Best Friday Ever: Bernie Sanders Is Still Talking

Update: Sanders yielded the floor at about 7 p.m. The clerk called the roll.

If you are near a television, turn on CSpan2. If you are online, watch the feed here. He has held the Senate floor, more or less, since 10:25 a.m.

Also you should check out isberniesandersstilltalking.com.

Alex does some of the early blow-by-blow here.

Also, Politifact is doing some live factchecking.

Related Topics: bernie sanders, filibuster, Uncategorized
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  • Paul-no not that one

    Against my better judgement I clicked isberniesandersstilltalking.com.
    .
    Funny.

  • http://jcapan.wordpress.com jcapan

    I’ll say it again–Sanders 2012!

    In lieu of a day, we could hear a liberal narrative for a year. How is that possibly bad for America? How could America be worse off for having an alternative (correct) explanation on their TVs? Are we better off hearing the center engage the right about their shared objectives: expanded state power/corporatocracy.

  • stuartzechman

    Unbelievable.
    .
    What strength of purpose.
    .
    This is the real thing.

  • stuartzechman

    The selling of the extension of unemployment benefits at over 7.2% unemployment –4 decade old consensus policy– as a “compromise” is now debunked.

  • stuartzechman

    This is for you, JC:

    Bernie Sanders, the most punk rock gunslinger in Washington, D.C. since Ian MacKaye
    .
    @pattonoswalt Patton Oswalt Fri 10 Dec 18:30 via bitly

  • http://forgottenlord.livejournal.com forgottenlord

    Wasn’t there a West Wing episode of this? The President is trying to get some bill through the Senate but one rogue Senator pulls a one man filibuster because he doesn’t feel the bill addresses the issues he considers important.

  • Paul-no not that one

    “Here you have every Republican voting against a 250 dollar check for a disabled vet or a senior citizen who s living on 15-16 thousand dollars a year. Can’t afford it! But we can afford a million dollar a year tax break for somebody who is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Now somebody might understand that rationale but I don’t “

  • http://derekg.wordpress.com/ Derek

    Great to see a politician with principles.

  • Paul-no not that one

    He isn’t the only one.

  • http://gum0nshoe.wordpress.com gumOnShoe

    I’m trying to get the word out on facebook and other social media. Its the best I can do besides calling my senator.

    Anyone else done anything to spread the news?

    What an awesome guy.

  • stuartzechman

    …maybe a handful of honest conservatives over there who for years have been telling us their honest concerns about deficits…maybe they will vote against this…

  • Paul-no not that one

    Funny to sense how uncomfortable Josh Marshall is with this.

  • dunedweller

    I’ve been getting his “Bernie Buzz” e-newsletter for awhile and have been impressed with his integrity. It’s great to see him in action today.

  • grape_crush

    - Continuing from the earlier thread –

    Well, they can be proud of themselves now.
    .
    They sure slapped Bernie Sanders down, didn’t they?

    http://twitter.com/#!/senatorsanders

    Trending #1 worldwide, apparently. Restores a bit of my faith in humanity.

  • Paul-no not that one

    This may be the greatest floor speech I have ever witnessed. And I’m not young.

  • stuartzechman

    Brian Beutler at TPMDC:

    http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/12/sanders-launches-actual-filibuster-of-tax-relief.php
    .
    Sanders Launches Actual Filibuster Of Tax Cut Compromise
    .
    It’s a filibuster as filibusters were originally intended — and, as such, makes a mockery of what the filibuster’s become: a gimmick that allows a minority of senators to quietly impose supermajority requirements on any piece of legislation.
    .
    Sanders has been decrying the Obama tax cut plan for bailing out the wealthiest people in America. “How can I get by on one house?” Sanders railed, sarcastically. “I need five houses, ten houses. I need three jet planes to take me all over the world! Sorry, American people. We’ve got the money, we’ve got the power.”

  • Paul-no not that one

    “If there is one issue that we as a Congress and as a government have got to address. And that is the extraordinary level of greed in this country. We have got to stand tall and draw a line in the sand and simply say ‘enough is enough how much do you want how much do you need?’”

  • http://twitter.com/ktumulty Karen Tumulty

    See? It can be done!

  • grape_crush

    I’m guessing this will all be written off by the straight media as a ‘stunt’ from a ‘far left’ Senator without any serious examination or consideration of what Sanders is saying.

    Followed by another puff piece about Sarah Palin.

  • stuartzechman

    Econobloggers are listening,
    .
    Here’s Mike Konczal, Rooseveldt Institute:

    Why The Tax Cut Deal Isn’t Cutting It.
    .
    I want to be sold on this tax cut deal on the economics, but the more I look at it the less I’m impressed with it.
    .
    It has less than a multiplier than the “Making Work Pay” fund it replaces and doubles-down on (literally, twice as much will be spent on the payroll tax credit), virtually a one-for-one on the spending. (Most of Zandi’s results on this tax compromise are driven by the unemployment insurance.) Compared to infrastructure spending, it’s nothing. This will continue the weakest parts of the original ARRA, the tax cut portion, but this time weaker while branding it as the Democratic option.
    .
    This will likely pay down private debt, replacing it with public debt and doing little to rebuild the economy. And if there’s a hit to housing values in 2011, it’ll be erased completely. Getting banks to write down MBS portfolios to actual values would likely do much more.
    .
    And what is worse, Dean Baker is officially worried about how this will impact Social Security. Dean is someone I trust more than anyone on the battles around Social Security, so if he is worried I am now really worried:

    The logic is that the tax cut is scheduled to expire in December of next year. While it would require new legislation to extend the cuts, the Republicans will describe the failure to extend the cuts as a tax increase on middle class workers…Democratic officeholders have had difficulty standing behind tax increases for the very richest people in the country.
    .
    It is difficult to imagine them sticking their necks out for tax increases that will hit low and middle-income workers, especially in a context where unemployment is virtually certain to be above 8.0 percent and quite likely above 9.0 percent. This means that the reduction in Social Security taxes may not be for just one year, it may persist for the indefinite future…
    .
    Unfortunately, the Obama administration cannot be counted on to defend the program either…In short, supporters of Social Security have good reason to oppose the tax deal. It is easy to have the same stimulus with an expanded version of President Obama’s Making Work Pay tax cut. Supporters of Social Security should reject the latest deal and tell President Obama to stand behind his own tax cut. This is what presidents are supposed to do.

    I don’t find these extra “gots” particularly credible as stimulus, and I’ve become less impressed as the week has gone on and I discuss it with more people. If we can get the tax cuts for 2 years on the $250,000 and below and the UI extensions, why not take it and go home? Are we certain we can’t get it without fighting for it, especially now that we know what the stakes are?

    Sanders is causing the whole reality-based community –not to mention a number of the political press corps– to take another look at the policy on its merits, and to examine alternatives with a fresh eye.
    .
    Bernie Sanders is a f*cking hero.

  • stuartzechman

    HA!
    .
    KT!
    .
    He wasn’t even forced to do it.
    .
    Whoops…he says he’s concluding…

  • grape_crush

    “At least 95% of the calls to my office today say that this is a bad deal.”

    Looks like he’s wrapping up.

  • stuartzechman

    WHERE’S THE CAVALRY?
    .
    WHERE’S ANOTHER DEMOCRAT TO RELIEVE HIM?

  • http://gum0nshoe.wordpress.com gumOnShoe

    He’s an independent

  • shepherdwong

    Now let’s see if it changes anything. If you don’t mind, I’ll keep breathing in the meantime.

  • stuartzechman

    (other than that scum Landrieu)

  • formerlyjames

    I was not aware of Bernie Sanders until today. Today, he became a hero to me.

  • stuartzechman

    8 hours, folks.

  • grape_crush

    Easy, Stuart. Votes aren’t until Monday. And I don’t know if this was exactly intended to be a filibuster, at least according to Sanders’ Twitter feed:

    “senatorsanders Bernie Sanders
    You can call what i am doing today whatever you want, you it call it a filibuster, you can call it a very long speech…”

  • stuartzechman

    This is where the cavalry call came from:
    .
    per Tumuly’s tweet:
    .

    see? It can be done! My question: does he have backup? Will anyone come to the floor to relieve him?
    .
    @ktumutly Fri 10 Dec 18:51 via Twitter for iPad

  • formerlyjames

    Just about the right amount of time to lend dignity to his appeal, without making a spectacle of it. Even the most extreme right wing idiot should respect that.

  • stuartzechman

    Get this:
    .
    After this many hours standing on the floor, Bernie Sanders is now…
    .
    …sitting at the President’s desk, acting as Senate President, listening to freaking Kirsten Gillibrand bring business to the floor.
    .
    Remarkable.

  • stuartzechman

    To be fair, Kirsten was just bringing final business for adjournment, which meant consideration of the tax deal in question.

  • formerlyjames

    And then he gave a gasp and hammered the close of business in the idiot chamber. I wish him a good night’s sleep.

  • grape_crush

    This is where the cavalry call came from..

    Time to lean on those phones. Sanders can’t do it alone.

  • http://jcapan.wordpress.com jcapan

    “He’s an independent”
    .
    Exactly! The proper question is where is a democrat who will help him?

  • Paul-no not that one

    No, but he’s still awesome!
    .
    From the link.

  • http://derekg.wordpress.com/ Derek

    Bernie should consider leading the movement to form a new party for Liberals.

  • 3xfire3

    LIBERALS’ LAST GASP
    .
    POLITICO
    .
    By JONATHAN ALLEN | 12/10/10 5:53 PM EST
    .
    Two years ago, liberals saw President Barack Obama as the second coming of FDR.
    .
    Now they’re accusing him of practicing Reaganomics, taunting him at caucus meetings and trying to get him to renege on his first bipartisan deal since Republicans won the mid-term elections.
    .
    At best, House Democrats’ rage at the Obama tax bill is a principled last gasp on behalf of liberal ideals. At worst, they’re whining, kicking and screaming their way to the margins as Obama turns them into the foil for his newfound centrism.
    .
    http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1210/46254.html

  • 3xfire3

    “Bernie should consider leading the movement to form a new party for Liberals.”
    .
    All you Liberal/Progressives have been long denied that you are Socialist and here you are all goning wild and singing the praise of the only Socialist in Congress.
    .
    You have all finally shown your true colors. We now know who you really are.

  • kbanginmotown

    I was attending a trade show today and missed all the fun. Wow. Just. Wow.
    .
    I wish Bernie a long life. But, I do hope that he’s checked “spine” and “cojones” on the back of his driver’s license…
    .
    Also: I love how this thread was kryptonite to our resident trolls. Says a lot, don’t you think?

  • rwbbinla

    @27.1 So you think that the president’s compromise helps the middle class? You are now supporting President Obama? How quick the tables turn when extension of tax cuts for the rich are in question. You obviously hate middle class working people who have to pay the bill for this so called democracy.

  • http://derekg.wordpress.com/ Derek

    “All you Liberal/Progressives have been long denied that you are Socialist and here you are all goning wild and singing the praise of the only Socialist in Congress.”
    .
    You mean the Socialist who just entered a bargain to give huge tax cuts for the rich, the one who saved major financial institutions and didn’t nationalize a single one of them. That socialist?
    .
    You don’t seem to know the difference between someone who believes in rational policies, that actually work, and ideological hacks. The former are today’s radical.

  • http://audiodetox.wordpress.com audiodetox

    Well, I suppose this is guy is a hero to all the liberals who have enough green to be idealogical gasbags.

  • Cliff

    No, no, that’s the complete wrong narrative.
    .
    Repeat after me:
    “This tax cut compromise is the best that could be done under the circumstances, and it’s actually a backdoor stimulus, so be happy with your sh*t sandwich, liberals.”

  • stuartzechman

    3xfire3:
    .
    Let me try to explain.
    .
    Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) has stated on many occasions that decades-long nation-building in hostile, occupied foreign lands is terrible policy that hurts America.
    .
    He’s also a libertarian.
    .
    I vigorously agree with Rep. Paul’s position on foreign nation-building enterprises, yet that doesn’t make me a libertarian, does it?
    .
    It’s the same circumstance with Bernie Sanders.
    .
    While I strongly support Sen. Sanders’ position on this particular issue, that doesn’t mean I’m a socialist, it just means we agree on something.
    .
    I’m sure that you can think of many instances in which you might agree with people –even strongly agree with them– on something, but not subscribe to their philosophies, or hold the same allegiances.
    .
    I’ll bet I can think of one right now:
    .
    I love the United States of America. I think it’s an amazing place; an incredibly significant nation that has given the world many cultural gifts, and done much good.
    .
    You probably hold those opinions of America, too, and yet, of course, you’re not a movement liberal like me.
    .
    In the same way that you and I can agree, but not share political philosophies, movement liberals can agree with Bernie Sanders that a tax code that favors inherited wealth and privilege over individual industry and creativity is bad for America, and yet not be socialists in the slightest.
    .
    Does that make sense, 3xfire3?

  • Cliff

    Even the most extreme right wing idiot should respect that.
    .
    WRONG

  • ohiolibb

    Who’s the other one??

  • Exiled_At_Home (formerly Neo)

    Yes! Finally, my very own Senator! Keep up the good work, Bernie.
    ~
    Yours truly,
    Exiled, the Neo-Socialist Pan-Arabist

  • hippooath

    “Well, I suppose this is guy is a hero to all the liberals who have enough green to be idealogical gasbags.”
    .
    Try because he can talk for that long and articulate the very poor rational the political body have for supporting this deal.
    .
    The best the opposition can muster is ‘chickencr@p’.
    .
    If tepid name calling is the best you and others will come up with as a rebuttal then it’s already a done deal in peoples mind.
    .
    This was probably the best thing that have come out of the senate for years.

  • http://jcapan.wordpress.com jcapan

    Liberalism: famous for 15 minutes (or 8 hours)

    Just surfed by the NYT and CNN, and Clinton’s assist to Obama’s GOP reach-around gets (shocking I know) top billing. Hmm, how to insert such radically liberal narratives into the public discourse-ether going FWD, for more than a fraction of a news-cycle. It’s a stumper.

  • http://jcapan.wordpress.com jcapan

    Elaboration?

  • Exiled_At_Home (formerly Neo)

    Just fúcking with Rusty.

  • http://erieangel.wordpress.com erieangel

    That’s the problem with our media. Of course Clinton’s speech is going to get top billing and in a few days nobody will even say Clinton was only there to interrupt Bernie’s speech. I’ve liked Sanders from the first moment I heard him speak a couple years on Keith Olberman. I love him now.
    .
    Bernie Sanders 2012

  • http://jcapan.wordpress.com jcapan

    “Also: I love how this thread was kryptonite to our resident trolls. Says a lot, don’t you think?”
    .
    Even more thrilling to me is the fact that the two Sanders’ threads trounced the SP posts.

  • mjwilstein

    Here’s how Bernie Sanders ended his 8.5 hour filibuster:
    http://gtcha.me/emgrL8

  • apr2563

    Beautiful isn’t it?

  • apr2563

    81/2 hours. Let me tell you, Senator Sanders is only 1 year younger than me (69). What he did was not only inspiring but physically impressive.

  • apr2563

    He did take a deep breath before leaving the President’s desk.

  • apr2563

    http://sanders.senate.gov/
    .
    Senator Sanders web site. Send him an e-mail, phone him, thank him.
    There is a video of his speech and a transcript.

  • Paul-no not that one

    Happy birthday apr2563.
    .
    From blizzard land-Minnesota.

  • http://derekg.wordpress.com/ Derek

    Are we sure 3xfire3 isn’t someone’s made up character? Someone playing a little joke on us.

  • artraveler

    Maybe this will remind the Democrats that if the Republicans want to filibuster, this is what you make them do. None of this roll over and give up s–t!

  • 53_3

    I love it! Hi KT!

  • 53_3

    You should be wishing Bernie larger lungs.
    .
    And when SZ capitalizes, the world nears it’s end…

  • 53_3

    Happy birthday apr.
    .
    I wish we had Bernie Sanders!

  • allthingsinaname

    I would advise against holding your breath.

  • grape_crush

    Happy birthday!

  • 53_3

    Which Dem decided that only the GOP could open the congressional toolbox, anyway?

  • sacredh

    Happy birthday apr2563. I hope you have many more. This is the first time in a week I’ve even had my computer on. I haven’t watched any news. I’ve been taking the sports and entertainment sections out of the newspaper and throwing the other sections away. I think my blood pressure has dropped by a good bit. I like being uninformed and ignorant. Maybe I should switch my party?

  • deconstructiva

    apr, I wished you a happy b-day elsewhere here and hope others have too at other blog posts too. Lots of parties this weekend?

  • apr2563

    Thanks everyone. When you reach 70, you take a long pause to think about mortality. Well, I thunk and thunked. Decided I have too much to learn and enjoy before I give up on this old world. One of those things I enjoy is Swampland. Besides, someday I may get the government I really want.

  • Ivy_B

    Happy Birthday, apr! Changing front numbers is a big deal – I will be joining you on Tuesday.

    Cheers.

  • apr2563

    I’m reading Greg Mitchell’s book about socialist, muckraker, writer, essayist Upton Sinclair’s 1934 run for CA governor, “Campaign of the Century”. Sinclair chose to run as a Democrat.
    .
    The book explains how the Democrats and Republicans united to defeat him. His EPIC plan (End Poverty in California) scared them to death. So, they banded together to reelect the Frank Mirriam (R) as governor, knowing he was incompetent.
    .
    Modern slash and burn politics began here. Political parties, newspapers, movie moguls, business, and pubilic utilities united to take Sinclair down. They succeeded.

  • Paul-no not that one

    Cheery birthday reading! ha
    .
    14+ inches of snow so far. Today.
    .
    More still coming.

  • http://jcapan.wordpress.com jcapan

    Happy BD Apr!
    .
    And Paul, JFC, that’s brutal. You ever live in a warmer clime?

  • Paul-no not that one

    I’m a maroon for living here jc.
    .
    Family ties, if we could leave tomorrow we would live where we vacation every year. New Orleans. We visit in June usually and it’s high humidity and plus 90 temps which we love.
    .
    What is your climate? I’ve meant to ask but never did. And I’m a bit of a geographical dunce.
    .
    p.s. just watched someone ski down the street. And we live downtown. Crazy.

  • http://jcapan.wordpress.com jcapan

    Though I’ve lived in Hokkaido and Denver, I have to say my semester in Ames, IA, was the most brutal weather experience of my life, so I have a sense of what MN is like. I remember my head literally aching when I’d walk across campus to the library.
    .
    And I understand family ties, especially now with a kid. Though I love Japan, I’d probably still be in Oregon…
    .
    Our climate is pretty mild b/c we sit right on Osaka Bay (feeds into the Pacific), which keeps us fairly warm in winter (usually our highs run no lower than the 40s). And almost no snow, though if I hike up the mtns. behind my house, to about 3000′ or so, on the northern slopes there’s snow. Summers suck–90s, humidity. But from Oct until May it’s lovely.

  • Paul-no not that one

    That sounds pretty great actually.
    .
    Even-especially- the summers. And change of seasons with no real winter seems ideal. Good for produce and I assume you have access to great seafood.
    .
    I’d say you are a lucky man.

  • Exiled_At_Home (formerly Neo)

    Brutal winters are my mainstay! I get tingly and excited when those first few nights roll in where the air is crisp and cold, the grass has a light frost, and you can’t tell the difference between your breathe and the cigarette smoke emanating from your nostrils. Then comes the snow. These are the days!

  • afguy

    Sheldon Whitehouse? I just know it’s not anyone representing us from Ky.

  • formerlyjames

    Happy birthday, apr. To those suffering through cold, just remember how much more you will appreciate warm weather than those who don’t. The coldest I have ever been was in Oklahoma at Ft. Sill one brutal day, and yes I have been in much normally colder environs, but none toped that day.

  • afguy

    Minot, ND. Chill factors on the flightline reaching -100 degrees. 5 degrees with 50mph winds in October.
    .
    I assume that it still leads the AF in overseas volunteers for obvious reasons.

  • formerlyjames

    afguy, can’t top that, but I guess a big part of it all is what clothing and protection is available, which wasn’t much during my experience at Ft. Sill. Another example, if you ever go to Russia other than summer, be prepared for cold, but don’t wear long underwear because inside areas, including the subways are stifling, hell in a handbag. Sometimes you need to go out or open a window to get comfortable.

  • kbanginmotown

    JC: Amen. Save the kittens!

  • http://phd9.blogspot.com Paul Dirks

    Winter’s brutal where I’m at too. The “Christmas Winds” kick up to about 30 knots and the nighttime temps can drop all the way to 68!

  • allthingsinaname

    LOL

    Left Mpls in 1971 now live in Dallas area and complain when it gets to 40.
    .
    However I suffer with Gov Big Hair.

  • http://jcapan.wordpress.com jcapan

    No doubt Bernie approves of this kid:

    Great post at Down with Tyranny:

    http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2010/12/at-this-point-do-we-have-to-be-hoping.html

  • http://erieangel.wordpress.com erieangel

    This thread shouldn’t be dead. And why hadn’t I heard anything about Sanders’ extraordinary speech all weekend? I looked and searched. CSpan should have been replaying it instead their “Book TV” crap. Does anybody even watch “Book TV”?
    .
    Someday this speech is going to have historical significance and everybody is ignoring it. Just amazing.

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