If you take one thing away from the de-escalating nuclear option fight in the Senate, it should be that there’s very little appetite among senators for doing away with the filibuster on the merits. In fact, if you thought that the fight reflected a growing sense among Democrats that the Senate’s anti-majoritarian rules have crippled the body, you weren’t paying enough attention.
What the outcome establishes is that there’s a limit to norm-breaking in the Senate, and that Harry Reid and the Democratic caucus will reluctantly and narrowly change the rules if those norms aren’t ultimately restored. But they’d really prefer to leave minority powers in tact if at all possible. And ironically, the whole fight underscores how much those limits have been stretched in just the last eight years, since the old GOP majority used the same threat to similar effect. Read More
If you’re accused of sexual harassment and your pushback is ‘hey, I’m a hugger’ you’ve probably got a problem. Watch.
Having asked what it would look like if planets were as close to earth as the moon, today we ask, what would it look like if New York was nestled down in the center of the Grand Canyon — all to scale. Look.
If you’re an Elizabeth Warren fan or really if you’re just into facts, you gotta watch this. It’s Elizabeth Warren going on CNBC’s Squawk Box, defending her plan to bring back a new version of the Glass-Steagall Act. It’s maybe the best example of the sort of matter-anti-matter reaction that happens when someone who actually knows some history and policy makes first contact with a gaggle of ignorant CNBC yakkers. Video after the jump … Read More
Today at 3PM Dr. Christopher Parker will join us for a Live Chat at TPMPrime. He’s just authored Change They Can’t Believe In which explores why people join the Tea Party. Parker is also an expert on racial and ethnic politics in the United States. Get your questions in now and join us at 3 PM.
VA Gov. Bob McDonnell is acting more and more like a guy who thinks he might do time.
Weeks after issuing a public warning about the danger of bands ‘anti-gay thugs’, Eric Ohena Lembembe, a prominent gay rights activist in Cameroon, was found dead in his home, apparently tortured before being killed.
There have been 23 mass shootings since the Aurora, Colorado massacre. Total body count 126 people.
Bob Filner, San Diego Mayor struggling to hold on to his job, has backtracked, said he didn’t sexually harass anyone and won’t resign. Now he’s accused of telling female workers in his office that they’d do better “if they worked without their panties on.”