Welcome to your Thursday open thread. Do you miss me yet? Today is Festivus, so you can put your airing of grievances below though I’m not sure how it’s different than a normal day. 😛
Remember arrogant Alaska Senate candidate Joe Miller? He’s still contesting the results of the election, but maybe not for much longer.
The Alaska Supreme Court has upheld a lower court decision in the disputed U.S. Senate race, saying the state correctly counted write-in votes for Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
It is now up to Miller whether the election is finally over.
The court, in its decision Wednesday, said it found “no remaining issues raised by Miller that prevent this election from being certified.”
A federal judge, who had put a hold on certification to give the state courts time to rule on Miller’s claims, said he would give Miller 48 hours to plead any outstanding issues to him once the high court had ruled.
Do we have Miller to thank for freeing Lisa Murkorwski from voting with Republicans 100%? She voted with Democrats on all the legislation during the lame duck session.
Good news for people who want to see Senate reform.
All Democratic senators returning next year have signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., urging him to consider action to change long-sacrosanct filibuster rules.
The letter, delivered this week, expresses general frustration with what Democrats consider unprecedented obstruction and asks Reid to take steps to end those abuses. While it does not urge a specific solution, Democrats said it demonstrates increased backing in the majority for a proposal, championed by Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., and others, weaken the minority’s ability to tie the Senate calendar into parliamentary knots.
Among the chief revisions that Democrats say will likely be offered: Senators could not initiate a filibuster of a bill before it reaches the floor unless they first muster 40 votes for it, and they would have to remain on the floor to sustain it. That is a change from current rules, which require the majority leader to file a cloture motion to overcome an anonymous objection to a motion to proceed, and then wait 30 hours for a vote on it.
“There need to be changes to the rules to allow filibusters to be conducted by people who actually want to block legislation instead of people being able to quietly say ‘I object’ and go home,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.
I’m ready to see John McCain talk for hours about how bitter he is and I’d love to see Republicans explain how the rich are better and more deserving than the rest of us.