There you are. Judge which interpretation rings truer to you. And soon we'll go into the question of why the mere "threat" of filibuster has been allowed to convert the Senate into a chamber requiring a three-fifths majority to do anything, as opposed to the actual filibusters of yore. (The last example of a "real" filibuster may have been Sen. Bernie Sanders's day-long protest last year to the deal that extended the Bush tax cuts.)

Sometime soon we'll also look at why the unanimous letter favoring filibuster reform, signed by all returning Democratic Senators last year, just petered out.

And in case you've forgotten, routine use of the filibuster is not something enshrined in American history. As the chart below indicates, it's an invention of the past few years, which has made the American system of checks-and-balances into something none of the Founders contemplated. The huge spike up in the past few years coincides with the Republicans shifting to minority status five years ago and taking up the filibuster as their tool.

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UPDATE: I've just received a long reply from the McConnell staffer, which I append in its entirety after the jump. Again, judge for yourself.



The staffer for Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell writes (formatting and emphasis in the original):



It's a matter of record that he [Sen. McConnell] asked consent to vote on the bill. This, for example from October 4th on the Senate floor (the last line is the offer that Democrats objected to):



McConnell: "Mr. president, for three weeks President Obama not has been traveling around the country calling on congress to pass what he calls his jobs bill right away. Here's what he'll say in Texas today if he's not said it already: at least put this jobs bill up for a vote so the entire country knows exactly where every member of congress stands.

"Well, Mr. President, I agree with the President. I think he's entitled to a vote on his jobs bill. The suggestion that Senate Republicans are not interested in voting on his jobs bill is not true. I think he's entitled to a vote. It won't surprise anyone to know I don't think it's a good approach, a way that's likely to create jobs, but he's asked for a vote. And I think we ought to accommodate the President of the United States on a matter that he has been speaking about frequently over the last few weeks and give him his vote.

"In fact, they've been calling for this vote with great repetition. His press secretary said it on October 3, David Plouffe, the senior -- David Plouffe said the same thing September 27. David Axlerod, his top strategist called for us to have this vote on September 13. And the President himself, let me count the number of times, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve times the President of the United States over the last few weeks has called on us to have this vote as he put it, 'I want congress to pass this jobs bill right away.'