Filibuster Deal

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have reportedly reached some kind of bipartisan deal on the filibuster. There are a lot of additional details at the link, but this strikes me as the most important bit of reform:

The two leaders agreed that they will make some changes in how the Senate carries out filibusters under the existing rules, reminiscent of the handshake agreement last term, which quickly fell apart. First, senators who wish to object or threaten a filibuster must actually come to the floor to do so. And second, the two leaders will make sure that debate time post-cloture is actually used in debate. If senators seeking to slow down business simply put in quorum calls to delay action, the Senate will go live, force votes to produce a quorum, and otherwise work to make sure senators actually show up and debate.

Digby says: "Better than nothing, but still not much. The story of our time." Yup.