On Fillibuster Reform

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Thursday December 16, 2010 · 12:12 PM PST

2010/12/16 · 12:12

I am far from the proponent of "destroy the fillibuster" (I think it is a significant protection on the potential for a slim majority to pass legislation in a hasty or potentially discriminatory/retaliatory manner)but as it has been abused in recent years, it has turned the Senate from the "world's greatest deliberative body" into a mess. Having thought about it, I want to suggest a simple solution.

Under current rules, there must be 60 "yay" votes in order to close debate, no matter how many folks abstain or are otherwise not present. This means folks can weasel and not appear on the floor and don't count. My suggestion is quite simple--we don't change the percentage required, but simply change how we count it. As long as there are 40+ "nay" votes on the cloture motion, debate/fillibuster continues--if there are fewer than 40 nay votes, the process moves forward. Why do I like this better than the "just get rid of it?" Let's talk after the fold.

profmatt

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Tuesday June 22, 2010 · 7:56 AM PDT

2010/06/22 · 07:56

Rasmussen has (as usual) been the most active pollster in the TX-Gov general race, polling it about once a month. No other national pollster had ventured into the race since a month before the hotly contested (on the GOP side) primary. Even the Rasmussen polls have shown a close race, but Public Policy Polling, in a new poll out today, shows the race between incumbent Governor Rick Perry and former Houston mayor Bill White knotted up at 43-43, with 14% undecided.

Now, there are some concerns I have with the methodology (appears it was an automated telephone poll), but I think digging into the crosstabs makes it even more interesting--after the fold, we'll do that.

profmatt

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Tuesday February 02, 2010 · 1:21 PM PST

2010/02/02 · 13:21

I've been saying for a while that the TX-GOV race is a sleeper potential pickup for Dems in the fall, and the money race so far suggests it could well be. Former Houston Mayor Bill White led all candidates in January fundraising totals, almost tripling Kay Bailey Hutchison's fundraising, and ahead of Rick Perry for January. (And 300x more than his nominal primary opponent.)

profmatt

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Friday December 04, 2009 · 10:44 AM PST

2009/12/04 · 10:44

Houston Mayor Bill White, who's term limited out as of January 1, has now officially declared he's running for Governor. The fine folks at his campaign are live-tweeting the announcement speech, which is also streaming on the Bill White site. The field is now substantially clear for White, with Hank Gilbert dropping out to run for Agriculture Commissioner. Somewhat surprisingly, Gilbert is declining to endorse White, but is instead endorsing hair care magnate Farouk Shami, who's running a quixotic race for the nomination. Especially against Rick Perry, White, with his ability to fundraise and strong appeal in the Houston and San Antonio metro areas in particular, could actually be the first statewide winner for Democrats in Texas in years.

Poll

67 votes Show Results

Who you got for TX-GOV?

67 votes Vote Now!

Who you got for TX-GOV?

Rick "Goodhair" Perry

2 votes

Kay Bailey "Big Hair" Hutchison

5 votes

Bill "No Hair" White

58 votes

Farouk "Hair Care" Shami

2 votes

TX-GOV, TX-SEN--Will Bill White Run For BOTH?

profmatt

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Monday November 23, 2009 · 10:09 AM PST

2009/11/23 · 10:09

As Kay Bailey Hutchison's primary campaign against Rick Perry has gotten off to a floundering start, there'd been rumors afoot that extremely popular and term-limited Houston mayor Bill White would switch to the Governor's race. The Houston Chronicle is now saying that he will be running for Governor, and Tom Schieffer will be withdrawing from the race, leaving the field basically clear. (Country singer Kinky Friedman remains a declared candidate, but is realistically not competitive in this primary.) But, as the Chronicle points out, there's a twist--more after the flip.

profmatt

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Friday November 06, 2009 · 7:30 AM PST

2009/11/06 · 07:30

Harlan Coben is a well-known NJ-based suspense/thriller writer. He's also a long-time Democrat, having endorsed Obama and even being a part of a DNC group on messaging. He's also been a close friend of NJ Governor-Elect Chris Christie since they were both 10. And he has an op-ed in today's NYT that I think is worth talking about.

profmatt

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Tuesday September 22, 2009 · 10:49 AM PDT

2009/09/22 · 10:49

Apparently, getting ordered to show cause why she shouldn't be sanctioned to pay $10,000 in sanctions isn't going to stop Orly Taitz. No, she's going to keep on fighting on all of the many and bizarre fronts, and her brief filed yesterday opposing the government's motion to dismiss one of her actions (apparently, the one brought on behalf of fellow nutcase Alan Keyes) for lack of standing, demonstrates she won't scrimp on the crazy. Some select quotes on the flip.

profmatt

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Friday September 18, 2009 · 2:24 PM PDT

2009/09/18 · 14:24

Y'know how Birther queen Orly Taitz's most recent action in the Middle District of Georgia was tossed earlier this week? Unfortunately for her, Dr. Taitz doesn't seem to know when to stop.

Rather than taking an appeal, Taitz instead filed a Motion for Reconsideration. Now, that's not all that uncommon where new facts or law exist that didn't before. But unsurprisingly, that's not what Taitz offers. What did she offer? That's on the flip.

profmatt

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Tuesday September 15, 2009 · 7:37 PM PDT

2009/09/15 · 19:37

I'm a bit surprised there's not an open thread to discuss the NYC local primary. Best online sources I've found are NY1, which has live results, but inexplicably is omitting any results for Manhattan DA, and the NYT City Room. As of now, it appears Thompson has easily won the job of being a sacrificial lamb to Bloomberg, that the Public Advocate and Comptroller races are going to runoffs, with the surprise of De Blasio leading Green going into the runoff. NYT is reporting that Cy Vance will be the next DA, with 44% of the vote and 97% reporting.

Talk amongst yourselves, and apologies for the brevity of the diary.

profmatt

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Sunday July 26, 2009 · 1:48 PM PDT

2009/07/26 · 13:48

Plane ticket? Booked ($54.25 after applying a Delta flight credit I had). Hotel room? Booked. But I do not have a conference registration. Why not? Because I know a number of Kossacks are looking to sell ones they can't use, and I want to make an offer.

I will buy your registration at the price you paid for it. I'll make the transfer through PayPal. I will then contribute the difference between what I pay the Kossack and the current going rate of registration to a Democratic challenger for a Republican seat or an endangered Democratic incumbent in 2010, as selected by the community. (Note, i'm not terribly interested in getting into primary battles.)

Thus, I'm looking for two things from y'all--if you have a registration and are willing to sell, leave a comment, and I'll get in touch with you, or if you have a nomination for a candidate worthy of the gift, leave a comment, and in a later diary, I'll put up a poll.

Looking forward to seeing many of you in PIT.

Liveblog--Final SCOTUS Decision Day

profmatt

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Monday June 29, 2009 · 7:18 AM PDT

2009/06/29 · 07:18

Since there's not a thread for discussion and analysis of today's big final three SCOTUS opinions (and David Souter's last day on the Court), figured I'd put one up. I don't have time to do analysis in any detail, but figured a single location for discussion would be helpful.

As usual, SCOTUSBlog is the best option for live coverage.

Three opinions today--Ricci v. DeStefano (the CT firefighters case), Citizens United v. FEC ("Hillary: The Movie"), and Cuomo v. Clearing House (a preemption case).

Thus far, the only opinion released is Ricci, in which the court 5-4 found for the white firefighters, along standard ideological lines. Opinion by Kennedy, concurrence by Scalia and Alito, dissent by Ginsburg.

Update 1: SCOTUSblog's archive of material on Ricci

Update 2: Both Kennedy and Ginsburg are reading substantial portions of the Ricci opinions into the record.

Update 3: Cuomo--states have the power to police mortgage lending discrimination. Interesting lineup in that it's Scalia + liberals to make the majority.

Further updates in the body.

profmatt

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Monday January 05, 2009 · 8:29 AM PST

2009/01/05 · 08:29

Apologies for the brief diary, but Dean Elena Kagan of Harvard Law School has sent an e-mail to the Harvard Law faculty and student body indicating that she will be announced as Solicitor General-designate later today. Above The Law has the e-mail. Two questions answered after the flip--first, who's the Solicitor General anyway? Second, who's Elena Kagan?

Poll

515 votes Show Results

Elena Kagan as SG--Approve/Disapprove?

515 votes Vote Now!

Elena Kagan as SG--Approve/Disapprove?

Appove

276 votes

Disapprove

177 votes

Who's Elena Kagan?

48 votes

Pie

14 votes

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On Fillibuster Reform

TX-GOV--Tied Up?

TX-GOV--The Money Race

TX-GOV--Bill White Is In

TX-GOV, TX-SEN--Will Bill White Run For BOTH?

Harlan Coben, Civility, and The Boss

More Insanity From Orly Taitz

Taitz Ordered To Show Cause Or Pay $10K

NYC Primary Open Thread

So, I'm Going To Netroots Nation...

Liveblog--Final SCOTUS Decision Day

Kagan to Be Solicitor General