Does anyone else really hate this election?

[Yelnoc]

What I particularly dislike is the argument that since the Congressional lawmaking process's byzantine structure and surplus of veto points make it unreasonable to expect more major change to take place within that process, the right thing to do is to enthusiastically support a party and president that devote all their energy to trying to change things within that same process and basically none to changing it.

Yes, exactly this. Great post.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/07/17/harry-reid-promises-filibuster-reform-if-dems-win-the-election/

What will stop the Republicans from filibustering that?

[Yelnoc]

What I particularly dislike is the argument that since the Congressional lawmaking process's byzantine structure and surplus of veto points make it unreasonable to expect more major change to take place within that process, the right thing to do is to enthusiastically support a party and president that devote all their energy to trying to change things within that same process and basically none to changing it.

Yes, exactly this. Great post.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/07/17/harry-reid-promises-filibuster-reform-if-dems-win-the-election/

The "reforms" Reid wants will accomplish exactly nothing vis a vis the filibuster. In the end, there will be one filibuster vote on every substantive bill. It is just pre substantive procedural filibusters that he wants to kill off. I have a post about it somewhere.

Best he can do is force the minority to filibuster the old-fashioned way I think.

What will stop the Republicans from filibustering that?

I think only thing he'd have power to do is a procedural change.  Probably limited in what it'd translate to but Great Pumpkin is wrong to portray Democrats as uninterested in changing senate procedure.  But doing so could also backfire and allow more rapid change to the right like allowing RyanCare to pass if Romney wins and the GOP takes the Senate.

But I thought procedural changes still had to go to a floor vote.  And even if the procedural vote cannot be used, I could see a Republican in safe state reading War and Peace like a classical filibuster to prevent a change this big.