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Bernie Sanders Says He's Not Sure About Ending the Filibuster. So Much for Single Payer, Then.
Democratic presidential hopefuls like Elizabeth Warren have started talking openly about ending the Senate filibuster. But so far, Sen. Bernie Sanders hasn’t been on board. Back in February, he said he “wasn’t crazy” about the idea of nixing the rule, which effectively requires 60 votes to pass most major legislation.
This is a bit odd, for a couple reasons. Given that there is basically zero chance Democrats will hold 60 Senate seats in the Senate in 2021, keeping the filibuster in place would almost certainly make it impossible for a President Sanders to pass many of the big ticket items on his agenda—especially Medicare for All. Second, Sanders has in the past been a vocal proponent of reforming the filibuster. Back in 2013, when some Senate Democrats pushed to weaken the threshold, he was a big supporter of forcing senators to actually stand on the floor and talk, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington-style, if they wanted to stall a bill. He understands that something is wrong with Congress’s procedural status quo.
In an interview published Monday, HuffPost’s Amanda Terkel pressed Sanders on the topic, asking how he planned to move ideas like the Green New Deal through the Senate. In response, the candidate suggested he could pass bills via the budget reconciliation process, which prevents filibusters on pieces of tax and spending legislation, allowing them to be enacted with a bare majority vote. He then reiterated that he wanted to reform, but not kill the filibuster entirely.
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But you know what almost certainly could not pass via reconciliation? The Medicare for All bill that Sanders has proposed. The problem is that, under the so-called “Byrd rule,” the Senate cannot use reconciliation to pass regulatory changes that only have an “incidental” impact on the budget.
This is a bit odd, for a couple reasons. Given that there is basically zero chance Democrats will hold 60 Senate seats in the Senate in 2021, keeping the filibuster in place would almost certainly make it impossible for a President Sanders to pass many of the big ticket items on his agenda—especially Medicare for All. Second, Sanders has in the past been a vocal proponent of reforming the filibuster. Back in 2013, when some Senate Democrats pushed to weaken the threshold, he was a big supporter of forcing senators to actually stand on the floor and talk, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington-style, if they wanted to stall a bill. He understands that something is wrong with Congress’s procedural status quo.
In an interview published Monday, HuffPost’s Amanda Terkel pressed Sanders on the topic, asking how he planned to move ideas like the Green New Deal through the Senate. In response, the candidate suggested he could pass bills via the budget reconciliation process, which prevents filibusters on pieces of tax and spending legislation, allowing them to be enacted with a bare majority vote. He then reiterated that he wanted to reform, but not kill the filibuster entirely.
..........................................................
But you know what almost certainly could not pass via reconciliation? The Medicare for All bill that Sanders has proposed. The problem is that, under the so-called “Byrd rule,” the Senate cannot use reconciliation to pass regulatory changes that only have an “incidental” impact on the budget.
https://slate.com/business/2019/04/bernie-sanders-single-payer-kill-the-filibuster-medicare-for-all.html
24 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
So you're saying elect him so he won't be as effective as he is in the Senate anymore?
No twisted logic there...
Scratching my head here. 
