Eliminating the Senate’s 60-Vote Filibuster Rule

.
The Suggested Discussion Outline for our meeting last evening (May 16) had contained at the very end three Six-Degrees-Of-Separation E-mail Campaigns relating to the “6 most important constitutional issues facing America at the moment” as listed on the face of the “Participant Comments” section of this bulletin board for our May 16 meeting --

Re No. 4 (Campaign Finance), to revive McCain-Feingold public financing of political campaigns with such robust funding that “political contributions” are relegated to the scrap heap of history while extending such financing to Senatorial and Congressional Campaigns.

Re No. 5 (The U.S. Senate’s 60-vote “filibuster” rule), to eliminate it.

Re No. 6 (Authoritarian Rule By Our Intelligence Services), to insist that the illegal interference by our intelligence services in the 2016 Presidential Campaign and its aftermath be prosecuted, for the sake of sound public policy, to the fullest extent of the law.

*****
All three proposals were “approved” unanimously.

The reason for the quotation marks is that we did not achieve our minimum quorum of 6.

We had 8 RSVP’s, and there are usually 1 or 2 members who appear without having RSVP’d.

However, no extras appeared.

And earlier in the week, 2 RSVP’s were hospitalized on an emergency basis and a third RSVP took a bad fall and was bedridden on doctor’s orders.

HOWEVER, all of our Six-Degrees-Of-Separation E-mail Campaigns over our 12.5-year history are collected in the first section of this bulletin board in addition to each appearing below in chronological order with the materials for the meeting in which each was approved.

AND, the comments on the face of the first section of this bulletin board say with respect to our E-mail Campaigns --

“All 27 e-mail campaigns over the years are collected in this section. They include 6 e-mails sent by John Karls that did not receive an official endorsement for the rest of our members to send. The titles of the 21 official recommendations are ALL CAPS and the titles of 6 unofficial recommendations are lower case.”

The requirement for “official” status is either unanimity or, at most, one dissent at a meeting which had at least the minimum quorum of 6 participants.

There were 6 occasions on which Yours Truly felt strongly about an E-mail proposal for which there were two dissents, usually from among more than a dozen participants.

Those “unofficial” campaigns (whose titles are lower case in the first section of this bulletin board) explain that since the U.S. Constitution still contains the Right to Free Speech, Yours Truly had the right to inform his friends of his strong views (virtually all of the 150 recipients of our weekly e-mails are close friends of Yours Truly around the world accumulated over many years).

Bottom line???

Yours Truly had felt so strongly about each of the 3 currently-proposed e-mail campaigns that he would have made them on an unofficial basis if there had been two dissents.

Since, as mentioned above, 3 separate disasters prevented a quorum last evening, the 3 campaigns will move forward on an unofficial basis.

However, even though we fell short of a minimum quorum, the participants were unanimous in supporting each of the 3 campaigns and in recommending that each of them proceed.

Each will be posted here as soon as each is drafted and sent out to our members.

BTW, there was one change. Vis-à-vis the e-mail campaign to revive McCain-Feingold, last evening’s participants decided that it should be directed to Meghan McCain instead of Senator McCain. Because the key to success would be marshaling public opinion. And as a Co-Host of ABC’s “The View,” she is admirably positioned to keep the issue in the public eye until public opinion is marshaled. Which could be aided considerably by her Co-Hosts, each of whom is presumably patriotic.

Respectfully submitted 5/17/2017,

John K.
Post Reply
johnkarls
Posts: 2033
Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:43 pm

Eliminating the Senate’s 60-Vote Filibuster Rule

Post by johnkarls »

.
-----------------------------------------------------
From: ReadingLiberally-SaltLake@johnkarls.com
To: ReadingLiberallyEmailList@johnkarls.com
Bcc: The Approximately 150 Recipients of Our Weekly E-mail
Subject: CALL TO ACTION – “SIX-DEGREES-OF-SEPARATION” E-MAIL CAMPAIGN TO ELIMINATE THE U.S. SENATE’S 60-VOTE FILIBUSTER RULE (only 5 minutes needed to participate)
Date: Mon, May 21, 2018
-----------------------------------------------------

Dear Friends,

We take great pride in our Six-Degrees-Of-Separation E-mail campaigns to decision makers such as the U.S. President which, with only a few computer keyboard key strokes, can be sent by each of our members (1) to the decision maker, and (2) to all of the member's friends and acquaintances requesting them to do the same in an unending chain.

[Indeed, these campaigns are what make us more than an unimportant self-edification group of patriotic policy wonks.]

Accordingly, we also take great pride that each of our official recommendations has been approved unanimously or, at most, received only one dissent at one of our meetings which achieved a minimum quorum of 6 members.


**********
The following e-mail campaign was “approved” unanimously at our 5/16/2018 meeting.

The reason for the quotation marks is that we did not achieve our minimum quorum of 6.

We had 8 RSVP’s, and there are usually 1 or 2 members who appear without having RSVP’d.

However, no extras appeared.

And earlier in the week, 2 RSVP’s were hospitalized on an emergency basis and a third RSVP took a bad fall and was bedridden on doctor’s orders.

HOWEVER, all of our Six-Degrees-Of-Separation E-mail Campaigns over our 12.5-year history are collected in the first section of http://www.ReadingLiberally-SaltLake.org in addition to each appearing later in chronological order with the materials for the meeting in which each was approved.

AND, the comments on the face of the first section of this bulletin board say with respect to our E-mail Campaigns --

“All 27 e-mail campaigns over the years are collected in this section. They include 6 e-mails sent by John Karls that did not receive an official endorsement for the rest of our members to send. The titles of the 21 official recommendations are ALL CAPS and the titles of 6 unofficial recommendations are lower case.”

There were 6 occasions on which Yours Truly felt strongly about an E-mail proposal for which there were two dissents, usually from among more than a dozen participants.

Those “unofficial” campaigns (whose titles are lower case in the first section of this bulletin board) explain that since the U.S. Constitution still contains the Right to Free Speech, Yours Truly had the right to inform his friends of his strong views (virtually all of the 150 recipients of our weekly e-mails are close friends of Yours Truly around the world accumulated over many years).

Bottom line???

Yours Truly had felt so strongly about the following e-mail campaign that he would have made it on an unofficial basis if there had been two dissents.

Since, as mentioned above, 3 separate disasters prevented a quorum last evening, this campaign is unofficial.

However, even though we fell short of a minimum quorum, the participants were unanimous in supporting this campaign and in recommending that it proceed.


**********
The reasons for the campaign are contained in the already-prepared e-mail that appears below and that we recommend you send to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and to all of your friends and acquaintances.

If you agree with it, please send it to Sen. McConnell by --

(1) cutting and pasting into your browser -- https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public ... fm/contact;

(2) selecting from the menu that appears -- Contact Senator McConnell;

(3) enter your contact info (name, address, etc.);

(4) select from the “Topic” drop-down menu -- Congressional Rules and Procedures;

(5) for the next box labelled “Please type the subject of your message” please cut-and-paste --
Request of a 150-Member 12-Year-Old Monthly Public-Policy Study Group in Salt Lake City;

(6) for the next box labelled “Please write your message” please cut-and-paste -- the already-prepared e-mail appearing below and labeled “Your Suggested E-mail For Sen. Mitch McConnell – Part I of II.”

THEN PLEASE --

(A) Since Mitch McConnell’s website has a message limit of 3,000 characters, repeat steps 1-6 for the already-prepared e-mail appearing below and labelled “Your Suggested E-mail For Sen. Mitch McConnell – Part II of II.”

(B) Send to all your friends and acquaintances the already-prepared e-mail package that comprises everything below the immediately-following string of asterisks -- so that, through no more than six degrees of separation to 100% of the American population, we reach everyone in a cascading chain.


******************************************************************************
To: All of your friends and acquaintances

Subject: CALL TO ACTION – “SIX-DEGREES-OF-SEPARATION” E-MAIL CAMPAIGN TO ELIMINATE THE U.S. SENATE’S 60-VOTE FILIBUSTER RULE (only 5 minutes needed to participate)

Dear Friends,

I have been requested to participate in the referenced "call to action" and request that you participate as well.

It is the 28th such Call to Action on various topics recommended by a monthly patriotic public-policy study group over the last 12.5 years comprising already-prepared e-mails that can be sent to decision makers on important policy issues. Such e-mail campaigns require unanimity or, at most, one dissent -- the following proposed e-mail was approved at our 5/16/2018 meeting.

The group’s attendance averages 11-12 from approximately 150 worldwide recipients of our weekly newsletter (nonresidents can participate by Skype). Participants come from all walks of life but regular attendees include 5 attorneys and 3 scientists. [Our meetings over the years on thorium fission, on nuclear fusion, and on Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster have been led by a PhD in Nuclear Engineering from the U/Tenn - Oak Ridge National Nuclear-Research Laboratory.] More information about the group is available on http://www.ReadingLiberally-SaltLake.org.

The campaigns are based on the fact that there are NO MORE THAN SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION between us and 100% of the American population.

And that, on important occasions, we can send to all of our friends and acquaintances an already-prepared e-mail (1) for them to send to decision maker(s), and (2) for them to send to all of their friends and acquaintances to do the same in an unending chain.


**********
YOUR REQUESTED ACTION (5 MINUTES NEEDED TO PARTICIPATE) --

The reasons for this e-mail campaign are contained in the following already-prepared e-mail for sending to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

If you agree with it, please send it by --

(1) cutting and pasting into your browser -- https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public ... fm/contact;

(2) selecting from the menu that appears -- Contact Senator McConnell;

(3) enter your contact info (name, address, etc.);

(4) select from the “Topic” drop-down menu -- Congressional Rules and Procedures;

(5) for the next box labelled “Please type the subject of your message” please cut-and-paste --
Request of a 150-Member 12-Year-Old Monthly Public-Policy Study Group in Salt Lake City;

(6) for the next box labelled “Please write your message” please cut-and-paste -- the already-prepared e-mail appearing below and labeled “Your Suggested E-mail For Sen. Mitch McConnell – Part I of II.”

THEN PLEASE --

(A) Since Mitch McConnell’s website has a message limit of 3,000 characters, repeat steps 1-6 for the already-prepared e-mail appearing below and labelled “Your Suggested E-mail For Sen. Mitch McConnell – Part II of II.”

(B) Re-send to all your friends and acquaintances this entire e-mail package -- so that, through no more than six degrees of separation to 100% of the American population, we reach everyone in a cascading chain.


-------------------------Your Suggested E-mail For Sen. Mitch McConnell – Part I of II-------------------------

The Honorable Addison Mitchell McConnell Jr.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader


Dear Sir:

Re: Request of a 150-Member 12-Year-Old Monthly Public-Policy Study Group in Salt Lake City


I am associated with a 150-member public-policy study group that has met each month for the past 12.5 years in Salt Lake City.

Noting that America’s “Founding Fathers” embedded in our U.S. Constitution a bulwark against democracy, our members respectfully request that you at least do everything in your power to eliminate an undemocratic feature of that bulwark that is NOT required by the Constitution.

**********
We are sure that such an expert on American history and America’s Constitution as you is keenly aware that America’s “Founding Fathers” created the U.S. Senate as a bulwark against democracy in the following respects --

(A) For two centuries, U.S. Senators were not even popularly elected (that abomination had to wait for the 17th Amendment to the Constitution in 1913).

(B) For the first two centuries, U.S. Senators were appointed by state governors and/or legislatures which, themselves, were not elected by “We The People” since (1) “We The People” did not include women until the 19th Amendment in 1920, (2) “We The People” did not include African-American slaves, and (3) “We The People” typically did not include non-landowners and the illiterate.

**********
The Racist History of the Senate’s Filibuster Rule

None of our 150 members was able to find a single instance prior to the 1987 when the Senate’s Filibuster Rule (which, prior to 1975, had required a 2/3 vote to stop and featured “fake debates” that often comprised U.S. Senators reading names from telephone books) was used for any purpose except blocking Civil Rights Legislation.

As you are no doubt aware, 1987 was when the Senate’s Filibuster Rule was used to block a nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court and ever since, it has been used to block virtually “everything under the sun”!!!

**********
Governing America By Executive Orders and By Nationwide Injunctions by Federal Trial Judges

Since the Senate’s 60-Vote Filibuster Rule has prevented Congress from doing hardly anything for more than a decade, it is not surprising that America has been ruled by Executive Order.

With the foreseeable results that (1) many laws are NOT enforced as a result of Executive Order, (2) many other “laws” are created by Executive Order, (3) many “laws” that were created by Executive Order are simply revoked by a successor’s Executive Orders, and (4) many federal trial judges have joined in the anarchy by decreeing nationwide preliminary injunctions while they take their time deciding whether particular Executive Orders accord with their own whims.

[The remainder of this e-mail will be sent separately forthwith because of your maximum length of 3,000 characters.]


------------------------Your Suggested E-mail For Sen. Mitch McConnell – Part II of II------------------------

[This is the remainder of my e-mail which was sent separately a moment ago because of your maximum length of 3,000 characters.]


**********
The Senate’s Recent Failure To Address DACA and Border Security

We are guessing that you would readily admit that the most egregious recent example of the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster rule causing inaction was the Senate’s rejection of four (count them, four) different bills addressing DACA and Border Security.

This despite universal news reports that virtually everyone in Washington would like to solve the problem posed by DACA having been created by Executive Order -- even President Trump famously proposing during the failed legislative negotiations to double the size of DACA to include everyone who was eligible, not merely those who applied for the program.

And this despite universal news reports that Senate Democrats opposed funding for a “border wall,” an end to the “visa lottery program” and an end to “chain migration” -- for all of which Senate Democrats had recently voted INCLUDING SENATE DEMOCRAT LEADER CHUCK SCHUMER.

**********
It’s High Time To Stop Piece-Meal Elimination of the 60-Vote Filibuster Rule and “Make A Clean Break”

As probably the nation’s leading expert on Senate Rules, you are well aware that ever since the 60-Vote Filibuster Rule began being used in 1987 “for everything under the sun” the Senate has been forced to make exceptions for (1) budgetary matters, if for no other reason than enabling the Federal Government to pay Senatorial salaries, (2) confirmation, beginning in 2013, for executive-branch nominees and judicial nominees except to the Supreme Court, and (3) confirmation, beginning in 2017, for nominees to the Supreme Court.

HOWEVER, for the sake of American Democracy and the sake of America itself -- NOT MERELY the passage of a bill addressing DACA and Border Security -- it is high time to eliminate the 60-Vote Filibuster Rule entirely and “make a clean break.”

ACCORDINGLY, it is respectfully requested that you do everything in your power to make this happen.

Thank you for your consideration.

Post Reply

Return to “The Quartet – Three E-mail Campaigns “Approved” – May 16”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest