Winning

Josh Marshall catalogs a lot of good reasons why the GOP "allowed" Obama a bunch of wins during the lame duck session.
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/12/why_the_run_of_wins.php?ref=fpblg

He mentions the fact that the GOP's obstruction of no-brainers like START was entirely political - making Obama look like a failure was the goal.  He mentions the fact that the election freed up moderates in the GOP to actually BE moderates - think Murkowski.  He also brings up the goodwill engendered by giving the GOP the only solitary thing they care about: tax cuts for millionaires.

The one thing he doesn't mention, and I think it's important.  Harry Reid was going to make them work on Christmas.

I'm serious.

As we approach the prospect of filibuster reform in January (check this out to discover what it is), we should remember that the modern filibuster is a joke.  It's a pain-free vote that requires no more commitment than showing up, blowing a fart at the majority and then jetting off to a fundraiser.

Because a filibuster became effectively part of the legislative process - rather than a last ditch effort to protect the rights of the minority - it meant that the GOP suffered no damage from obstructing meaningful legislation.  In fact they gained a great deal from it politically.

When they were faced with an actual painful consequence to their actions, I think that helped free up a few votes.  Ultimately, Bob Corker and George Voinovich want to spend the holidays with their families more than they want to give another hollow victory to Mitch McConnell. **

If the Merkley filibuster reform goes through, and - bigger if - if the Democrats regain control of the House in 2012, it would be interesting to see what sort of legislation we might see.  Energy policy?  A sane immigration policy?

It would have been nice to have this in place over the last two years.

** Correction: in the original post, I identified the Senate Minority Leader as Mr. Banana-Slug-Face Weaselbreath.  I apologize for the mistake.