that most of us added items to for several years, collapses because the only way to stop bills is a nuclear strength threat. we ll make it easier for you. i guess the risk, republicans aren t showing their cards on this either. the way they look at this showdown on january 5th is that if they start a debate on changing rules, they could create mischief and try to add more permanent rule changes. honestly, the biggest impediment to merkley is that no one takes it seriously. i guess if they want to get inspired or be optimistic, look at what happened tonight with earmarks. with the omnibus bill. for a number of years, john mccain, tom coburn and a few have been shouting in the dark about how we had to defeat bills that included earmarks. didn t work for a number of years. didn t work last year. this year, it collapses. it is possible just by shouting loudly enough and getting taken seriously to shift the reality of the senate.
aren t showing their cards on this either. the way they look at this showdown on january 5th is that if they start a debate on changing rules, they could create mischief and try to add more permanent rule changes. honestly, the biggest impediment to merkley is that no one takes it seriously. i guess if they want to get inspired or be optimistic, look at what happened tonight with earmarks. with the omnibus bill. for a number of years, john mccain, tom coburn and i few have been shouting in the dark about how we had to defeat bills that included earmarks. didn t work for a number of years. didn t work last year. this year, it collapses. it is possible just by shouting loudly enough and getting taken seriously to shift the reality of the senate. it is unique in that way. it takes this long and this push pressure to do it. i don t want to sound like i m