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To: Nonstatist
"What is NOT part of reconcilliation is what the Democraps will do to stop the amendment process; Reid will overrule the Senate parliamentarian and push it to a vote. THAT is the nuclear option. "

A couple of things...

Although I've seen it repeated a number of places, Reid can't "overrule" the Senate Parliamentarian. The President of the Senate can move to overrule the Senate Parliamentarian, but it requires a floor vote of at least 50, plus his. He can't do it unilaterally.

The so-called "nuclear option", is not what you describe. It is a parliamentary procedure that would essentially undo Senate Rule 22, commonly referred to as the filibuster. While Senate rules generally require 2/3rds vote to change them, there is a parliamentary maneuver - known as a point of order, that can be raised by any Senator and ruled on by the Chair (usually the President of the Senate, Biden in this case) - that would allow the majority to abolish (altogether) the filibuster with a simple majority vote. It's a little more complicated than that, but that's the basic gist.

I seriously doubt that Reid could get 50 Senators to abolish the filibuster. The lasting damage to the Senate would be too severe. Either he gets this done using Budget Reconciliation, which is in itself unlikely, or it dies its death in committee.

8 posted on 02/24/2010 11:43:26 AM PST by OldDeckHand
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To: OldDeckHand

I was sickened as I watched this video. A couple of days later, I read of Murtha’s death.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywgUCdefSW8


10 posted on 02/24/2010 12:22:48 PM PST by Jude in WV
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