Changing the Rules

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This piece was obtained from Chris Wood on his Blog. Click on the Link above to read this and other related information.

Hunter over at Daily Kos, along with Kevin Drum of The Washington Monthly, do a little bit of research and work to point out how Washington Republicans have essentially brought the Nuclear Option upon themselves:

"Originally, after Republicans gained control of the Senate in the 1994 elections and Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch assumed control of the Judiciary Committee, the rule regarding judicial nominees was this: If a single senator from a nominee's home state objected to (or "blue-slipped") a nomination, it was dead. This rule made it easy for Republicans to obstruct Clinton's nominees.

But in 2001, when a Republican became president, Hatch suddenly reversed course and decided that it should take objections from both home-state senators to block a nominee. That made it harder for Democrats to obstruct George W. Bush's nominees.

In early 2003 Hatch went even further: Senatorial objections were merely advisory, he said. Even if both senators objected to a nomination, it could still go to the floor for a vote.

Finally, a few weeks later, yet another barrier was torn down: Hatch did away with "Rule IV," which states that at least one member of the minority has to agree in order to end discussion about a nomination and move it out of committee."
So, they brought this upon themselves.

In his January op-ed in The Washington Post, Drum offered a simple compromise that he is (and I agree) sure Senate Democrats would agree to: Restore the old rules and the filibuster wouldn't be used.