rayboyusmc
Senior Member
It's called a philly buster. It was decried by the Republicans when they had the majority. It is now part of their religious belief that they are a minority. If you want to know why so little is being done, look in your own back yard.
72 times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/w...Reference/Times Topics/Organizations/S/Senate
Representative David R. Obey, the Wisconsin Democrat who recently sponsored a war spending bill that died after failing to get 60 votes in the Senate, said a lack of familiarity with filibuster rules was the cause of the biggest misunderstanding Americans have about the Democratic Congress.
They think we have control of the Senate while we merely have custody, he said, alluding to the partys 51-49 majority. They think that we can control the Senate when in fact we are nine votes short of having the 60 votes that you need to actually run the Senate. So the Senate is a choke point on everything.
And a choke point it is.
Mr. Obeys spending bill, providing $50 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan but also setting a deadline for redeployment from Iraq, was approved by the House 218 to 203. But only 53 senators voted to close debate, killing the bill.
72 times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/w...Reference/Times Topics/Organizations/S/Senate