# What, if anything, will the Senate Pubs filibuster in the next two years? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 12, 2008, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anything-will-the-senate-pubs-filibuster-in-the-next-two-years/472269 "2008-11-12T00:00:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anything-will-the-senate-pubs-filibuster-in-the-next-two-years/472269/21 "2008-11-12T14:15:40Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > The Republicans in the Senate aren’t nearly united enough to make a filibuster work. > > You think Arlen Specter, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins are going to close ranks with the conservative wing of the party? Dream on. Where have you been the last eight years? Specter talks big but doesn’t follow through. Ever. Remember that it was his aide that “secretly” snuck the item about US Attorney appointees not needing to be confirmed by the Senate into an unrelated bill. ---
**Author:** ![IClaudius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c37758/32.png) [@IClaudius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IClaudius)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anything-will-the-senate-pubs-filibuster-in-the-next-two-years/472269/22 "2008-11-12T14:30:33Z")
Yeah, Spectre is a bit like Voinovich and McCain in that they each get a far better rap as independent voices in their party than their fair-weather records support. They’ve each shown reasonable tendencies - certainly - but there are also endless examples of tokenism where they caved quickly, and had the fortune to have their lapse buried in a media process story. Obviously it is harder when you have a thuggish majority whip, and a high polarised party culture. Hopefully the scale of Obama’s victory has a been a game-changer though. Now they’ve taken two consecutive drubbings, maybe we’ll see these mythical Republicans who are going to exhibit Feingold-like deference to non-extreme judicial nominations, for example. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anything-will-the-senate-pubs-filibuster-in-the-next-two-years/472269/23 "2008-11-12T15:05:03Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > The Republicans in the Senate aren’t nearly united enough to make a filibuster work. > > You think Arlen Specter, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins are going to close ranks with the conservative wing of the party? Dream on. When they were ahead 53 to 47 ,every crappy bill they wanted was pushed through by that margin. I watched the CSPAN broadcast of the bankruptcy bill they pushed through.The bill was passed 53 -47. Kennedy offered an amendment to exempt people with catastrophic illnesses. Defeated 53-47. Kennedy offered one to exempt seniors. Lost 53-47. Then one was offered to exempt soldiers who had repeatedly been sent to Iraq. Lost 53-47. Then one was offered to cap interest rates at 30 %. Rejected 53-47. I believe Biden was voting with them on most of them. But they held together over and over. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anything-will-the-senate-pubs-filibuster-in-the-next-two-years/472269/24 "2008-11-12T15:27:35Z")
What will be most interesting will be to see if they try to filibuster Obama’s health-care plan. Any Pub Senator who plays a visible role in such a filibuster and who is up for re-election in 2010 will be putting his seat at risk, however red his state might be. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anything-will-the-senate-pubs-filibuster-in-the-next-two-years/472269/25 "2008-11-12T17:27:36Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > When they were ahead 53 to 47 ,every crappy bill they wanted was pushed through by that margin. I watched the CSPAN broadcast of the bankruptcy bill they pushed through.The bill was passed 53 -47. Kennedy offered an amendment to exempt people with catastrophic illnesses. Defeated 53-47. Kennedy offered one to exempt seniors. Lost 53-47. Then one was offered to exempt soldiers who had repeatedly been sent to Iraq. Lost 53-47. Then one was offered to cap interest rates at 30 %. Rejected 53-47. I believe Biden was voting with them on most of them. But they held together over and over. Holding together to pass something by a majority is a differnt beast than filibustering. You can rely on a few GOP Senators breaking ranks; the issue is how many Democratic ones break too. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anything-will-the-senate-pubs-filibuster-in-the-next-two-years/472269/26 "2008-11-12T18:05:40Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > The Republicans in the Senate aren’t nearly united enough to make a filibuster work. > > You think Arlen Specter, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins are going to close ranks with the conservative wing of the party? Dream on. Very true but aren’t there a few relatively conservative Dems that might offset those three on certain issues.? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anything-will-the-senate-pubs-filibuster-in-the-next-two-years/472269/27 "2008-11-12T18:43:49Z")
The repubs were discussing changing the rules to kill filibusters. They thought it was horrible. Now they use it like crazy. Did it suddenly get better? Wait for the judge appointments. Then Jeff Sessions may not say every nomination deserves an up or down vote. He was so clear that it was the right thing to do. Just another lying pol. How the hell could they vote that asshole in again? He said Harriet Meiers was the single most qualified person for the Supreme Court. He always says that. Can not stand that guy. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anything-will-the-senate-pubs-filibuster-in-the-next-two-years/472269/28 "2008-11-12T19:01:33Z")
> [@oliversarmy](#): > > I don’t think it really matters. Chambliss may lose and he may win, but the next four to eight years, and beyond, are the for the Democrats. They win. The conservative Republican days are over. They squandered their time by playing by the old rules. The days of a two-party system are done. Say hello to the new boss. Ah… the “Permanent Democratic Majority”… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anything-will-the-senate-pubs-filibuster-in-the-next-two-years/472269.md?page=1)