Wyden, Merkley join rally as Eugene-area postal workers picket
The Register-Guard Postal workers, letter carriers and Oregon’s U.S. senators spoke outside the Local Processing Center in Springfield on Tuesday as part of a national day of action to protest consolidation in the Postal Service and advocate for the American Postal Workers Union as it negotiates its contract. Delivering for America The
Senator Merkley blasts court ruling lifting pause on election betting markets
KTVZ WASHINGTON (KTVZ) — Sen. Jeff Merkley issued the following statement Wednesday after a federal appeals court lifted a temporary freeze on election betting markets, a ruling that he said will immediately allow legal gambling on U.S. elections while the final verdict in the lawsuit is decided. The suit is
Your car knows more than you think: New law seeks to end data grab
KRON 4 The car is a trusty sidekick for many of us—taking us to work, the store, and maybe a weekend escape. But as U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley points out, it’s become much more: a mobile data-harvesting machine. His new legislation, the Car Privacy Rights Act, aims to pump the brakes on this
Sen. Merkley does the right thing
In the lore of Congress, there is a fabled observation that among congressmen, “There are show horses and there are work horses.”** Show horses are quick to seek a headline. Work horses are senators who work the phones and the cloakroom and know how to count the votes.
Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley is a work horse. His latest project is to amend Senate rules to curtail the filibuster’s proliferation. It sounds like a quixotic venture, but Merkley has gained allies and collaborators in both parties.
The Senate may change its rules at the beginning of a new Congress. That will occur in January. And the key knowledge is that a vote on rule change may not be filibustered.
What we know today as a filibuster used to be known as extended debate. It was originally seen as a courtesy. Unlike the much larger House of Representatives, which controls debate through rules that govern the discussion of each bill, the Senate’s more leisurely discussion “was designed for senators to hear each other out,” notes Merkley. “Now that courtesy has changed into a procedural objection to a vote that is paralyzing the Senate.”
Merkley notes that in 2010 the Senate failed to adopt a budget, and it did not consider hundreds of bills passed by the House. Also, hundreds of executive department nominations were not taken to a vote, and likewise for judicial nominations.
“Basically, we had very little that could be considered deliberation on the floor of the Senate.”
This is unglamorous work. It is essential if the Senate hopes to be more than dysfunctional. Sen. Merkley’s work is absolutely on target.
**Senate Historian Don Ritchie says the first publication of this observation was in The Washington Post (Jan. 14, 1947). The observation was attributed to Rep. Frederick C. Talbott (D-Maryland).
Merkley’s plan for millionaires
WASHINGTON — Lower taxes for millionaires or billions to shore up Social Security? That’s the choice U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., is trying to force with a proposal he offered on Thursday. Merkley proposed the idea in response to President Barack Obama’s package of tax cuts, which would prevent taxes
One Senator’s modest proposal: Force Senators to actually filibuster
The problem for those who want to do away with the filibuster and restore some functionality to the Senate is that some argue it requires a two thirds vote to make it happen — a virtual impossibility given today’s Senate math. (Update: See below.) But Senator Jeff Merkley, one of
Republicans dare Democrats to reform the filibuster
Mitch McConnell’s threat to filibuster literally everything Democrats want to do until Democrats and Republicans agree to a compromise on the Bush tax cuts can be read as a power play, but it can also be read as a dare: At this point, Republicans are sure that they can abuse
Merkley wants to change Senate
WASHINGTON — To an outsider, the machinations of the U.S. Senate can appear incomprehensible and largely pointless. That’s also true for some of those on the inside, including Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., although he’s much more diplomatic in his criticism. Merkley is one of several junior Democratic senators urging Senate
Talking about the filibuster
And with that, Frank Capra’s cinematic hero launched the filibuster that saved the Boy Rangers’ summer camp for the good guys by turning a little-used parliamentary procedure into a weapon to defeat cynicism, corruption and greed. In real life, it’s the United States Senate that needs a good talking-to about
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