ConfirmThem

By AndrewHyman Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Here's an exerpt from another article from the Alaska Daily News:

Murkowski's caution on judicial filibusters is not all about ANWR, she said. Murkowski said Senate tradition clearly discourages judicial filibusters. However, she said, she does not want to make the tradition an official rule, an action that some have dubbed the "nuclear option."

"Tradition, I suppose, you could define as something that is generally done," she said, "but if it's in a rule, and it says it never, ever, ever will be done, that rule would make it absolute." That seems unwise, she said. She is among the minority of Republicans who is encouraging Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to keep trying to find a compromise. Frist offered a compromise Thursday afternoon that drew support from both Murkowski and Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska. Democrats rejected it because it still would preclude filibusters.

Of course, there are lots of possibilities besides a permanent new rule. For example, former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole made this suggestion:

Maybe make this for eight years. It would be four Bush years and the Democrats probably hope there’d be four Democratic years.

There are also other possibilities, such as making filibusters of executive business more difficult, or capping how long they can last, instead of completely eliminating them. Personally, I would be happy with a permanent new rule, or with one of these other approaches.