That just restricted certain kinds of procedural votes after a cloture motion has been passed.
Yes, but you can set up the situation where you can get those kind of procedural votes.
Again, the threat of retribution is too high. They know that if they did that, the next Dem would be vindictive enough to ram through single payer and the Eisenhower tax brackets to pay for it.
Dream on. There isn't going to be another liberal in the White House for yet another generation. It took 28 years to go from Carter to Obama. It will take another 28 years, at the least, before America turns to another liberal.
Please run a liberal against Mitt in 2016. We, as in those of us who despise modern economic "liberalism" (AKA "trickle-down government"), would love to defeat a liberal in a landslide again.
First, of all, if Carter was so darn liberal, why did Ted Kennedy primary him?
Second, that's all predicated on the economy of 2016 being better than today's. Sometime soon, Germany will decide it's had enough and call off the Euro. There's really nothing any American can do about it, and I would be shocked if they held out past 2016. When that happens, the fallout could make the economy of 2012 look like 1998. People on either side could very well be left wishing they had lost this election.