Follow this link to the article in Slate about getting rid of the filibuster in the Senate.

I didn’t pay any attention to the details of how it could be done when the Republicans proposed this in 2005.  This article lays out the possible procedures and some possible dangers.

The Republicans got what they wanted out of the Democrats just be threatening to do this.  I doubt that the Republicans would cave so easily.  Of course we could go back to the old filibuster rules which required the stamina to keep talking without stop to keep the filibuster alive.  This seemed to hold the number of filibusters down to a reasonable level before the change in 1975.

In the meantime, at the suggestion of MoveOn.org, I made a call to my representative, Rep. Richard Neal, urging him to go along with the plan to get the health care reform done through reconciliation.  Before I called, his position had been to slow this health care reform process.  I told his office that the political dangers to him were the same whether he voted for the reconciliation process or not.  If he was going to suffer the danger anyway, he might as well get an accomplishment out of it.

They promised to pass the message on to Rep. Neal.