Let the Repubs and Joe Lieberman (R - Insurance Industry) filibuster. Issue a quorum call (or call of the house if necessary), break out the phone books and sleeping bags. Call the cute intern from _________ State University back home, and let her know you won't be making it to the no-tell motel tonight. Call the wife and let her know to make the arrangements for Christmas vacation as though you're not gonna be there, cause you may not be.
The longest one-person Filibuster in the US Senate was done by Senator Strom Thurmond in 1957, against the Civil Rights Act of 1957. It lasted over 24 hours. During that time, Thurmond read the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, Washington's farewell address, and phone books. In the end, the Civil Rights Act was passed, and was signed by President Eisenhower.
Huey P. Long filibustered once for over 15 hours. At the end of the filibuster, he had talked so much, he had nothing else to offer but recipes for his favorite foods. It didn't work, either.
But perhaps the most spectacular of all: in 1964, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was bogged down in a Senate filibuster. Southern Democrats were engaged in a rotating filibuster of the bill that lasted over 500 hours. In this case, it was a Republican, Illinois Senator Everett Dirksen, who joined with Northern Democrats and broke the filibuster. In doing so, he was quoted as saying: "Victor Hugo wrote in his diary substantially this sentiment, 'Stronger than all the armies is an idea whose time has come.' The time has come for equality of opportunity in sharing of government, in education, and in employment. It must not be stayed or denied." Thanks to Dirksen, cloture was achieved, and the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 was signed by President Johnson, and racial segregation is today illegal.
How long would Lieberman hold out while Mitch McConnell read the Dallas Yellow Pages? How long would the rest of them? After all, there are interns to screw, and lobbyists to meet and collect money from.
I say let them filibuster. Unlike Mr. Smith's filibuster, it will probably fail at some point in time, and will only further paint republicans as the obstructionists they are. Obstructionists of a very popular policy.