(caricature above is by the inimitable DonkeyHotey.)Majority Leader Harry Reid got burned two years ago. He had a handshake agreement with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell that Republicans would stop abusing the filibuster rule to obstruct anything the president tried to accomplish. Republicans started violating that agreement before the ink was dry on the senate rules.
That's why Senator Reid is pushing for filibuster reform in the coming session. But to accomplish that he will need the votes of almost all Democrats (since you can bet that no Republican will vote for filibuster reform). And that could be a little iffy, since there are still some blue dogs hanging around the senate.
But maybe reform will be a little easier to acheive, because the president is now on board for the filibuater to be reformed. It looks like he's also tired of the ridiculous obstruction in the senate, making it necessary to have 60 votes to do anything. Here is what White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer told the Huffington Post:
"The President has said many times that the American people are demanding action. They want to see progress, not partisan delay games. That hasn't changed, and the President supports Senator Reid's efforts to reform the filibuster process."
