But the filibuster can be broken by Senate rule 19 which limits speeches to 2 per senator per subject.
Bring back a clean repeal bill, delayed 4 months or so to give them time to pass single issue bills that will address immediate problems, then make the dems do a real filibuster, and hold the senate floor.
What are there, 48 dems? Many of whom couldn’t hold a thought, let alone the floor, for more than 15 minutes. They each get to speak twice for as long as they can hold out, then the filibuster is over and the bill only needs 51 votes to pass.
It may take a month, but if they had started they’d be halfway through by now.
Love,
O2
“But the filibuster can be broken by Senate rule 19 which limits speeches to 2 per senator per subject.”
Nope.
Here’s an article from 2010 when the Dems were angry about GOP filibusters.
Synopsis: The two speech rule applies only to each debateable question. The minority can propose amendments and give two speeches on each of them. There can be a limit on number of amendments (very rare, Senators don’t like not being able to amend) but more to the point the minority can raise points of order, each of which is allowed 2 speeches. There is no limit on number of points of order.
And so, no, you don’t dodge 60 votes with anything other than eliminating the filibuster in the Senate. You won’t get even 10 votes in favor of that.
This is not rocket science. The Dems would not have contorted themselves as they did in 2010 if there had been ANY other way than Reconciliation. They would have had a single payer plan. The filibuster and Scott Brown stopped it.
There IS no other way. The rules are the rules. They often help conservatives.
We take what we can get. We don’t get petulant about being unable to get more. If the Dems had been petulant, they would not have even gotten Obamacare.