Two Great NLRB/Rules Reform Events Next Week (The Broken Senate: A Case for Senate Rules Reform)

[Omaha Steve]

From E-mail.

Two great events next week.

Common Cause Hosts
The Broken Senate: Restoring Democracy and Fixing the Filibuster
A Case for Senate Rules Reform

Six months into President Obama’s second term, critical cabinet and other positions remain vacant as a minority of U.S. senators threaten to filibuster the president’s nominees. Common Cause will host a panel discussion on the Senate’s misuse of the filibuster, the unprecedented backlog of nominations to critical agencies and federal courts, how the ensuing gridlock is affecting the nation and what can be done about it.

This panel comes as the Senate is expected to consider rules changes this summer to its 60-vote filibuster rule, particularly as to nominations.

WHAT: Panel Discussion, The Broken Senate: Restoring Democracy and Fixing the Filibuster

WHO: US Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) (invited), champion of filibuster reform
Nan Aron, president of Alliance for Justice Action Campaign
Larry Cohen, president, Communications Workers of America
Norman J. Ornstein – resident scholar, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Stephen Spaulding, staff counsel, Common Cause

WHEN: Wednesday, July 10 at 10am

WHERE: First Amendment Lounge, National Press Club, 529 14th St., Washington DC

RSVP here (www.commoncause.org/dc/brokensenate)

Nominees to head the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Labor, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and members of the National Labor Relations Board, to name just a few, are hung up on the threat of a filibuster that repeatedly grinds that chamber to a halt. Over the past decade, an obstructionist minority of U.S. senators has fundamentally altered the legislative playing field, distorting any tradition of deliberation and consensus beyond recognition. The filibuster is now used to block an unprecedented number of legislative measures and nominations, blocking progress on issues that Americans care about. The filibuster’s 60 vote rule no longer extends due deliberation – rather, it is a favorite tool of a minority of the Senate to obstruct and stifle open debate. This panel of filibuster experts will discuss how the abuse of this rule is hurting democracy and what the possible solutions are.

CAP Hosts
Will the NLRB Be Able to Protect Workers’ Rights?

July 10, 2013, 9:30am ET - 10:15am ET

Workplace protections taken for granted by union and nonunion workers alike could functionally disappear if the Senate does not act quickly to approve the president’s five bipartisan nominees to the National Labor Relations Board, or NLRB, in August, leaving millions of workers vulnerable and with nowhere to turn.

As the Senate considers potential rule changes that would eliminate the type of obstruction that has blocked the appointment of NLRB board members and countless other well-qualified presidential nominees, please join the Center for American Progress Action Fund for a conversation with U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO. The discussion will explore the NLRB’s role as an advocate for all American workers and the Senate fight to ensure the agency, as well as the entire federal government, can continue to operate.

Sign Up at http://www.americanprogressaction.org/events/2013/07/02/68743/will-the-nlrb-be-able-to-protect-workers-rights/?evlc=rsvp