Misread filibuster

Conservative bloggers are drooling over Mitch McConnell's pronouncement over the weekend that Republicans had the necessary votes to overturn the filibuster. They say Democratic wishes for compromise are signs that McConnell is right.

As a Democrat, I'm hoping Republicans follow the advise of the hard right and pull that trigger.

Remember that the "nuclear option" is something a majority of Americans oppose. And not just a slight majority, mind you, but close to two thirds of the country, and that includes a majority of Republicans as well. And Reid has said repeatedly that his slowdown of Senate business will look nothing like the Republican shutdown almost ten years prior:

"I'm not Newt Gingrich," Reid said. "I understand how the body works. We're not going to close down the Senate. Far from it, we're going to have a very active Senate."

"Anything that's vital, we will continue to move forward on: money for our troops or a highway bill or a transportation bill," added Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., in a conference call. "But on other issues, what we are going to try to do is utilize the Senate rules to start focusing on issues that we think matter to the American people, whether it's gas prices or education or health care."

Democrats are vocal about their willingness to compromise because they will be seen as the magnanimous ones. They have public opinion on their side, and they are now in the public eye as the ones offering fig leaves to avert the button push. Smart Republicans would pull back and take what they can.

*UPDATE* While we are on the subject:

If the Constitution guarantees nominees a full Senate vote, there are a lot of Clinton nominees whose rights were rudely trampled. It's hard to see why blocking a nomination by means of a filibuster is illegitimate but blocking one by means of committee inaction is not. It's hard to see why a parliamentary procedure that has existed for two centuries is suddenly unconstitutional.

But sometimes you can't see something because your view is obstructed. Sitting atop all three branches of government, Republicans suddenly have no trouble seeing the need for the majority to get its way, right away.

Power corrupts...

*UPDATE, TOO* Via Basie!:

...[T]oday Reid outlined a different approach, saying he will use a variety of approaches to force floor votes on Democratic legislative priorities. That could trigger roll call votes Republicans might prefer to avoid.

Bills on the Democrats’ list include a veterans’ benefit increase (S 845), a pay-as-you go budget bill (S 851), a minimum wage increase (S 846), education funding increase (S 848); suspension of crude oil deliveries to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (S 847) and a family planning funding bill (S 844).

Sounds like fun to me.