[pepperhead]

Actually, if we would get rid of this "gentlemen's filibuster" thing and get back to the old-fashioned idea of filibusters, it would be a moot point. What the 'Dems have done to the nominees is not stopping them by filibuster, but rather by the mere THREAT of a filibuster.

I agree that would end all this real quick. I would make the democrats shut everything down. And once they give up on one judge I would send up another. I would make them sleep on the floor till the backlog is cleared.

[Vicomte13]

Can't force a real filibuster.

The Senate rules were changed many years back so that real filibusters don't have to happen anymore. Merely the threat suffices as a filibuster unless cloture is gotten.

To force Senators to stand up like of old would actually require another rules change...and such a rule change proposal would be filibustered, of course.

Also, no constitutional amendment of anything conservative is possible given the current composition of Congress. To GET an amendment to the state requires a vote of 2/3rds of each house of Congress. 2/3rds of the Senate is 67 votes. The Republicans are not close to that.