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    1
    The Congressional Research Service's primer on the "Constitutional" and "nuclear" options for changing the Senate's rules.
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    George Packer's beautiful New Yorker piece on the modern Senate. A good one to send your friends.
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    William Blake searches the Constitution and the statements of the Framers for evidence that they envisioned supermajority rules in the Senate. Short version: They didn't.
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    Law professors Josh Chafetz and Michael Gerhardt debate the constitutionality of the filibuster.
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    Nelson Polsby's classic essay, Congress-bashing for beginners.
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Ezra Klein Archive: Senate

Do most senators really see themselves as possible presidents?

"It's still the case that most Senators see a president when they look in the mirror," writes Jon Bernstein, "and that continues to be an important ingredient that helps make the Senate what it is." You hear this all the...

By Ezra Klein  | February 23, 2011; 4:09 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (9)
Categories:  Senate  
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The Senate vs. the future

If historians ever have to pinpoint the day that America lost the future, they're likely to look to last Thursday. That was when Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell took to the floor of the Senate...

By Ezra Klein  | February 1, 2011; 9:21 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (31)
Categories:  Senate  
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Did the Senate just lose the future?

The pity of the deal that Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell struck on rules reform is that this was a really good moment for Senate reform. The usual danger with this kind of project is that it'll end up...

By Ezra Klein  | January 28, 2011; 12:31 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (26)
Categories:  Senate  
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Reid and McConnell agree: There will be no reform of the filibuster

A few moments ago, Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell took to the floor of the Senate to announce a five-point agreement on rules reform. But the five-points weren't, well, the point. The real agreement was on the process by...

By Ezra Klein  | January 27, 2011; 1:36 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (31)
Categories:  Senate  
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Mitch McConnell: The most honest man in Washington

There are politicians who lie and exaggerate and spin. Who never tell you what they're really doing, or why they're doing it. Who wrap their partisanship in the prettiest of platitudes and swear that they're looking for agreement when...

By Ezra Klein  | January 26, 2011; 2:24 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (12)
Categories:  Senate  
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Don't blame the Senate on Mitch McConnell, Part II

Josh Green responds to my argument that Mitch McConnell is less the indispensable man than a leader who reflects the incentives and realities of the modern Senate. Green makes two points. First, that "getting a bunch of craven, despondent senators...

By Ezra Klein  | January 13, 2011; 9:44 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (2)
Categories:  Senate  
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Older Entries in This Category »

Don't blame the Senate on Mitch McConnell, Ezra Klein , January 12, 2011
The Democrats' power give, Ezra Klein , January 6, 2011
Party unity in two graphs, Ezra Klein , January 5, 2011
Senate Democrats unveil filibuster reforms, Ezra Klein , January 5, 2011
Why 'make them filibuster' won't work, Ezra Klein , January 4, 2011
The Constitution and the filibuster, Ezra Klein , January 4, 2011
The history of filibuster reform, Ezra Klein , January 4, 2011
The filibuster that Republicans don't like, Ezra Klein , December 28, 2010
You can't blame the Framers for the filibuster, Ezra Klein , December 27, 2010
The nominations process is absurd, Ezra Klein , December 23, 2010
Breaking the filibuster in one graph, Ezra Klein , December 23, 2010
Senate Democrats support filibuster reform, Ezra Klein , December 22, 2010
Mitch McConnell says the darndest things, Ezra Klein , December 22, 2010
How to change the Senate's rules, Ezra Klein , December 16, 2010
A single shot at Senate reform, Ezra Klein , December 14, 2010
It wasn't always like this, Ezra Klein , December 13, 2010
What the Filibernie showed about filibusters, Ezra Klein , December 13, 2010
The filibuster and the deficit, Ezra Klein , November 19, 2010
The Senate becomes a little more broken, Ezra Klein , September 30, 2010
The Senate as a collective action problem, Ezra Klein , September 29, 2010
Did Jim DeMint just take control of the Senate?, Ezra Klein , September 28, 2010
How Newt Gingrich remade the Senate, Ezra Klein , September 20, 2010
Time bombing the Senate, Ezra Klein , September 16, 2010
Repeal the 17th amendment?, Ezra Klein , September 3, 2010
Notes on the filibuster, Ezra Klein , September 3, 2010
This is not your Founders' Senate, Ezra Klein , August 9, 2010
What is the point on the Senate?, Ezra Klein , August 5, 2010
If you read nothing else today, Ezra Klein , August 3, 2010
What Orszag took from Congress, Ezra Klein , July 29, 2010
Filibuster reform and power grabs, Ezra Klein , July 28, 2010
How to end the filibuster with 51 votes, Ezra Klein , July 27, 2010
What happens when Congress fails, Ezra Klein , July 26, 2010
Filibuster follies, Ezra Klein , July 26, 2010
Why Democrats can't break the filibuster, Ezra Klein , July 20, 2010
Confused by the filibuster, Ezra Klein , July 15, 2010
The post-Byrd Senate, Ezra Klein , June 28, 2010
Revolt of the freshmen, Ezra Klein , June 18, 2010
Wrapping up Senate reform with Superbill, Washington Post Editors , June 2, 2010
Wrapping up Senate reform with Superbill, Washington Post Editors , June 2, 2010
Assessing Senate reform proposals, Part 1, Washington Post Editors , June 2, 2010
Best quote about why Senate reform is needed, Washington Post Editors , June 2, 2010
Guidelines for Senate reform, Washington Post Editors , June 2, 2010
Our dysfunctional Senate, Washington Post Editors , June 1, 2010
The problem of Senate floor time, Ezra Klein , May 20, 2010
Ye olde Senate, Ezra Klein , May 20, 2010
Walter Mondale on the filibuster, Ezra Klein , May 19, 2010
Mending the filibuster without ending it, Ezra Klein , April 21, 2010
Filibustering the court (or not), Ezra Klein , April 12, 2010
How Joe Biden could change the Senate, Ezra Klein , March 18, 2010
How dual-tracking destroyed the Senate, Ezra Klein , March 11, 2010
Reid promises filibuster reform, Ezra Klein , March 10, 2010
How the filibuster was invented, Ezra Klein , March 8, 2010
A reconciliation primer, Ezra Klein , March 1, 2010
The other problem with the filibuster, Ezra Klein , March 1, 2010
Rule by loophole, Ezra Klein , March 1, 2010
The dangers of demanding consistency, Ezra Klein , February 26, 2010
Jim Bunning's campaign to end the filibuster, Ezra Klein , February 26, 2010
Judd Gregg: 'If you've got 51 votes, you win', Ezra Klein , February 26, 2010
Our radical Senate, Ezra Klein , February 22, 2010
Stay in the Senate, Mr. Bayh, Ezra Klein , February 22, 2010
Do former governors make for better senators?, Ezra Klein , February 18, 2010
Evan Bayh comes out against the filibuster, Ezra Klein , February 17, 2010
Filibuster reform needs 67 votes, Reid says, Ezra Klein , February 11, 2010
Invisible Senates, Ezra Klein , February 8, 2010
What is a 'hold'?, Ezra Klein , February 5, 2010
The social networks of the Senate, Ezra Klein , February 3, 2010
The radicalism of majority rule, Ezra Klein , January 27, 2010
Don't forget to blame the Senate, Ezra Klein , January 22, 2010
Harry Reid on liars, hacks and partisans, Ezra Klein , January 13, 2010
The problems with budget reconciliation, Ezra Klein , January 11, 2010
The Polish Dietization of America, Ezra Klein , January 11, 2010
Getting beyond ideology, Ezra Klein , January 4, 2010
The world's most embarrassing legislative body, Ezra Klein , December 28, 2009
Filibustering the government itself, Ezra Klein , December 28, 2009
Anti-filibuster weekend, Ezra Klein , December 28, 2009
After health-care reform, Senate reform, Ezra Klein , December 26, 2009
Obama: Republican filibustering 'unheard of', Ezra Klein , December 24, 2009
The cruel Senate, Ezra Klein , December 21, 2009
The Senate doesn't work, Ezra Klein , December 18, 2009
A long time ago, we used to be friends, Ezra Klein , December 18, 2009
Can conference reports be filibustered?, Ezra Klein , December 15, 2009
Tom Harkin takes aim at the filibuster, Ezra Klein , December 14, 2009
Uncivil debate, Ezra Klein , December 2, 2009
'Even LBJ would be stuck if he drew this hand', Ezra Klein , November 25, 2009
Let Congress be Congress again, Ezra Klein , November 24, 2009
Hostage situation in the United States Senate, Ezra Klein , November 23, 2009
Robert Byrd's record, Ezra Klein , November 18, 2009
A 5 percent chance of another Great Depression?, Ezra Klein , November 17, 2009
Four ways to end the filibuster, Ezra Klein , November 11, 2009
Will Olympia Snowe switch parties?, Ezra Klein , November 11, 2009
Why don't we have more Joe Liebermans?, Ezra Klein , November 3, 2009
Ron Wyden vs. the Democrats, Ezra Klein , October 20, 2009
The Case For Filibustering, Ezra Klein , September 29, 2009
Don't Read The Bill!, Ezra Klein , September 25, 2009
Good Manners and the United States Senate, Ezra Klein , September 18, 2009
Nepotism on the Ropes, Ezra Klein , September 3, 2009
Reconciliation for Reconciliation's Sake, Ezra Klein , August 31, 2009
Mark Peterson on Senate Committees, Ezra Klein , August 27, 2009
What Will Chris Dodd Do?, Ezra Klein , August 27, 2009
Committee Questions, Ezra Klein , August 27, 2009
Why Are Senators So Cynical and Immoral? , Ezra Klein , August 26, 2009
Kennedy and Compromise, Ezra Klein , August 26, 2009
Reminder: The Senate Hates Democracy, Ezra Klein , June 19, 2009
 
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