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| | {{Government Lectures}} | | {{Government Lectures}} |
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| | Ron Paul, a Republican congressman and candidate for the Republican nomination for president, explained the election outcome this way:<ref>http://www.ibtimes.com/ron-paul-obama-got-re-elected-because-majority-receiving-check-866900</ref> | | Ron Paul, a Republican congressman and candidate for the Republican nomination for president, explained the election outcome this way:<ref>http://www.ibtimes.com/ron-paul-obama-got-re-elected-because-majority-receiving-check-866900</ref> |
| | {{cquote|If you look at the numbers and if you look at the way pure democracy works, pure democracy is dangerous. The majority dictates against the minority. So, right now the majority are receiving a check [from the government]. So when you get a vote, that is why people were sort of surprised with these conditions that this president can get reelected. That is a bad sign in that there are more on the receiving end. People do not want anything cut. They want all the bailouts to come. They want the Fed to keep printing money.}} | | {{cquote|If you look at the numbers and if you look at the way pure democracy works, pure democracy is dangerous. The majority dictates against the minority. So, right now the majority are receiving a check [from the government]. So when you get a vote, that is why people were sort of surprised with these conditions that this president can get reelected. That is a bad sign in that there are more on the receiving end. People do not want anything cut. They want all the bailouts to come. They want the Fed to keep printing money.}} |
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| | === Filibuster Rule in the U.S. Senate === | | === Filibuster Rule in the U.S. Senate === |
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| | + | All legislative chamber, such as the House of Representatives and the Senate, have their own rules governing their procedures. How bills can be introduced, debated, amended and voted upon are determined by the rules adopted by the particular legislative chamber at the beginning of its session. |
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| | + | The House of Representatives procedures are similar to "Roberts' Rules of Order," which is the standard set of rules governing parliamentary procedure in most organizations, public or private, in the United States. Indeed, Roberts' Rules of Order were originally based on the procedures used by the House in the 19th century. |
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| | + | The U.S. Senate has its own set of procedures, which are unique in the world. It is run more like a small club, where merely one member (senator) can delay and block something that a majority wants to do. This is called a "filibuster", when one person blocks a vote on a bill even though a majority wants it to pass. A traditional filibuster was when the person stood up and talked about the bill for hours, simply to delay a vote on it. Nowadays the talking part is not necessary. One senator can block a vote on a bill in the senate simply by invoking his power to filibuster it. |
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| | + | Under Senate rules that are re-approved at the outset of every session, a filibuster will stop a bill unless 60 out of 100 senators vote for "cloture" to "close" or the filibuster and allow a vote to continue. |
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| | + | Democrats have 55-45 majority in the new Senate, which is enough to pass bills but not enough to end filibusters. After the election, Democrats are planning to change the cloture requirement from 60 to 50 votes, so that Republicans would be unable to block votes. Republicans oppose this change, and say that Senate rules require a 2/3rds vote to approve such a claim.<ref>http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-bc-us--senate-filibuster-fight-20121111,0,4662240.story</ref> |
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| | == What is next for the political parties? == | | == What is next for the political parties? == |