Mark & Juanita wrote:
On 1 May 2005 14:15:18 -0700, wrote:
...
http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/...ppointment.htm
...
what
was the requirement for cloture during that period of Senate history?
Was
it majority or was it supermajority?
Here's a longer explanation for the benefit of the reader whose
American Government class did not cover filibusters and/or who
have not seen _Mr Smith Goes to Washington_.
A filibuster is made possible by two procedural rules adopted by
the Senate a very long time ago, I dunno how long. First, a
Senator who has the floor may speak for as long as he/she
wishes. There is some provision for temporary interruption,
I'm pretty sure that the President or President Pro-Tempor
of the Senate may request that the Senator yield to another
speaker but a Senator who has the floor is under no obligation
to grant the request.
Secondly, the Senator who has the floor may designate the
next Senator who is to speak, e.g. by stating that he/she
yields to the Senior or Junior Senator from the State of Foo
(There is a rule in the Senate prohibiting Senators from
referring to their colleagues by name.)
No other business may come to the floor while a Senator
is speaking, thus a speaker can stop a motion (like a
bill) from coming to a vote for as long as he/she can
keep speaking. I think the late Strom Thurmond set the
record for one-man filibusters, somwhat in excess of
30 hours IIRC, in (unsuccessful) opposition to Civil
Rights legislation.
But a small number of Senators, by continuously speaking
and yielding only to each other, may hold up the Senate
indefinately.
Sometime during the 1960s the Senate adopted a new rule,
a rule that permitted the Senate to 'invoke cloture'
that is to set a time limit for debate or a deadline
for a vote so as to defeat filibusters. The standard
adopted for invoking cloture is 60%, whether 60% of
quorum or of the full Senate I do not know.
In effect, 40 Senators are enough to stop any measure
from passing the Senate even though only a simple
majority is required to pass most measures.
I gather from reading between the lines of the publicity
around the current issues that filibusters per se are
a thing of the past. Senators wishing to filibuster no
longer get up and speak for hours on end, they just make
their intent known and the opposition (actually, proponents
of the measure in question) accepts that. If 60 Senators
oppose the filibuster, they will vote to invoke cloture
and the measure will be passed. Otherwise it will be
tabled. It seems that today's Senators are too lazy to
do the hard work that is necessary for a real filibuster.
Both sides in the current debate make a lot of noise
about what is Constitutional or not, and both are
mostly full of crap. The Constitution allows the Senate
and the House to each make their own rules of procedure.
A new rule lowering the number of votes required to invoke
cloture, whether for any measure or specifically for
nominations to the judiciary would be just as Constitutional
as the older measure setting that number at 60%, or for
that matter, a measure setting it higher or eliminating
the cloture rule altogether.
One of the more obvious lies being told by Pat Robertson
a televangelist and con artist, about filibusters,
against judicial nominees is that the filibuster has
never been used to block the confirmation of a nominee
who has enjoyed the support of a majority of Senators.
Filibuster is ONLY used to block measures (whether
voting on judicial nominees, legislation or anything else)
that enjoy majority support. Opponents of a measure that
does NOT enjoy majority support are typically happy to see
it come the the floor for reasons that should be obvious.
Persons who promote misconceptions and outright lies about
filibuster or anything else in politics or other topic
or filed rely on the ignoranc eof their listener, reader,
or viewer. They hope that what they say will be uncritically
accepted by their audience typically relying on their
status as a self-declared authority figure.
So don't trust me either, check it out for yourself.
--
FF