Reply #39: ANY tactic that delays or foils the will of the senate majority is BY DEFINITION a filibuster

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the filibuster takes on many forms, and the particular hollywood form of the marathon speech on the senate floor hasn't existed in reality since rule xxii was changed in 1975.

reid WAS following the rules. the rules permit a call for a cloture vote, and the majority couldn't muster the required 60 votes. the rules say you can't vote on the bill itself if someone calls for a cloture vote and the cloture vote fails.


sure, the rules could be changed back, but that's a rather different question, and brings up a whole host of other concerns. note that the senate changed TO the present system for what it then thought were very good reasons. perhaps it is time to revisit those assumptions, and perhaps there's a better way than either then OR now, but the marathon speech on the senate floor didn't make the senate look any better than its current dysfunction does.