[lbo-talk] How to make the Senate a majority rule institution inone day

Michael Pollak mpollak at panix.com
Sun Jan 24 05:41:46 PST 2010


On Sun, 24 Jan 2010, Joseph Catron wrote:


> Michael, upon rereading this article, it occurs to me Harry Reid could
> simply call for a floor vote on a health care bill acceptable to 51
> Senators; declare it passed in violation of Senate Rule 22, on the
> grounds that the latter's supermajority rule violates the Constitution;
> and defend the Senate's case in the courts. The courts, of course, will
> do as they please, but this would, at the very least, beat the hell out
> of waiting until the 112th Congress begins on January 3, 2011 to do
> anything, if only because it's something.

Joe, you're leaving out many things, but mostly politics. The Senate will do nothing without an virtually unimaginable push from an aggravated and organized public, neither your plan nor mine. Getting a big enough push to get it done by January 2011 is already quioxtic. And if you're going to organize over the long haul, it helps to have some very defensible to organize around.

Michael



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