Are DEM Senators FINALLY Ready For Filibuster Ultimatum?

Update: BooMan clarifies ~ Halfway Filibuster Reform is Stupid

So, based on Jeremy Peters' reporting in the New York Times, it looks like the Senate Democrats have coalesced around a strategy that will kill the filibuster for presidential appointees, but not for judicial nominations. If that's the best they can do, it's better than nothing, but it's stupid. If the Senate "breaks the rules to change the rules," as Mitch McConnell is so fond of saying, they will create a nasty precedent that the Republicans will be only too eager to use in the future. It is, after all, the changing of the rules in mid-session that is more important than the substance of the rules change. Once it is done once, it is easier to do in the future. So, if the Dems are holding off on getting rid of the filibuster for judicial nominees because they want to reserve the right to filibuster Republican judicial appointments in the future, that's a pipe dream. They should just bite the bullet and do away with the filibuster for all nominations, regardless of whether they are for the executive or judicial branches.
Whenever the Republicans have the chance to confirm a Republican president's nominations, they are going to do away with the filibuster anyway, so the Dems should not pretend otherwise. The country has become too polarized to function with a 60-vote requirement for nominations. The sooner the Dems accept that, the better.

(HuffPo) Michael McAuliff reports ~ Harry Reid Tees Up Potential Filibuster Rule Fight

WASHINGTON -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) signaled Tuesday that his Democratic caucus members are becoming so frustrated with Republicans blocking President Barack Obama's nominees that they will again consider whether to invoke the so-called nuclear option to change Senate rules.
"I'm going to have a full meeting with my caucus on Thursday. We're going to talk about nominations," Reid said. He did not hint what he would do, but suggested his deliberations were far enough along that the sessions with his members would be decisive. "I think Thursday, by the time the day's out, you'll have a better idea of what we're going to try to do on this," Reid told reporters on Capitol Hill.
Senate Democrats had threatened to change rules at the start of the session to make filibusters more difficult, but settled on only mild reforms. At the time, Reid promised not to change the rules for the rest of the Senate session as long as the GOP members conducted themselves in the a less obstructive manner more in keeping with Senate history.
........Late Tuesday afternoon, Reid met with Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), one of the most outspoken advocates of sweeping reform, Democratic aides told HuffPost. Merkley pushed Reid hard in December to make major changes to Senate rules, and was ultimately rebuffed, but his meeting with the leader Tuesday signals that Democrats are attempting to align behind a single strategy.

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