[deport]

And my opinion is if we let the rats do this President Bush won't get anything done that he wants as the rats will do this to him over and over unless its something they want in effect making his next two years worthless.

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Don't they already have that right (filibuster) according to Rules of the Senate?.... Thus if they choose they can do it to any bill being debated....

Prior to 1917 how did they bring an item to a vote if unanimous consent wasn't availble on it? How many Senators could stop anything from being voted on. Today it takes 41 but how many prior to 1917?

[aristeides]

Prior to 1917 how did they bring an item to a vote if unanimous consent wasn't availble on it?

Before 1917, one senator, if he was willing to filibuster, was enough to stop legislation. The cloture rule was adopted in 1917 because what Wilson called "a little group of willful men" (11 senators) were blocking Wilson's proposal to arm American merchant ships against German submarine attack.