Reply #12: (Off topic) Awesome! I have been looking for an expert on Senate rules!

[Zorra]

Can you tell me how Democrats can bring an end to the filibuster rule?

I've always wondered why the Senate Dems didn't just end the filibuster in Feb. 2008, so that they could get progressive legislation passed. It seems to me that they are playing on the same team as the republicans, a team that is sponsored by corporate America.

I know that Gary Hart used to be a Senator, but he could be wrong here.

So, since you are an expert on the Senate, could please tell me if the following article is true? I always thought it was true, but many posters at DU have told me that it is not true. Thanks!

How To End the Filibuster Forever
The Senate can kill the rule any time! And with only 51 votes.
By Akhil Reed Amar and Gary Hart Posted Thursday, Jan. 6, 2011, at 2:11 PM ET

Is the Senate like Cinderella—does it have the power to transform itself in only one limited moment, at the opening of the new Congress? That is one of the two big questions in the filibuster-reform debate that is now taking center stage in the United States Senate. The other is whether the Senate can change the filibuster rule by a simple majority vote, regardless of what the rule itself seems to say. The short answers to these questions are that there are no magic moments in the Senate and no need to muster 60 votes to repeal the filibuster rule. The upper house has the clear constitutional authority to end the filibuster by simple majority vote on any day it chooses.
snip---
The Times and others are right about the power of the simple majority—more about why in a minute—but wrong about the Cinderella power of the Senate's opening day. A simple majority of determined senators may lawfully change the filibuster rules, even if the existing Senate rules say otherwise, at any time.
snip---
Unlike the House, the Senate need not begin its session by approving procedural rules. The internal Senate rule allowing filibusters—Senate Rule 22—is not approved biennially at the outset of each new congressional term. Rather, this old rule, initially adopted by the Senate in the 1910s and significantly revised in the 1970s, simply carries over from one Congress to the next by inertia, since the Senate is a continuing body. Similarly, on Day One in the Senate, no leadership elections need occur. The old Senate's leaders simply continue in place, and the Senate can oust the old leaders at any time—by a simple majority vote. The same goes for old rules, including the filibuster rule. It's that simple.

http://www.slate.com/id/2280238/

I really wish the Senate Dems would end the filibuster. They are allowing republicans to destroy our country.