Have you been wondering why even though Dems have had a majority for two years and will have an even bigger majority for the next two, it seems like the GOP holds all the chips in the senate? Why it somehow now magically takes 60 votes to pass anything in a body that only actually needs a simple majority to pass bills?
And bigger still, can we actually pass any legislation without being obstructed?
There's a simple answer to this, and that's to bring back the REAL filibuster.
The Senate requires a simple majority to pass legislation.
However, unlike the House it allows for an unlimited amount of time for debate, as long as it is continuous. That of course gave rise to the filibuster, which was typically used to express serious outrage and objection to legislation - it lets the minority party stop a vote from happening. Perhaps the most famous filibuster was Strom Thurmond's filibuster of the Civil Rights Act for a continuous 24 hours and 18 minutes.
Why do we need 60 votes today?
We don't, but nobody has put pressure on Reid. Charitably, we could say that Reid simply likes to make deals in back rooms and doesn't like showdowns on the senate floor. Uncharitably, we could say he's spineless. He just needs to use (or rather not use) Senate Rule 22 to its full extent, which allows the senate leadership to require actual filibusters rather than threats of filibusters.
At this point it doesn't matter which is the better explanation. We need to do something about this so that come January a small number of GOP senators can't hold up the agenda of the nation.
What can we do?
We need to bring back the REAL filibuster. Thurmond had to actually stand and speak continuously for hours to stop legislation. Reid should be requiring that the GOP actually filibuster things when they claim they are going to: make them actually go on the floor of the senate and read the phone book for 19 hours. Right now, they can just threaten to filibuster and never have to actually do it. Since it's so easy to threaten to filibuster, they can do it for anything they don't like, effectively letting them force 60 votes on anything.
Is this the "nuclear option"?
Nope. The nuclear option, in my understanding, is basically overruling filibusters using a simple majority vote. This wouldn't be doing that at all.
Why might this make a big difference?
I think that Reid is happy to capitulate unless someone says "hey - why don't you let the GOP read the phone book for a while rather than just pretending they did it." Right now this is an obscure enough rule that nobody in the media raises it, and so Reid gives in.
If we raise the issue with our senators, and persistently discuss it until the rule changes, then maybe they'll actually require traditional filibusters. The GOP can't win the spin war on it either because the simple defense of the change I'm advocating is: "Okay Sen. McConnell - you say you want to filibuster - we're going to give you the floor so you can do it." That's it. It's simply allowing or asking them to follow through with their promised filibuster. The GOP is in retreat and doesn't have the guts to actually stand up and conduct a real filibuster on important legislation. Plus it would be a PR disaster for them - they'd be visibly obstructionist, rather than invisibly obstructionist. (The AP would be forced to report that the GOP filibustered rather than the "Democratic leadership failed to get 60 votes".)
How can we take action?
This is the part I'm most fuzzy on, and I'd like feedback. I think contacting your Dem. senator is a good first step. Make it clear that this is not about the Auto bailout in particular, but about general senatorial procedure and how it's failing at the moment. Make it clear that we need them to get Reid to make this change by the start of the new congress.
Beyond that, we need to not forget this issue - I know it's obscure, but it's the difference between needing 51 votes on legislation - which should be easy in the new congress - versus needing 60 votes, which might require us to water down legislation or fill it with pork to get those last few votes.