. The Senate Majority Leader raises a point of order, saying debate has gone on long enough and that a vote must be taken within a certain time frame. (Current Senate rules requires a cloture vote at this point.)
4. The Vice President -- acting as presiding officer -- sustains the point of order.
5. A Republican Senator appeals the decision.
6. A Democratic Senator moves to table the motion on the floor (the appeal).
7. This vote - to table the appeal - is procedural and cannot be subjected to a filibuster; it requires only a majority vote (in case of a tie, the Vice President casts the tie-breaking vote).
8. With debate ended, the Senate can vote on the issue at hand; this vote requires only a majority of those voting. The filibuster has effectively been closed with a majority vote instead of a three-fifths vote.