American Enterprise Institute "scholar" Norman Ornstein, writing in today's New York Times, states that:
"in the current Congress there have been 117 (cloture votes) — more than two a week."
The current congress has been going on since January 2009. And unless my brain is deteriorating very rapidly, there have been roughly 86 weeks since this two-year congress began last year. Now I haven't adjusted for vacations and time off. But there must have been more than 52 weeks for this session of congress since January 2009, and if there have been more than two a week, as Ornstein suggests, then there should have been close to 200 cloture votes, not 117.
Can anyone shed light on this? Is Ornstein deliberately undercounting the filibusters in order to soften the blow on his conservative Republican handlers who hand him his paycheck? Oh, and by the way, does anyone else find it ironic that AEI "scholar" Ornstein never mentions that the record-breaking number of filibusters has been racked up by the Republican Party in Congress, which he subtly declines to point out? He only once mentions the Republicans, and then only in connection with a single filibuster.
Any facts you can contribute to the truth about the pace of the Republicans' filibusters this congress would be greatly appreciated. And if you can assist in debunking Ornstein and the AEI, so much the better.