Wouldn't you like your representatives to read the bills they vote on?  Seems only reasonable, but Senators are outraged over Senator Jim DeMint's proposal to do just that.  He said last week that he was going to use the rules to force a full reading of both the START Treaty and the Democrat's Omnibus spending bills on the Senate floor.  According to a spokesman for Senator DeMint (R), the readings could take 7 to 12 hours for the START Treaty, while the Omnibus could take 40 to 60 hours.

Predictably, Majority leader Harry Reid (D) calls it a "colossal waste of time."  Consider that a similar tactic last year by Senator Tom Coburn  (R) ended in a withdrawal of the Health Care Bill amendment he was reading in public.  Well, maybe the threat was enough, or maybe other factors were in play, because the Omnibus spending bill (at over 1900 pages), was indeed withdrawn!  Seems this tactic is a very good use of time.

The Daily Caller credits tea party involvement, and even Senator Coburn, through his spokesman, said "[It was] 100 percent grassroots...The American people took it down." This grassroots wave appeared to give backing to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) to pressure key GOP lawmakers to stand firm against the legislation.  As long as we keep writing our Representatives and Senators, we have a chance at keeping them in line long past the recent November election.