. >> if there were ever a time when tom udall and jeff merkley were prophetic, it's tonight.hese two young fine senators said it was time we change the rules in the senate and we didn't. they were right. the rest of us were wrong. or most of us anyway. what a shame. >> that was harry reid on the senate floor in may saying progressive senators tom udall and jeff merkley who were working to reform the filibuster they were right, he should have listened to their call to reform the senate rules, they wright and he was wrong not to listen to them. they were right and this was today. "progressive senators working dramatically to alter senate rules were defeated thursday when senate majority leader harry reid and his counterpart republican leader mitch mcconnell set to announce a series of reforms on the senate floor that fall far short of their demands. one more? one more. >> we're going to change the rules. we cannot continue in this way. so i hope we can get something that that the republicans will work with us on but it won't be a handshake. we tried that last time. it didn't wo

railing the genuine filibuster reform that's currently being championed by senators jeff merkley tom udall all elizabeth warren mccain deal wouldn't really reform the filibuster fact would do nothing about how many votes it takes to break the filibuster and nothing about requiring filibuster in lawmakers to actually talk on the floor of the senate it only gets rid of redundant filibusters which is meaningless because it only takes one filibuster to kill legislation. but knowing it will only take fifty votes for democrats to change the filibuster rules in the first day of the new session and scared to death by this prospect. mccain is offering up this fig leaf holding the hoping that harry reid will accept it and ditch a real reform that would finally force the republican minority to physically stand on the floor of the senate and talk the entire time they filibuster you know mr smith goes to washington start. it's crucial that harry reid says no and rejects the figley and then says yes and sides with the democrats like jeff merkley elizabeth warren and tom udall who really want and are pro

i'm chris hayes and i'm here with senator tom udall and the center for american progress, jen saki former secretary. pepper talking about filibuster reform and senator udall has been one of the most outspoken voices about that and there's agreement that the conversation has moved. there's an awareness of just how dedysfunctional things have grown but there's still resistance. i want you to talk about where that resistance comes from both from republicans and democrats and from people in washington more broadly. >> sure. you ask about the issue in terms of senator reid and where he's at. one of the things we need to remember is five months ago he came to the floor and he said, the reformers, tom udall and jeff merkley and others, were right. i was wrong. we should have changed the rules. and so there's nobody more determined, i think, than harry reid to do this. and the thing that is important to me is that he's chosen the constitutional option to do it. at the beginning of a congress in the first legislative day, you can take 51 votes, cut off debate and adopt the rules. and so really wha

filibuster reform bill in twtd. >> if there were ever a time where tom udall and jeff americaly wererophetic it's tonight. these two fine young senators said it was time to change the rules in the senate and we didn't. they were right. the rest of us were wrong. if there were anything that ever needed changing in this body, it's the filibuster rule. because it's been abused, abused, and abused. >> so we can get something done in this country. this is a massive failure for the leader of the democrats. and the democrats who are walking in lock-step with him, what's wrong with you guys? what's going on here? what about all those people who fought voter suppression and waited in lines for hours to make sure that president obama would get elected and would go down the road of a progressive agenda? what about all the ground troops who went door to door? the get out the vote effort that worked really hard to re-elect this president. this was a romney vote. that's what this was tonight. they didn't do it to face the same obstruction from republicans. all those workers out there. that's not w

you, tom udall tammy baldwin. a long time but this round. and those who were sort of resisting were those who had been there a lot longer except again for tom harkin. >> i don't know that it's so much generational. for example barbara mikulski, new share of appropriations was very very supportive of the boldest possible reform. here she is head of a committee that -- 24 appropriation bills only one has gotten to the floor. if we don't reform the filibuster, the appropriations committee can't do its work. also, the reason that i think both tom and i felt very comfortable leading this charge is that we saw the senate decades ago. and i came as a 19-year-old to d.c. as an intern for senator hatfield. i saw the senate in motion. at that point in time, there was no television. there was no e-mail so if a bill came up, if you were assigned to that bill, you went to the floor. i was very fortunate the bill i was assigned to, the faction reform act of 1976 was on the floor. so for a couple of weeks, i was there following

stopping legislation the only one that we defectively do that is the plan that's been put forward by tom udall jeff merkley elizabeth warren and you need to call both your senators. plus you live in d.c. in which case you can call any center you want may want to call so speaker or leader reid actually if you live in d.c. otherwise call both your senators and tell them that you support the talking filibuster proposal of jeff merkley because without that without forcing republicans to put their money where their mouth is to actually stand and talk and make their case we're just going to see them blow up piece of legislation after piece of legislation after a piece of. border that. was just of stalin's personal secretary from one nine hundred twenty three to one nine hundred twenty eight he later served as the secretary of the soviet political bureau politburo his memoirs published in one thousand nine hundred you recount something stalin told him about voting stalin said i consider it completely on important who in the party will vote for how what is extremely important is this who will count th

the fig leaf and then says yes and sides with the democrats like jeff merkley elizabeth warren and tom udall who really want and are proposing a genuine and strong filibuster reform publicans will still be able to kill good legislation in the senate even as a minority in a way that's impossible in the house and frankly is not even in the constitution filibuster is not there and made up since then. they can do things like killing legislation will in fact they have to curb global warming created carbon cap and trade system as democrats in the house passed in two thousand and nine but was filibustered by republicans in the senate and includes the disclose act which democrats in the house passed in two thousand and ten to require disclosure who's spending money in our elections through dark money groups it too was filibustered by republicans in the senate as well as legislation democrats passed in the house in two thousand and ten that cut off tax breaks for job outsourcers and created new tax breaks for job in sorcerer's all of these bills would have still died in the senate in a mccain filibus

on thursday senators tom udall, jeff merkley and tom harkin introduced a resolution to dramatically overhaul filibuster rules, including a rule to establish the talking filibuster rule. i love it. the change would force senator who filibustered to actually speak on the floor, unlike the current rules that allow senators to action. >> we need to lay out the elements that are essential for making the senate work. that's getting rid of the silent secret filibuster. this is the way that bills are killed, bills that are important to america. all these bills killed in the dark of night by filibusters where nobody actually showed up and spent anymore n any time and energy. >> when the senate resumes democrats will need 51 votes to change the rules. >>> tonight in our survey i asked will republican lies about social security work on the american people? 25% yes and 75% no. >>> we'll set the record straight with george takei next. >>> and finally tonight, the guy who keeps telling us that he is not a racist just proved himself wrong again. last night bill o'reilly was spouting off about hawaii and it

advancing the talking filibuster requirement found in the proposal put forth by senators jeff murkily, tom udalldening. reid is considering more modest reforms, changes that would force senators to hold the floor in certain situations and require those stalling legislation to deliver 41 votes. but those looking for real reform say it's simply not enough. i have to agree. the heart of the problem lies in republicans' use of the silent filibuster, the push for comprehensive immigration reform, the sensible gun safety legislation we've been talking about in recent days. these efforts will mean nothing if they face the same republican obstruction in the senate. one member of the senate should not have the power to block voting on legislation that affects 315 million americans. one of the senate, one member of the senate should not be able to stop what millions of those americans voted for in the last election. how many landslides do we have to have? and democrats can't be worried about what happens if republicans regain control of the senate. this is about now. and moving the obama agenda forward. i

on thursday senators tom udall, jeff merkley and tom harkin introduced a resolution to dramatically overhaulibuster rules, including a rule to establish the talking filibuster rule. i love it. the change would force senator who filibustered to actually speak on the floor, unlike the current rules that allow senators senato senators to action. >> we need to lay out the elements that are essential for making the senate work. that's getting rid of the silent secret filibuster. this is the way that bills are killed, bills that are important to america. all these bills killed in the dark of night by filibusters where nobody actually showed up and spent anymore n any time and energy. >> when the senate resumes democrats will need 51 votes to change the rules. >>> tonight in our survey i asked will republican lies about social security work on the american people? 25% yes and 75% no. >>> we'll set the record straight with george takei next. [ male announcer ] this is sheldon, whose long dy setting up the news starts with arthritis pain and a choice. take tylenol or take aleve, the #1 recommended pa

on thursday senators tom udall, jeff merkley and tom harkin introduced a resolution to dramatically overhaul rules, including a rule to establish the talking filibuster rule. i love it. the change would force senator who filibustered to actually speak on the floor, unlike the current rules that allow senators to action. >> we need to lay out the elements that are essential for making the senate work. that's getting rid of the silent secret filibuster. this is the way that bills are killed, bills that are important to america. all these bills killed in the dark of night by filibusters where nobody actually showed up and spent anymore n any time and energy. >> when the senate resumes democrats will need 51 votes to change the rules. >>> tonight in our survey i asked will republican lies about social security work on the american people? 25% yes and 75% no. >>> we'll set the record straight with george takei next. >>> and finally tonight, the guy who keeps telling us that he is not a racist just proved himself wrong again. [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus presents the cold truth. i have a c

so it's -- these are reforms that i'm comfortable with, that tom udall is comfortable with. minority, we support these reforms because they facilitate debate. >> do you have the votes? do you think they will filibuster even on the filibuster reform? >> well, i think we can anticipate that. but under the constitution it says a simple majority can change the rules. the senate can organize itself. so if it comes down to it, when harry reid puts forward a proposal and says here it is. i need 51 of you with me, the only way we're going to make a change. he will have 51. it's a particularly important that the talking filibuster be part of that. because that is the heart of the secret, silent strategy in which the minority has been killing bills outside of the american people. >> new website. you can go to reformt reformthefilibuster.com. thanks for being here tonight. now i want to bring in larry corn, president of the communications workers of america. his union is fighting for filibuster reform. thank you for joining me tonight, larry. >> my pleasure. great being with you. >> wh

it takes other elements out of the plan that tom udall and i put together. >> sure. >> but it certainly doesn't get to the heart of it. >> senator, this is the linchpin for the 113th, isn't it? or it's going to be business as usual? >> it is extremely important. because otherwise, how can you debate and decide issues if you're just being paralyzed? as you noted, there has been and actually the number is higher now, more than 390 filibusters during the last six years that harry reid has faced. that's just compared to one that lyndon johnson faced in six years. and since each of those procedurally can take up a week of the senate's time, you quickly see the calendar is eviscerated. you simply can't get appropriation bills done. you can't get authorizing bills done, let alone have a long, lengthy important debate on a major issue facing america. >> senator jeff merkley, oregon. good to have you with us tonight. >> great to be here thinking has to go through, or the 113th has a chance of being just like the 112th. let's follow it. i hope it goes through. that's "the ed show." i'm ed schultz

some of the old -- junior democrats including tom udall of new mexico, the chamber will remain gridlocked for most of the time. an issue that the senate democratic leader harry reid addressed on the floor yesterday. >> in waning weeks of the last congress occupied by other matters including the fiscal cliff, madam chair, i believe this matter bickering of 113th congress which just started. so today i will follow the precedence set in 2005 and 2011 reserve the right of all senators to propose changes to the senate rules. it's my intention that the senate will recess today rather than adjourn to continue the same legislative day and allow rules discussion continue. madam president i am confident that the republican leader and i can come to an agreement that allow senate to work more efficiently. host: meanwhile this cover from bloomberg business week, babies the politics of the fiscal cliff deal are outrageous. the economic thinking is even worse. lot of attention on starbucks which has been writing come together on cups. it's really come to this. ceos going to lean on congress for a budget

colleague, senator harkin, who just spoke for his leadership on this issue, senator merkley and senator tom udall who have been leaders on this. we have brought this to the attention not only of our colleagues but to the american people and they expect us to take action to improve the operations of the united states senate. so let me just talk a moment on the negotiated agreement between the democratic leader and the republican leader and the majority leader and the minority leader as to what i understand will be recommended to us very briefly, very shortly, and i hope we can act on it as early as this evening. first, one of the frustrations is that we have it difficult to bring a bill to the floor of the senate. it's the motion to proceed. and the threat of a filibuster on the motion to proceed has denied the opportunity for us to even start debating an issue. well, under the agreement that i expect will be brought forward, the majority leader will have two additional opportunities to start debate on an issue. first, if the republican leader is in agreement, they can bring that bill to the floor

national officials there there were two senators who came to speak about filibuster reform -- senator tom udall senator jeff merkley. it was further to the left on the progressive side -- the advocacy organizations and interest groups on the left. environmentalists, voting rights advocates, immigration reformers, folks who are watchdogs of the right, people for the american way, for instance, and a panoply of liberal groups here. host: you say they can to address the problems they see at the american politics. other problems they seat with conservatives, the president, democrats, or both? guest: the problems come as they see it, definitely have to do with conservatives. they all have their specific agendas and have been slowed off for a time as they work on these issues. i will work on my stuff, you work on yours. what they have come to realize is that these luster reform, money in politics -- is issues, filibuster reform, money in politics, are impediments to what they need to get done. they cannot get environmental legislation passed for a jobs bill passed with the filibuster in place. they a

provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable tom udall, a senator from the state of new mexico, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patrick j. leahy, president pro tempore. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: following leader remarks the national will recess to count the electoral votes. following that we're hopeful to complete action on part of the flood insurance -- [inaudible] the presiding officer: under the previous order the leadership time is reserved. the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate stand in recess subject to the call of the chair. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate stands in recess subject to the call of the chair. earlier today, newly retired congressman barney frank, said that he would like to serve as a temporary successor to massachusetts senator john kerry who is currently nominee for secretary of state. according to the associated press, mr. frank told msnbc he asked governor duval patrick to ap