113th Senate: Barney Frank and filibuster Reform

>>> tonight. former congressman barney frank was in retirement for less than a day before he announced his intention to hold office one more time. frank revealed today that he has already reached out to massachusetts governor deval patrick and offered to serve as interim senator if john kerry is confirmed as secretary of state. frank cited the fiscal cliff deal as his motivation to head back to the hill.

>> that deal now means that february, march and april are going to be among the most important months in american financial.

>> so you're considering it?

>> i'm not going to be coy. it's not anything i've ever been good at. i would tell the governor that i would now like, frankly, to do that because i would like to be a part of that.

>> governor patrick hasn't made any decisions yet, but said barney frank would make a great interim senator. democrats could use a strong progressive voice like barney frank as they stand to tackle other big issues like filibuster reform. on thursday senators tom udall , jeff merkley and tom harkin introduced a resolution to dramatically overhaul the filibuster rules, including a rule to establish the talking filibuster rule. i love it. the change would force senator who filibustered to actually speak on the floor, unlike the current rules that allow senators senato senators to action.

>> we need to lay out the elements that are essential for making the senate work. that's getting rid of the silent secret filibuster. this is the way that bills are killed, bills that are important to america. all these bills killed in the dark of night by filibusters where nobody actually showed up and spent anymore n any time and energy.

>> when the senate resumes democrats will need 51 votes to change the rules.

>>> tonight in our survey i asked will republican lies about social security work on the american people ? 25% yes and 75% no.

>>> we'll set the record straight