joining us, steven spalding. welcome. thanks for having me. absolutely. this lawsuit, you argue, is basically important. people should care because you re saying we have actually seen a total shift in the constitutional balance of powers between the president and the senate. explain that and what you re hoping to achieve. sure, well, you know, it s almost tbecome cliche to talk about how unpopular congress is. the latest polls i think had cockroaches polling more popular than congress. there s a lot of reasons for that, but that s because americans expect their government to be responsive and it hasn t been responsive. there s been complete and utter gridlock. there s a lot of reasons for that. the corrosive influence of big money in our politics. in the heart, partisan gerrymandering, but the sharpest weapon, the sharpest tool in the tool box of senator mcconnell and the republicans is this filibuster rule, which is incredibly undemocratic and
0 vehemently denied. only brief glimpsed of governor christie coming and going from florida republican fund-raisers this weekend, but a once supportive ally, the democratic mayor of hoboken, made a series of tv appearances and allegations against christie s administration. it s not fair for the governor to hold sandy funds hostage for the city of hoboken because he wants me to give back to one private developer. dawn zimmer released a statement sunday night saying she met for several hours at their request with the new jersey u.s. attorney s office. and promised to provide any requested information and testify under oath. zimmer claims that last may, new jersey s lieutenant governor told her that hurricane relief money would be delayed unless the mayor supported a particular developer s project. she pulled me aside in the parking lot and she said, i know it s not right. i know this thing should not be connected, but they r and if you tell anyone, i ll deny it. christie s offi
but the american people want action. at the table steven spalding, staff counsel for common cause, a group suing the nat to have the filibuster declared unconstitutional. tara wall, dorian warren and lawyer and nbc latino contributor, raul reyes. all right, steven, how could it be unconstitutional? the constitution does say each chamber can set its own rules. we think the senate should be able to do that with a majority belief. contemporary to popular belief, the 11th amendment was thou shalt need 60 votes to pass a bill. if you go back to the founding, the founders in the federalist papers said they considered a super majority requirement and rejected it. they said to have a super majority requirement could be used by a corrupt hunt a to embarrass the administration,
good morning. i m melissa harris-perry. earlier this year, nerdland made a contribution to the political lexicon with the term premature speculation. you know, it s the way we in the media jump the gun to call the winner before the race really gets going. well, this week we beg your forgiveness for our own more than slight case of premature speculation. but fact is fact. even before we ve inaugurated the election of 2012, positioning has begun for election 2016. there was former florida governor jeb bush, just this week making political reporters salivate by getting about his close to the white house as he could without actually being in it. he met with a group of former staffers at a hotel on pennsylvania avenue giving a smile and a coy response when asked about his plans to one day vie to occupy the presidential mansion just up the block. then just two saturdays ago, florida senator marco rubio was showing a little leg in iowa showing this early nominating state where he br