Wendy Lyon:
>
> Is there any kind of movement in the US these days for proportional
> representation and/or multi-seat constituencies?
>
> If not, there should be.
>
<...>
Barack Obama on the judicial nominee filibuster.
I sense serious frustration.
SENATORS DORGAN, JOHNSON, LIEBERMAN, SCHUMER AND OBAMA HOLD A NEWS CONFERENCE ON THE SENATE FILIBUSTER VOTE MAY 17, 2005 SPEAKERS: U.S. SENATOR BYRON DORGAN (D-ND) U.S. SENATOR TIM JOHNSON (D-SD) U.S. SENATOR JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D-CT) U.S. SENATOR BARACK OBAMA (D-IL) U.S. SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER (D-NY) [*]
Washington Transcript Service
05-17-2005
<...> I am deeply concerned that if Senator Frist moves forward with his current initiative that the fabric of this institution will be destroyed for the long term. And I think that will be an enormous loss, not just for the senators who are participating, but more importantly, for the American people. So that would be one point I would emphasize.
The second point that I think is worth noting, there has been a lot of talk about constitutional issues with respect to this approach that Senator Frist is proposing.
I mentioned, I think, to some of you who were in a briefing a couple of weeks ago, you know, I taught constitutional law. And it's very important to reiterate once again that the Constitution in no way justifies the threatened nuclear option that's being proposed by Senator Frist.
The Constitution gives to the Senate the power to make its rules.
These rules are currently in place. The option that Senator Frist is talking about pursuing would violate the Senate rules. The parliamentarian is expected to rule on this very matter. The only way that they can move forward is to run roughshod over the parliamentarian, as well as 200 years of Senate precedent. <...>
Travus T. Hipp on the filibuster and notes that Canada almost ditched it's "liberal" government yesterday with a vote of 152-152, the conservative chairman voting the tiebreaker for the liberals.
Canadian Rules Vs. The Facade of Serious Business - Senate Filibuster - The Lights Are On But Nobody's Home
Leigh