Sen. Barbara Boxer Defends Filibusters, Suggests Reforms

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) called for reforming but not eliminating the practice of filibustering in the Senate.

Asked about the controversial practice, in which a senator or group of senators can refuse to yield to the other party and allow a bill to proceed, Boxer said the filibuster has its place, but it's being abused. "It's being used on motions to adjourn," she said.

She suggested that the practice be reformed by, for example, reducing the number of votes needed to end a filibuster from 60 to 55 votes, which would still be high enough to "protect the minority" party. Boxer also said the filibuster should go back to its roots, when senators used to have to stand at the podium and read from phone books for hours on end in their efforts to stop a bill in its tracks. "I think you should have to stand on your feet all night if you want to filibuster," she said.

Boxer was speaking at The Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco. The moderator for the event was Bob Saldich, (above, at podium), a former president of the Club's board of governors. Just slightly more than two months before the November election – in which she is vying for her seat against Republican businesswoman Carly Fiorina – the senator's appearance drew a sold-out audience and many journalists (see photo right).

Four More Years for Ben Bernanke; What Will He Do?

Ben Bernanke was confirmed by the U.S. Senate today for a second four-year term as chairman of the Federal Reserve. He was supported by 70 senators, which sounds like a lot but is actually the lowest support a Fed chairman has ever received.

His reactions to the financial crisis have been lauded and lamented; he has been criticized for being too slow, too fast, too interventionist, too power-hungry -- and all of that likely contributed to his relative unpopularity in the Senate chamber. At the same time, he is Fed chair at a time of economic troubles unmatched since the Great Depression, which just happens to be an era on which he is a scholar.

David Wessel, economics editor for The Wall Street Journal and author of In Fed We Trust: Ben Bernanke's War on the Great Panic (and perhaps the only person to compare speaking to The Commonwealth Club with Judge Judy), addressed The Commonwealth Club in September 2009 on the topic of "Ben Bernanke vs. the Great Panic." Watch the video above of that presentation to see what insight Wessel offers into Bernanke's decision-making, and what that tells us about how the Fed chief is likely to steer the economy in his second term.