Filibuster Rules in the U.S. Senate

Filibuster Rules in the U.S. Senate A filibuster is a tactic used in the U.S. Senate to delay votes on controversial legislation or stifle debate on a topic. Typically, a senator wishing to filibuster will ask to speak on the floor of the chamber and, in an attempt to stall legislation action, hold forth for hours at a time. There are few rules that govern a filibuster because the Senate believes its members have the right to speak as long as they want on any issue.   The filibuster dates to the early 1800s. The record  for the longest filibuster is held by  the late U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes against the Civil Rights Act of 1957, according to U.S. Senate records. In the modern era,  Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky staged a daylong filibuster in 2013 that captivated conservatives and libertarians as well as the national news media. Critics call the filibuster unconstitutional at worst and unfair at best. Others believe it to be a  historical relic. Practitioners of the filibuster insist that it protects the rights of the minority against the tyranny of the majority. By their nature, filibusters are meant to draw attention to a specific issues and have the potential to inspire compromise. According to the U.S. Senate, the word filibuster comes from a Dutch word meaning pirate and was first used more than 150 years ago to describe efforts to hold the Senate floor in order to prevent action on a bill. One Way to Break a Filibuster Filibusters rules allow the delay tactic to go on for hours or even days. The only way to force the end of a filibuster is through parliamentary procedure known as  cloture, or Rule 22, which was adopted in 1917.  Once cloture is used, debate is limited to 30 additional hours of debate on the given topic. Sixty members of the 100-member Senate must vote for cloture to stop a filibuster.  At least 16 members of the Senate must sign a cloture motion or petition that states: We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the provisions of Rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, hereby move to bring to a close the debate upon (the matter in question). Important Dates in the History of the Filibuster ​Heres a look at some of the most important moments in the history of the filibuster and cloture. 1806:  The U.S. Senate amends its rulebook in a way that unwittingly allows a member or members to stall action by speaking for hours on end. The Senate, acting at the request of Vice President Aaron Burr, eliminated a provision called the previous question rule that allowed the chamber to cut off floor debate. Without such a measure in place, a senator was permitted to speak indefinitely, paving the way for the filibuster.1841: Henry Clay  threatens to change the Senates  filibuster rules to allow the majority to close debate when Democrats blocked a bank bill.1872: Vice President Schuyler Colfax rules that under the practice of the Senate the presiding officer could not restrain a Senator in remarks which the Senator considers pertinent to the pending issue.1919: First use of Rule 22 when Senate invoked cloture to end debate against the Treaty of Versailles.1935: Populist U.S. Sen. Huey Long of Louisiana filibusters  for 15 hours and 30 minutes trying, without success, to k eep Senate oversight of National Recovery Administrations senior employees. How was he able to speak so long? He recited  Shakespeare and read recipes for pot-likkers, a Southern term for the  broth created by cooking greens. 1957: U.S. Sen.  Strom Thurmond  of South Carolina filibusters  for a record 24 hours and 18 minutes as part of a move that successfully blocked the Civil Rights Act of 1957.1964: U.S. Sen.  Robert Byrd of West Virginia filibusters  for 14 hours and 13 minutes in an unsuccessful attempt to block the Civil Rights Act of 1964.1968: The Abe Fortas appointment to succeed Earl Warren as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is  derailed by Republicans through filibuster.2013:  Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky filibusters for nearly 13 hours  to question and raise awareness of the U.S. governments use of drones. It is the  ninth-longest filibuster in history.  I will speak until I can no longer speak, he said.  Paul ended his filibuster because he had to go to the bathroom. [This articled was updated in May  2018 by Tom Murse.]

Beware of Three Syntax Sins when Writing Business Proposals

Beware of Three Syntax Sins when Writing Business Proposals Sometimes the writing voice that speaks with confidence in your mind can trick you. Internally, you sound powerful, in control, and impressive. On paper, however, it can be a very different story. Poor syntax takes the confident writing voices in our heads and garbles it into an ineffective, hesitant sounding mush. We might not realize it because, frankly, we are used to seeing poor syntax in business writing. So the weak, timid-voiced writing passes through our proofreading radar unnoticed. Beware of the following three deadly sins of poor syntax when writing business proposals. If you eliminate these problems, your proposal will shine with confidence. 1. Refine Your Clarity Don't write with passivity. The passive voice likes to place the center of your sentence's action the subject that's doing the verb at the end of the sentence: i.e. "The sales numbers were calculated by John," which should be "John calculated the sales numbers." Here's a quick fix: if you scan your proposal for any use of the word "by," you will catch many of your passive sentences. The passive voice does have its uses, however. Its mild, cool-headed rhythm can be useful for conveying a business-like tone. But do not use it in excess. Strip your sentences of adverbs those little words we like to sprinkle into sentences to amplify our verbs and adjectives. It's amazing how clean, crisp, and powerful a sentence becomes when you strip the adverbs from it. Good novelists discovered this trick ages ago. However, you don't need a long list of adverbs to do this syntax cleanse. Just scan your manuscript for the most common offenders: the word "very" and any word that ends with "-ly" and remove it from the proposal. Your sentences will drop their excess weight and fly. Example: Before adverbs removed: Our CEO very happily confirmed that the incredibly effective new product line has attracted amazingly quick responses from very influential investors in a highly competitive market. After adverbs removed: Our CEO confirmed that the effective new product line has attracted immediate responses from influential investors in a competitive market. Of course, adverbs do have their purpose. Sometimes they help with tone and the rhythm of a sentence. But use them judiciously. 2. Drop the Jargon Using jargon creates a sense of insecurity. It's also annoying and distracting. What is jargon, exactly? It's the language of the business cultures we inhabit. Have you ever been asked what the primarytakeaway was from the meeting, instead of, "What did you take away from that meeting?" That's a classic example of jargon turning verbs into nouns. But jargon also turns nouns into verbs called "verbing." About Educationpublishing an article about verbing, and it used a dialogue from a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon to make its point: Calvin: I like to verb words. Hobbes: What? Calvin: I take nouns and adjectives and use them as verbs. Remember when "access" was a thing? Now it's something you do. It got verbed. . . . Verbing weirds language. Hobbes: Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to understanding. That's exactly what jargon does; it turns language into a barrier for understanding. The solution is simple: look for unconventional language or insider's terms specific to your work culture and replace them with plain, clear language. Jargon steals some of the professional sheen from your proposal. And, your proposal will be misunderstood if the client doesn't speak the same jargon. 3. Use Correct Terms: Avoid Lazy Proofreading Triple-proof your text to ensure you used the correct terms specific to your client's work. Incorrect terms, even if from human error, make you appear ignorant. Your reader will not trust you if you're misusing technical language and terminology. Do the extra work of checking your sources and brushing up on the proper terminology for the subject. Sometimes simple writing fatigue causes these errors. Try to avoid rush jobs that depend on late night proofreading. If you know the job will require an all night work session, try to schedule time the next day to do more proofreading when you have fresh eyes. When you are very familiar with a document, it's always best to let a day lapse before you proofread. Your eye becomes so accustomed to the document that it becomes very easy to miss an error. Our onlinebusiness proposal writing course will help you avoid these three deadly sins of bad syntax and fill your proposals with a powerful, effective, and confident voice.