anyone on either side would be able to characterize this fairly as a sweeping overhaul of senate rules. they are just not that sweeping. do you think it would work? i think it would have some effect. there are all kinds of possibilities in terms of reforms. some have gone to suggest that the filibuster should be removed all together and it should be a majority rule institution the way it used to be. the kind of changes that democrats have in mind would make a difference. i just don t know how much. we also don t have all the details yet. we don t know to what extent he wants to make changes. it looks like we d see an incremental step in the right direction. it s interesting to view the republicans on this. mitch mcconnell quoted robert bird today saying that bird would have wanted these rule changes. is he correct? it s hard to speculate. senator bird is no longer with