WEBVTT - SYSK Selects: How Filibusters Work 0:00:00.800 --> 0:00:04.280 Hey, everybody, this is Chuck and uh surprise, you get 0:00:04.280 --> 0:00:07.720 a bonus episode this week and every Saturday moving forward 0:00:07.760 --> 0:00:11.440 with our s Y s K Selects episode. So what 0:00:11.480 --> 0:00:14.240 we decided to do was um to kind of you know, 0:00:14.280 --> 0:00:18.040 not everyone knows we have all these back episodes laying 0:00:18.079 --> 0:00:22.200 in wait to the tune of nine plus. So each week, UM, 0:00:22.400 --> 0:00:25.160 Josh will pick one, I'll pick one. We're gonna curate these. 0:00:25.160 --> 0:00:26.720 It might be Newsy, it might just be one of 0:00:26.720 --> 0:00:29.800 our favorites, and we're gonna publish them on Saturday. So 0:00:29.880 --> 0:00:32.440 if you if you haven't heard this one before, enjoy it. 0:00:32.560 --> 0:00:35.640 If you have, maybe listen again. Uh And this week 0:00:35.680 --> 0:00:39.400 I picked out Filibusters, especially because of kind of what's 0:00:39.400 --> 0:00:42.120 going on in this country right now with the looming 0:00:42.560 --> 0:00:47.199 nomination of uh Mr Gorsych to the Supreme Court and 0:00:47.240 --> 0:00:50.000 the threatened democratic filibuster. So if you don't know what 0:00:50.000 --> 0:00:53.239 filibusters are all about, give this episode to listen and 0:00:53.280 --> 0:00:55.600 everything will be a lot more clear and we hope 0:00:55.640 --> 0:01:00.080 you enjoy it. Welcome to Stuff you should know the 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:08.560 house Stuff Works dot Com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. 0:01:08.640 --> 0:01:11.000 I'm Josh Clark and with me is always at Charles Study, 0:01:11.080 --> 0:01:14.160 Chuck Bryant, and Jerry And that's the stuff you should know. 0:01:14.440 --> 0:01:18.120 I filibuster that you can't. I could talk for the 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:20.399 next twenty four hours straight and not allow you to speak, 0:01:20.600 --> 0:01:23.880 and that would be filibuster in this podcast. Um, No, 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:28.080 you'd actually be creating a podcast. Still, I guess we 0:01:28.080 --> 0:01:31.479 don't have any part elementary rules, So I mean, technically 0:01:31.480 --> 0:01:33.640 you could do that and it's a podcast. Still, upon 0:01:33.680 --> 0:01:35.959 reading this, it seems like the U. S. Government doesn't either, 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:38.760 because one strategy is to just pick up your ball 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:41.520 and go home. Yeah. I just sort of put the 0:01:41.520 --> 0:01:45.000 filibustering is, except you don't go home. No, you stand 0:01:45.040 --> 0:01:48.800 there and tell everybody else goes home. In the most 0:01:48.840 --> 0:01:52.360 classic example, which is what we're all about here at 0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:55.480 stuff you should know the classics, man, Um, Chuck. You 0:01:55.480 --> 0:02:00.400 know this year two thirteen, which is drawing to a close, Um, 0:02:00.440 --> 0:02:04.160 there were two very high profile filibusters. One was by 0:02:04.240 --> 0:02:09.079 Wendy Davis, member of the Texas State Senate, who filibustered 0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:13.160 against a proposed bill that would or a package of 0:02:13.200 --> 0:02:17.280 bills that would limit access to abortions. Did she actually 0:02:17.800 --> 0:02:20.880 do it like a solo filibuster? Yeah, the classic she 0:02:21.000 --> 0:02:25.600 had like on some snazzy pink magenta Mazzuno running shoes, 0:02:26.000 --> 0:02:30.560 back brace and I believe a catheter. Shut up. No, 0:02:30.680 --> 0:02:32.959 I'm not kidding, I'm I'm almost positive shad a catheter 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:37.160 and spoke for eleven hours straight. Um. There was also 0:02:37.200 --> 0:02:43.079 another one by in September by U S. Senator from 0:02:43.120 --> 0:02:47.560 Texas Ted Cruz, one of the founding people of the 0:02:47.600 --> 0:02:49.520 Tea Party, or at least one of the most prominent 0:02:49.560 --> 0:02:54.040 members of the Tea Party, who was um filibustering against 0:02:54.080 --> 0:02:58.640 a continuing resolution to keep the government open, okay, or 0:02:58.680 --> 0:03:01.639 to reopen the government. He went solo as well he did. 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:05.560 One was real. One was fake. What do you mean, 0:03:05.840 --> 0:03:08.680 Cruises was fake? It wasn't a real filibuster. It was 0:03:08.760 --> 0:03:13.320 basically stage dressing that looked like filibuster. But at its core, 0:03:13.480 --> 0:03:15.920 as we'll soon find out, it wasn't a filibuster because 0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:18.480 it was the result of a deal with Harry Reid 0:03:18.880 --> 0:03:23.520 that Ted Cruise would be allowed to speak for twenty 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:26.079 one hours and then at the end of his twenty 0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:29.920 one hours, this vote would go on. The whole purpose 0:03:29.919 --> 0:03:33.239 of a filibuster is to prevent a vote from taking place. 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:36.320 Not make a deal to speak for a certain amount 0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:39.440 of time. Uh, and then let the vote go through 0:03:39.520 --> 0:03:43.160 and then cruise even further wild people by voting in 0:03:43.240 --> 0:03:48.240 favor of the motion after he supposedly filibustered it. So 0:03:48.400 --> 0:03:51.240 we have one, very very real one Wendy Davis. She 0:03:51.440 --> 0:03:53.120 wasn't allowed to take a simple water, She had to 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:57.000 stay on on topic, spoke NonStop for eleven hours, catheter 0:03:57.160 --> 0:03:59.400 the whole she had to stay on topic. Is that 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:02.440 a new thing, Well, it isn't. It's a Texas state rule. 0:04:03.320 --> 0:04:05.880 And then Crews just basically spoke for twenty one hours, 0:04:05.920 --> 0:04:08.080 handed the lecture and over to I think Ram Paul. 0:04:08.080 --> 0:04:10.120 For a little while it was this kind of meandering 0:04:10.240 --> 0:04:12.520 or whatever. It looked like a filipbuster, but as we'll 0:04:12.520 --> 0:04:15.440 find out, it wasn't really, even though Davis was very 0:04:15.520 --> 0:04:20.640 much filibuster. So let's talk filibusters, man. Yeah, it's one 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:23.120 of these. Well, I was about to say uniquely American, 0:04:23.200 --> 0:04:25.800 but it does happen and has happened in other countries. 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:29.960 Actually dates back to ancient room, but it is uniquely 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:33.600 American in the way that we do it and how 0:04:33.640 --> 0:04:37.280 it's abused. So, um, it's history does go back to 0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:40.640 ancient room. Cato the younger was a master of the filibuster. 0:04:41.200 --> 0:04:43.560 And this is back at a time when you actually 0:04:44.400 --> 0:04:47.120 could make pretty good use of the filibuster because the 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:50.240 Senate rule was that all business had to be concluded 0:04:50.279 --> 0:04:53.400 by dusk. If it wasn't, sorry, it's off the table. 0:04:53.880 --> 0:04:55.600 So all you had to do a stand there technically 0:04:55.600 --> 0:04:59.839 for one day, and you could filibuster anything. It's pretty 0:05:00.240 --> 0:05:04.479 when you think about it. Yeah, and a lot of people, 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:08.880 I think assume that it's like part of like the 0:05:08.960 --> 0:05:13.039 Constitution maybe nope, Or that the founding father said, hey, 0:05:13.080 --> 0:05:17.520 we need this rule the filibuster. Nope. Uh that perhaps 0:05:17.640 --> 0:05:21.520 it was um brought up by Superman and the guys 0:05:21.520 --> 0:05:26.000 at Clark Kent. Yes, okay, we get there something alright. 0:05:26.040 --> 0:05:29.520 So filibuster is an actual it's any sort of action 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:33.400 that you can take to um block or delay action 0:05:34.000 --> 0:05:37.480 in the Senate House can't do it, Senate can, right, 0:05:37.520 --> 0:05:42.040 And it's it's it exists because there are rules. Yeah, 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:44.080 it's a really it's an odd thing with an odd 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:48.200 accidental history. Um. I guess first we should say that 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:51.760 the name they believe comes from the Dutch word that 0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:58.000 means pirate, and as pirates take things hostage, filibustering can 0:05:58.120 --> 0:06:00.840 also be looked at its taking things off very much. So, 0:06:00.920 --> 0:06:03.160 I mean like a vote or a bill that wants 0:06:03.160 --> 0:06:05.839 to be introduced, confirmation or a nomination. Yeah, for a 0:06:05.839 --> 0:06:10.120 confirmation for a judge. Let's say, yeah, you're holding it hostage. Um. 0:06:10.160 --> 0:06:12.160 A lot of people think a filibuster is a good 0:06:12.160 --> 0:06:16.480 thing because it allows the minority, meaning the minority in 0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:19.680 the Senate to still have a voice and not just 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:21.760 have to get run rush shot over by the majority. 0:06:21.920 --> 0:06:24.760 And the Senate has very has a long storied history 0:06:24.839 --> 0:06:30.080 of giving a tremendous amount of say and rights to 0:06:30.240 --> 0:06:33.279 the minority whichever whichever party that might be at any 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:38.160 given time. Um. And so as a result, the filibuster 0:06:38.760 --> 0:06:41.479 was allowed to exist for a while ever since it 0:06:41.520 --> 0:06:47.480 was accidentally created. But initially the Senate and the House 0:06:47.960 --> 0:06:52.200 had a rule UM that prevented filibustering. Yeah, the previous 0:06:52.279 --> 0:06:57.000 question motion which required a majority vote, and it was 0:06:57.040 --> 0:07:01.440 not used though apparently ever so in eighteen o six 0:07:01.960 --> 0:07:05.760 they got rid of it. Yeah, the Senate did, and 0:07:05.880 --> 0:07:08.360 um kind of didn't realize what they had created was 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:11.640 a bit of a loophole. And that now, if you wanted, 0:07:11.800 --> 0:07:15.000 you could get up and speak endlessly about something, and 0:07:15.000 --> 0:07:17.600 that's basically what it is. And Mr Smith goes to Washington. 0:07:17.680 --> 0:07:21.000 Jimmy Stewart did it and everyone loved it. But these 0:07:21.080 --> 0:07:23.680 days it's kind of a different story. Well, yeah, it's 0:07:23.720 --> 0:07:27.440 definitely lost a lot of its um substance to you know. Well, 0:07:27.440 --> 0:07:29.480 they didn't used to use it very much. No, And 0:07:29.480 --> 0:07:33.119 and that previous question motion, um, that's what it was called, right, Yeah, 0:07:33.240 --> 0:07:36.840 so that was basically like you could say, um, so 0:07:37.080 --> 0:07:40.120 is everybody ready for this guy to stop talking about 0:07:40.200 --> 0:07:42.880 this bill or can we be done with debate? And 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:45.360 everybody says yeah, your nay? And then if it's yeah, 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:47.560 then you just go on and and vote like it 0:07:47.680 --> 0:07:50.080 ends debate. But like you said, nobody was using it 0:07:50.320 --> 0:07:52.200 and so they just kind of threw it out because 0:07:52.200 --> 0:07:55.360 debate is Yeah, I guess it was Aaron Aaron Burr 0:07:55.720 --> 0:07:57.640 was saying, we need to simplify these rules. So the 0:07:57.680 --> 0:08:00.120 Senate did it. The House didn't, which is why you 0:08:00.160 --> 0:08:02.080 can't have a filibuster in the House because they never 0:08:02.120 --> 0:08:05.320 got rid of the previous question motion. But like you said, 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:10.040 Jimmy Stewart did it. Everybody was just in awe of 0:08:10.120 --> 0:08:13.520 the idea of one all you need is one good 0:08:13.640 --> 0:08:16.600 senator and the rest of the Senate could be corrupt. 0:08:17.000 --> 0:08:19.120 But as long as you have Jimmy Stewart, one Jimmy 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:24.520 Stewart in there. Yeah, and and a little bit of stamina, um, 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:29.120 you the the truth justice in the American way can prevail. Um. 0:08:29.200 --> 0:08:31.600 And as you were saying, as a result, a lot 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:34.640 of people think having a filibuster is a good thing 0:08:35.400 --> 0:08:38.240 because it prevents tyranny by the majority. Yeah. And in 0:08:38.400 --> 0:08:41.600 essence it is a good thing in a democracy. Um. 0:08:41.679 --> 0:08:43.319 And like I said, it wasn't used that much in 0:08:43.360 --> 0:08:46.920 the nineteenth century. The first one was not until eighteen 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:50.760 thirty seven, and less than two dozen took place before 0:08:50.800 --> 0:08:54.800 the year nineteen hundred. Uh. In nineteen seventeen, things change 0:08:55.200 --> 0:08:59.200 with President Wilson got a little ticked off because there 0:08:59.280 --> 0:09:02.480 was a filibus for blocking a bill arming merchant ships 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:05.480 in the Great War was being fought, and he said, 0:09:05.720 --> 0:09:08.400 we don't have time for this, so I'm gonna push 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:12.440 to pass something called a culture rule, which means that 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:15.760 we can cease this filibustering with the two thirds vote, right, 0:09:15.920 --> 0:09:17.800 And he didn't really have any say. I mean, the 0:09:17.840 --> 0:09:20.480 President is not the he's not involved in the Senate. 0:09:20.480 --> 0:09:22.520 That's the vice where he but he was. He was 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:26.520 using all of his influence in public opinion against a 0:09:26.640 --> 0:09:29.199 quote a little group of willful men. Yeah. I mean 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:31.720 he hated it, and he was a big champion of 0:09:32.120 --> 0:09:34.280 trying to limit it as much as possible. So the 0:09:34.320 --> 0:09:37.880 Senate passed this culture rule that said you can you 0:09:37.920 --> 0:09:42.240 can bring something to a vote with two thirds majority, 0:09:42.600 --> 0:09:45.840 which is sixty seven senators. That's right, that's still you know, 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:48.319 that's a lot of people. That means that the will 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:51.520 of the Senate, not just the majority. Uh, not just 0:09:51.559 --> 0:09:54.680 the majority party, I should say, but the actual Senate 0:09:54.800 --> 0:09:57.560 is like enough of this, Like, well, let's just we 0:09:57.640 --> 0:10:01.520 agree that we need to stop debating exactly. Uh. It 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:06.240 has since been abused um or used depending on your viewpoint. UH. 0:10:06.320 --> 0:10:11.880 In the during the civil rights movement, racist senators used 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:15.679 it to block all sorts of things, from anti lynching 0:10:15.760 --> 0:10:21.720 laws to civil rights UH bills and um successfully. Strom 0:10:21.800 --> 0:10:25.680 Thurman in n seven broke the record for speaking for 0:10:25.720 --> 0:10:29.160 twenty four hours and eighteen minutes. That's still the record straight. 0:10:30.200 --> 0:10:33.200 That's because no one else wants to do that, or 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:37.040 has the stamina or the adult papers. We can't leave. 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:39.640 We keep talking about that. We should explain you're not 0:10:39.679 --> 0:10:43.040 allowed to leave, even to pee. You have to keep talking. Well, 0:10:43.080 --> 0:10:49.440 that was the case until the seventies. Apparently, filibustering thanks 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:54.320 to the um UH segregationists who are using it to 0:10:54.400 --> 0:10:58.520 prevent lynching, laws, to prevent the um UH, the Civil 0:10:58.640 --> 0:11:01.440 Rights Bill, UH, pretty much anything that had to do 0:11:01.520 --> 0:11:04.360 civil rights they were using the filibuster for. So by 0:11:04.400 --> 0:11:06.600 the time the seventies rolled around, the Senate passed a 0:11:06.920 --> 0:11:11.480 um A different rule that meant well, it said, if 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:14.280 you want to bring a vote to cloture to end debate, 0:11:14.960 --> 0:11:17.640 no longer do you need sixty seven senators. You only 0:11:17.640 --> 0:11:20.800 need sixty, which is a little easier to get. But 0:11:21.280 --> 0:11:23.640 we're going to give the minority. Still. See, the Senate 0:11:23.720 --> 0:11:29.080 loves the minority, UM the ability to threaten a filibuster 0:11:29.360 --> 0:11:33.000 if they have forty one senators on board with that filipbuster, 0:11:33.280 --> 0:11:36.440 and you don't even have to stand up there anymore. Yeah, 0:11:36.480 --> 0:11:40.160 but you still can if you're a loan senator like it. 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:45.800 It didn't eliminate the loan filibuster. Speaker, no because if 0:11:45.840 --> 0:11:48.240 you have forty or thirty nine or thirty eight, or 0:11:48.280 --> 0:11:51.280 it's just you, you're just that one person, then you 0:11:51.320 --> 0:11:54.559 have to stand up there still. But the idea that, um, 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:58.520 if you had forty one senators who would, if called upon, 0:11:58.880 --> 0:12:03.120 would vote um against that clture, you don't have to talk, 0:12:03.400 --> 0:12:06.720 right because by definition, you have that filibuster power. And 0:12:06.760 --> 0:12:08.760 the whole idea of adding this rule was not just 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:13.480 to kind of give a little back to the minority 0:12:13.559 --> 0:12:15.800 when you were taking it away by dropping it from 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:19.520 a two thirds to three fifths majority for culture Um. 0:12:19.840 --> 0:12:21.680 They were also trying to make it so that the 0:12:21.720 --> 0:12:25.080 Senate business was more streamlined and efficient. But it had 0:12:25.120 --> 0:12:27.800 the unintended consequence of people saying like, oh, well, I'm 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:30.439 I threatened filibuster. I'm gonna sit over here and I 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:32.920 don't have to talk. I'm gonna threaten filibuster. So that 0:12:32.960 --> 0:12:35.920 means take this bill out of consideration and let's move 0:12:35.960 --> 0:12:38.800 on with the other business. And that's when bills just 0:12:38.840 --> 0:12:42.199 started getting blocked the left and right. Yeah yeah, um. 0:12:42.440 --> 0:12:46.000 And back to Thurman. Supposedly with the whole bathroom thing, 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:49.360 he h took a steam bath to hydrate himself so 0:12:49.400 --> 0:12:51.679 he wouldn't have to peat. That's the story. I can 0:12:51.720 --> 0:12:54.640 imagine that would take for maybe ten twelve hours, but 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:58.959 then twenty four hours he peat himself. You think, I'll 0:12:59.000 --> 0:13:01.080 bet it's just one of those untold stories of the 0:13:01.120 --> 0:13:04.240 Senate strom Thurm and Pete all over himself. Okay, so 0:13:04.280 --> 0:13:06.840 that's the simple filibuster, the one you don't see as 0:13:06.920 --> 0:13:09.960 much anymore because the one guy standing up. Yeah, now 0:13:10.080 --> 0:13:12.160 now it's more about, hey, we we can just threaten 0:13:12.200 --> 0:13:14.360 it and no one has to waste their time speaking 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:20.000 and debating. But Chuck, it's also it does. It does 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:23.280 keep you from wasting time. But because it's easy to 0:13:23.320 --> 0:13:28.439 do and because all you need are forty one senators, um, 0:13:29.440 --> 0:13:34.000 it's created a backlog. It's a really easy way for 0:13:34.120 --> 0:13:38.000 the minority to hold anything they want hostage, which is 0:13:38.040 --> 0:13:40.720 one reason why while a lot of people say it's 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:43.640 a good thing to have a filibuster because it protects 0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:49.160 the minority from majority tyranny. Um, but having a filibuster 0:13:49.600 --> 0:13:54.880 means that really just a fairly small group of senators 0:13:54.960 --> 0:13:59.160 less than half can hold anything they want up and 0:13:59.240 --> 0:14:03.480 just that that one simple filibuster, the presence of it 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:06.280 means that you can have any crazy nut who's a 0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:09.040 senator hold anything up that he wants as long as 0:14:09.040 --> 0:14:11.720 he's willing to stand there and talk. Ye. So there's 0:14:11.760 --> 0:14:13.719 some people who say we need to get rid of 0:14:13.760 --> 0:14:16.439 the filibuster. There's others who say, no, the filibuster has 0:14:16.440 --> 0:14:19.440 to exist. It's this accidental thing that the Framers didn't 0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:21.640 put in there, but it was a happy accident that 0:14:21.680 --> 0:14:24.440 it came about, and it proved it's worth as a 0:14:24.440 --> 0:14:28.000 as a part of democracy. Uh. Well, you mentioned earlier 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:30.560 how who was who was the lady that Davis? Yeah, 0:14:30.560 --> 0:14:32.320 Wendy Davis who you said she had to stay on 0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:34.320 point because in Texas they say you have to stay 0:14:34.320 --> 0:14:37.440 on point. But federally there are no laws, specifically are 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:40.000 rules that say you have to do so you just 0:14:40.040 --> 0:14:45.080 have to talk, which is fairly ridiculous. Uh in hughe 0:14:45.080 --> 0:14:49.320 p Long did such things as read Shakespeare and talk 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:54.280 about cooking fried oysters site recipes and I'll bet you 0:14:54.400 --> 0:14:57.520 we Long had a pretty good fried oyster. Uh. It's 0:14:57.560 --> 0:14:59.760 just crazy. It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. 0:15:00.560 --> 0:15:02.560 You know what, that you can say whatever you want. Yeah, 0:15:02.640 --> 0:15:04.840 that literally, that is what our government is doing they're 0:15:04.920 --> 0:15:08.560 up there talking about oyster recipes on the floor of 0:15:08.640 --> 0:15:11.840 the Senate to block a bill being introduced. Perhaps I've 0:15:11.840 --> 0:15:15.280 always equated filibusters with the senator standing up there reading 0:15:15.280 --> 0:15:17.600 from a phone book. I think that that was another 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:21.160 common tactic too that Yeah, I don't know who did, 0:15:21.200 --> 0:15:25.960 but that's definitely been done USA, right, And yeah, I 0:15:26.000 --> 0:15:30.359 think it'should kind of should leave a it is, especially 0:15:30.360 --> 0:15:33.600 when it's not just at the very least, you should 0:15:33.640 --> 0:15:36.760 have to stand up there and debate your bill, debate 0:15:36.800 --> 0:15:39.640 your position and yes, and talk about what the issue 0:15:39.680 --> 0:15:41.840 is at hand. And if you're willing to do that, 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:45.000 if you feel that passionate about that, then there's really 0:15:45.280 --> 0:15:47.960 not a lot of criticism that slong at you. But 0:15:48.120 --> 0:15:50.760 if you're staying out there talking oyster recipes, or in 0:15:50.800 --> 0:15:54.160 my opinion, if you're just saying they're in filibuster, that 0:15:54.160 --> 0:15:57.200 that that, to me is just that's hijacking. It is 0:15:57.680 --> 0:16:01.920 it's piracy. It is. Uh So that is not the 0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:05.280 only way you can waste time and block things from 0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:09.600 happening in Congress. Uh you can. There are all these 0:16:09.640 --> 0:16:13.720 little tactics that can be used. For instance, um, you 0:16:13.760 --> 0:16:17.160 can introduce a lot of amendments to a bill. UM, 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:20.640 and instead of just saying waving the right and saying, 0:16:20.680 --> 0:16:22.960 you know what, we're introducing this amendment. Everyone knows it. 0:16:23.160 --> 0:16:25.120 We don't have to waste our time reading it, they 0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:27.800 can demand, well, I'm gonna introduce forty seven amendments to 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:30.360 this bill, and we're gonna read each one in full. 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:33.280 It's just a time wasting measure. You can also add 0:16:33.280 --> 0:16:36.440 on to that UM a roll call vote for each amendment, 0:16:36.560 --> 0:16:38.640 so you have an amendment read and then you have 0:16:39.120 --> 0:16:43.560 a role call taken for every senator to say whether 0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:46.680 they vote yeah your name for each amendment yeah, which 0:16:46.680 --> 0:16:51.480 would make it even more timely. Uh. Something called quorum calls. 0:16:51.880 --> 0:16:55.520 Apparently that UM ascertains a number of senators present. I 0:16:55.520 --> 0:16:58.040 don't know how that's different than a roll call. Role 0:16:58.080 --> 0:17:01.120 call is what what you're voting, like, like, how do 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:05.440 you feel about this amendment? Are you present or not? 0:17:06.320 --> 0:17:08.359 Because you have to have a quorum. I can't remember 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:10.639 how many makeup a quorum, but basically, like there has 0:17:10.680 --> 0:17:14.080 to be a certain amount of people present for Senate 0:17:14.119 --> 0:17:17.080 business to be conducted, So quorum would be to find 0:17:17.119 --> 0:17:19.439 out if there's enough people present and if you're just 0:17:19.480 --> 0:17:22.520 doing it delay time. They might be in their offices 0:17:22.640 --> 0:17:24.640 or whatever. They might be having dinner and they're still 0:17:24.680 --> 0:17:28.080 technically present. But if you call quorum call, then that 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:29.879 means they have to come in and say present and 0:17:29.920 --> 0:17:33.760 then go back to dinner. Uh. There can be something 0:17:33.800 --> 0:17:37.439 called an anonymous hold, which allows someone to block a 0:17:37.440 --> 0:17:41.640 bill a man or woman in the Senate um when 0:17:41.640 --> 0:17:44.720 it requires unanimous consent in order to be voted on. 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:49.040 But it's anonymous, which is kind of tricky because then 0:17:49.080 --> 0:17:52.000 you don't know who's holding up the gumming up the works, right, 0:17:52.200 --> 0:17:54.080 you know, then it turns into like a big game 0:17:54.080 --> 0:17:58.280 of clue. So, yeah, Harry read did it in the 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:04.399 conservatory with the rope um. So filibuster reform surely something 0:18:04.440 --> 0:18:08.919 this weird and hanky should be looked at and reformed 0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:12.520 in order to retain the true spirit of of the filibuster. 0:18:13.119 --> 0:18:16.080 And over the years there's been a lot of talk 0:18:16.119 --> 0:18:19.520 about reform, a little bit of action about reform, but 0:18:19.600 --> 0:18:23.720 not a ton until recently. Uh. In the fifties there 0:18:23.760 --> 0:18:28.000 was but one filibuster procession, and in two thousand seven 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:31.560 and two thousand eight there were one hundred and thirty 0:18:31.640 --> 0:18:38.040 nine threatened filibusters affecting seventy of major legislation in two 0:18:38.080 --> 0:18:42.440 thousands to seven two thousand, Right, is that amazing? Yeah, 0:18:42.920 --> 0:18:47.560 so it obviously got out of hand and people were 0:18:47.600 --> 0:18:51.840 abusing the power. I can't help but wonder also if 0:18:52.880 --> 0:18:57.879 the the concept that both groups are coming together to 0:18:58.119 --> 0:19:04.200 rule the country in a combined manner has become less 0:19:04.240 --> 0:19:07.480 and less of a concept over the last few decades 0:19:07.520 --> 0:19:10.439 as well. You know, is it? Is it? Or am 0:19:10.480 --> 0:19:12.560 I just like making that assumption and it's always been 0:19:12.560 --> 0:19:14.679 that way. There's always been that division. Is that the 0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:19.160 case or no? It seemed to be like my opinion 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:22.800 is that it used to be checks and balances, and 0:19:22.880 --> 0:19:24.919 now it's not so much checks and balances as it 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:30.240 in is just severe, severe digging in. It certainly seems 0:19:30.240 --> 0:19:32.000 that way, But maybe it was always like that. I 0:19:32.000 --> 0:19:33.800 don't know. I didn't grow up in the fifties. Yeah, 0:19:33.840 --> 0:19:35.600 I don't know either. They probably felt the same way 0:19:35.680 --> 0:19:38.880 that American people, did, you know, those jerks in Washington. 0:19:38.920 --> 0:19:41.200 You know, Oh, I'm sure they did. But I wonder 0:19:41.240 --> 0:19:43.000 if they had as much cause to say that as 0:19:43.040 --> 0:19:46.800 we do today. Like it the way it's always actually worse. 0:19:46.960 --> 0:19:49.960 I mean, the numbers would suggest that, you know. But 0:19:50.160 --> 0:19:53.080 is it just that the numbers are showing that people 0:19:53.320 --> 0:19:56.560 figure it out how to use a filibuster better than 0:19:56.600 --> 0:20:00.359 they knew before, smarter, or they're they're more depth at 0:20:00.480 --> 0:20:05.040 using it, or is government broken that much more to 0:20:05.040 --> 0:20:07.879 where there was one a year each year during the 0:20:07.920 --> 0:20:10.439 fifties and then there's a hundred and thirty nine a 0:20:10.520 --> 0:20:14.520 year in two thousand eight. Yeah, it seems broken to me, 0:20:14.840 --> 0:20:16.959 but I'm definitely indicates that to me too. Yeah, I'm 0:20:17.000 --> 0:20:20.359 fairly cynical about the state of modern politics, though I 0:20:20.400 --> 0:20:22.359 am too. And the thing that gets me the most 0:20:22.400 --> 0:20:25.920 about this is the idea that the government is broken 0:20:26.320 --> 0:20:31.880 because the two sides can't agree, even though really, if 0:20:31.880 --> 0:20:36.000 you get down to it, there's almost no distinction between 0:20:36.040 --> 0:20:40.720 Democrats and Republicans Ideologically here they're a little bit, but 0:20:41.400 --> 0:20:47.000 as definitely between liberals and conservatives, but between the Democrats 0:20:47.000 --> 0:20:50.280 and the Republicans, I feel there's almost no difference any long, 0:20:50.400 --> 0:20:53.760 like where the rubber meets the road, and not ideologically speaking, 0:20:53.800 --> 0:20:57.080 And so the idea that the government still can't function 0:20:57.320 --> 0:21:00.800 even when you have virtually one large mega party um 0:21:02.160 --> 0:21:05.040 is I don't understand it. I don't understand what's going 0:21:05.080 --> 0:21:06.919 on there. It's sad. It seems like it would be 0:21:06.920 --> 0:21:11.159 functioning in a really smooth manner and steamrolling over us. 0:21:11.200 --> 0:21:16.800 Silly boy. Uh So we've talked a lot about this 0:21:16.880 --> 0:21:21.639 weird process, UM, but we should talk about reform right 0:21:21.680 --> 0:21:25.480 after this message, right, okay, So back to it. We 0:21:25.480 --> 0:21:27.439 were talking before we went off on some of our 0:21:27.480 --> 0:21:32.520 personally thinking's about that it stinks now about reforming filibusters. 0:21:32.520 --> 0:21:37.119 But problems arise when you try to reform filibustering because 0:21:37.240 --> 0:21:40.800 that can be filibustered. Yeah, you know, yeah, if you 0:21:40.880 --> 0:21:44.399 have a proposals to reform filibustering, it's still a measure 0:21:45.080 --> 0:21:51.720 and you exactly. UM. So that this this whole talk 0:21:51.800 --> 0:21:55.159 of how to reform filibustering, some proposals came up in 0:21:55.200 --> 0:21:59.480 two thousand ten. UM. There were three good ones. One was, 0:21:59.760 --> 0:22:02.640 if you're filibustering, you can't threaten to filibuster any longer. 0:22:02.640 --> 0:22:03.800 You have to get up there and you have to 0:22:03.840 --> 0:22:07.240 talk play the part. That one that was shot down. 0:22:08.160 --> 0:22:12.520 Another one was that UM over the length of a filipbuster, 0:22:13.119 --> 0:22:18.800 the UM required number of senators to invoke clture just decreases, 0:22:18.880 --> 0:22:21.439 so a filibuster could only go on for so long 0:22:21.520 --> 0:22:24.439 before you get to like a simple majority. Now that 0:22:24.520 --> 0:22:27.640 was that was shot down. The third one you got 0:22:27.680 --> 0:22:31.760 that one. Yeah, it would have banned filibusters on motions 0:22:31.760 --> 0:22:34.639 bringing a bill to the floor, so you couldn't filibuster 0:22:34.800 --> 0:22:39.760 like maybe something to perform filibustering. None of those were passed. 0:22:40.160 --> 0:22:42.880 And the reason why, like you would think that one 0:22:42.920 --> 0:22:45.320 party would be like, well, we don't want filipbusters were 0:22:45.320 --> 0:22:49.800 in charge. They you have to remember that eventually you're 0:22:49.800 --> 0:22:51.440 not going to be in charge and you're gonna want 0:22:51.440 --> 0:22:57.520 a filibuster. Both parties filibuster. The Democrats filibuster Reagan's appointments 0:22:57.520 --> 0:23:01.639 and nominees in the eighties, just like the Republicans are 0:23:01.720 --> 0:23:07.160 filibustering Obama's right now. Yeah, I will say though, in fairness, 0:23:07.359 --> 0:23:11.480 it's record numbers now compared to even what Democrats did, 0:23:11.640 --> 0:23:13.880 And I'm not saying one is better than the other. No, No, 0:23:14.119 --> 0:23:17.320 it's much more highly evoked in recent years, and it's 0:23:17.359 --> 0:23:20.640 definitely been squarely on the shoulders of the Tea Party too. Yeah, 0:23:20.720 --> 0:23:23.800 it's been since the Tea Party started to get some um, 0:23:23.840 --> 0:23:27.280