That's what GOP Obstructionists will have to do, if Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) gets his way. Stand Up.
The Filibuster should not be impossible -- but the Filibuster should not be ridiculously easy either.
Merkley says if you want to Filibuster, then you should have to explain to all of America why. Explain WHY -- you're blocking the Majority will -- on the Senate Floor. Standing up. Talking.
Senator Jeff Merkley (and Tom Udall, D-NM) want a "Talking Filibuster" rule.
The Rachel Maddow Show
Erza Klein hosting -- Dec 28, 2012
link
Senator Merkley:
[...]
I have worked very hard, along with my colleague Tom Udall of New Mexico, to proposed reforms we think are healthy for dialog and debate, and that we would accept in the Minority.
If we want to block a simple Majority Vote, we should have the guts to stand up on the floor of the Senate -- make our case before our colleagues, and before the American people. If we don't have the courage of our convictions to do that, we should sit down, shut up and let the majority go ahead a make the decision.
[...]
Sen. Jeff Merkley’s talking filibuster: How it would work
by Dylan Matthews, washingtonpost.com -- Dec 13, 2012
If Senate Democrats do decide to reform the filibuster at the start of the 113th Congress, chances are they’ll adopt Sen. Jeff Merkley’s (D-Or.) proposal for a “talking filibuster.”
The core idea is to make the actual filibuster more like the mythical filibuster of ”Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” in which a single senator can hold the floor and block a bill’s passage as long as he keeps talking.
[... diagrams of the proposed changes to Senate procedures.]
Reform the Filibuster --
Petition
[...]
Take action now: Tell the Senate to fix the filibuster.
Thank you.
Senator Jeff Merkley
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
Senator Tom Harkin
Senator Amy Klobuchar
Senator Jeanne Shaheen
Senator Tom Udall
Senator-elect Elizabeth Warren
merkley.senate.gov