[Vision2020] [More] Anybody else watchin' Bernie?

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of NPR at:



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Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-VT, is on the floor of the Senate right now to —
in his office's words — "speak as long as possible against a tax deal
between the White House and congressional Republicans."

C-SPAN.org has streaming coverage here. He's been going for about 90
minutes now.

The leader of the party that Sanders caucuses with, Democratic President
Obama, told NPR yesterday that despite opposition from many liberals in
Congress, he's "confident" the deal will get passed.

Here's what Sanders has to say about what he's doing:

"You can call what I am doing today whatever you want, you it call it a
filibuster, you can call it a very long speech.  I'm not here to set any
great records or to make a spectacle. I am simply here today to take as
long as I can to explain to the American people the fact that we have got
to do a lot better than this agreement provides."

Update at 3:30 p.m. ET: The "very long speech" continues. And Sanders is
getting attention. Not only have the cable news networks gotten on to the
story, but "Bernie Sanders" is trending high on Twitter. There's a
"support Bernie's filibuster" page up on Facebook now.

The Hill passes along word that Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-OH, has also spoken
up in support of Sanders' effort. And, The Hill reminds us that "the
record for the longest filibuster is held by the late Sen. Strom Thurmond,
R-SC, who spoke for 24 hours in 18 minutes to block a landmark civil
rights bill." That happened in 1957.

Update at 1:50 p.m. ET: Among the senators standing up to support Sanders
is Mary Landrieu, D-LA, who has also been vocal in her opposition to the
deal.

Update at 4:40 p.m. ET: The senator is continuing to talk, invoking the
memory of President Teddy Roosevelt and his trust-busting efforts. Sanders
says that it is time to break up the banks that are "too big to fail."

Update at 6:20 p.m. ET: While The Two-Way is winding down for the day and
looking forward to the weekend, Sen. Sanders is still going strong on the
floor of the Senate chamber.

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Live on C-SPAN
http://c-span.org/Watch/C-SPAN2.aspx

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
and the Realist adjusts his sails."

- Unknown