Online Filibuster Round Up 1.11.11

[Dave Johnson]

To help kick things off for people blogging on Senate reform, I'm going to start passing along a daily news roundup.  This is today's:

Online Action (Opponent)

E-Mail Alert, Gun Owners of America: Efforts to Politicize Arizona Tragedy Highlight Importance of Proposed Senate Rules Changes
http://www.themaritimesentry.com/2011/01/gun-owners-of-america-e-mail-alert.html

 ACTION: Contact your two Senators. Insist that they oppose proposals to change the Senate rules that would open the floodgates on anti-gun legislation. You can use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center to send your Senators the pre-written message below.


Around the web…

Sam Stein, Huffington Post: Kerry: Congressional Gridlock Has Left People 'Somehow Bitter'
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/11/kerry-congressional-gridlock-bitter_n_807404.html

Speaking after delivering a lengthy address on a host of topics at the Center for American Progress, Kerry stopped short of directly tying government lethargy to the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and 19 others. But he did argue that the inability of lawmakers to respond to problems in a timely manner had produced a toxic climate that fostered incivility and anger.

Ezra Klein, Washington Post: If you read only one John Kerry speech today ...
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2011/01/if_you_read_only_one_john_kerr.html
Sen. John Kerry appeared at the Center for American Progress today to give a speech on "gridlock and globalization." The address should've been a snooze, but it's not. It's an ambitious and plausible diagnosis of our country's economic problems as partly political in nature, and it's a sensible and complete vision for how we could move forward. Frankly, it's the speech President Obama should be giving.

Politics Daily: John Kerry Calls for Bipartisanship in Wake of Shootings, but Criticizes GOP Resistance
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2011/01/11/john-kerry-calls-for-bipartisanship-in-wake-of-shootings-but-cr/
He also advocated for a change in the use of the congressional filibuster -- currently being debated in the Senate -- saying, "We have reached the point where the filibuster is being invoked by the minority not necessarily because of a difference over policy, but as a political tool to undermine the presidency." Kerry stopped short of a full endorsement of a reform measure sponsored by Sen. Mark Udall (D-N.M.), though he said later that he supported "the basics of the proposal."

AlterNet (AFP): Kerry: Shooting highlights damaging US rifts
http://www.alternet.org/rss/breaking_news/433050/kerry:_shooting__highlights_damaging_us_rifts/
Kerry scathingly accused Senate Republicans of marching in lockstep against President Barack Obama's agenda and of abusing a parliamentary delaying tactic called a filibuster to hamstring his agenda and hurt his releection chances.

Matthew Boyle, Daily Caller: Sen. Kerry calls for political ‘civility’ post-shooting, but doesn’t seem to agree with Republicans on anything
http://dailycaller.com/2011/01/11/sen-kerry-calls-for-political-civility-post-shooting-but-doesnt-seem-to-agree-with-republicans-on-anything/

Kerry called for an end to partisan “gridlock” in Washington. He denounced Republicans’ recent use of filibuster in the Senate, even though he said he’s used it for things he thought were important. He called Republicans’ use of the filibuster an “ordinary expedient.”