Bernie Sanders filibuster turns Twitter-buster

Sen. Bernie Sanders went from filibuster to Twitter-buster hours into his nine-hour stand Friday against the proposed tax cut deal, the first genuine filibuster seen in the Senate since 1992.

Twitter users flocked to Sanders' page to express their support for the independent senator from Vermont, a longtime critic of extending tax cuts for America’s wealthiest and a vocal critic of the deal President Obama negotiated with Republicans, as he stood talking for hour after hour with only water as sustenance.  

Sanders added more than 4,000 new Twitter followers, and his name trended at No. 1 on  Twitter throughout much of the afternoon. His name was also a top search term on Google Trends.

Sanders took the floor at 7:25 a.m. PST and eventually ceded it just after 4 p.m. His staff tweeted continually through his stand, the latest being: "Sen. Bernie Sanders is now in his 9th hour of ...

...non-stop #filibuster. Sanders has not left the floor once in that time."

His Tweets are listed below.

Sanders, the longest-serving independent senator in U.S. history, who caucuses with Democrats, spoke on the day Bill Clinton joined Obama in the Oval Office to voice his support for the tax deal, which would extend expiring tax cuts for the wealthy and middle class, renew jobless benefits and institute a broad one-year cut in Social Security payroll taxes. 

It has been the subject of heavy criticism from congressional Democrats and Obama's voter base.

Filibusters, typically used to derail legislation when one political side lacks the necessary 60 votes to bring cloture to debate, are rare in practice. 

The last filibuster occurred in 1992 when Sen. Al D'Amato (R-N.Y.) spoke for hours to oppose a change in a tax bill that would have hurt a home-state typewriter company, the Associated Press reported. 

-- Craig Howie

Photo: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) took to the Senate floor for nine hours Friday. Credit: Associated Press

You can join  more than 50,000 others by clicking here for Twitter alerts of each new Ticket item. Follow us @latimestot or @craighowieLAT. Our Facebook Like page is over here. Also available on Kindle now with a two-week free trial.

Comments

[Henry Porter]

I think the feat is notable for more than its duration. Some of the numbers Sanders cited were truly eye-popping.

I was stunned to learn that the top 1% of Americans had income equal to the bottom 50%. That's the sort of economic disparity we used to expect in "banana republics" like Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. But even more stunning was the fact that 403 American billionaires have a combined worth of 1.3 trillion dollars. That is the GDP of Canada. That is who the Republicans are working for -- Billionaires. You know they're not working for Canadians because they are not even working for Americans.

Here is how bizarre things have become:

Every other time in American history - under Republican or Democratic administrations, regardless of which party controls the Congress - whenever unemployment was over 7% (we are pushing 10% at the moment) Unemployment Insurance was ALWAYS extended.

Now it's a compromise?

The abandonment of American working families by the Republican Party is the news story here.

[Jen]

Proud to be a Vermonter today. Go get 'em Bernie!

[Ron]

A few noteworthy responses:

tweetwatch Who knew you could #filibuster in 140 characters or less?

gracels: Never has so much truth been spoken in the Senate in 8.5 hours.

CarolineBright: I love it when our politicians put Vermont on the map- we are small, but we are mighty!

markczerniec: The point of Bernie Sanders' 8.5 hr #filibuster? Write your reps. Tell them you do not support the tax deal

[R. McAlister]

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts Mr. Sanders. Y0u are truly speaking for the majority, although you wouldn't know it with the way the media gives all the time to those few who are most vocal, including my ex-governor of Alaska. Thank you again.

[libhomo]

This reflects the deep hunger among the American people for honesty and integrity in DC.

[Staunch liberal]

It warms my heart to hear this model senator echo the truths that had been
absent from the public discourse after the passing away of workers true heroes
Lenin,Joseph Stalin and Mao.Humanity has no choice but to evolve towards a
socialist world government if we are put a stop to the shamefull exploitation
of the proletarian masses by the criminal capitalists.

[Rashid Olberman]

Dont tell me the great empire is starting to crumble...at last.

[Jingling hell's bells]

There is no more unfit person than Sanders serving in the US senate.One has
to harken back to that Minessota senator who died in a plane crash some 7 or 8
years ago(I forget the idiot democrat's name)to find the same celebration of
Marxism.Vermonters intellect needs to be questioned for electing a true
ennemy of everything that has made this country the envy of the world.

[Bolshevic senators polluting our democracy]

Sanders aint no friend of freedom and private enterprise.Along with other
nutjobs such as Franken,Finegold,Leahy,Lautenberg and Coons;Sanders is
always siding with those who believe in government take-overs and appointment of liberal activist judges.Vermont needs a law to permit recall of
elected officials.

[tasha]

Everyone needs to put this information on their facebooks etc. I searched around to see if it had made news and the government is not showing this video to the american public. They are going to pretend that this isnt happening. Nothing new of course but just a reminder to SHARE this information. Everyone needs to write their representative not just for this bill but for everything that has been going on. This is our country and we need to take it back. The time is now.

[jk2001]

I listened for three hours. The part where he read the letters for desperate Vermonters was something else. Thank you Bernie!

I hope Barbara Boxer takes the podium. Are you with us Barb?

[JeffreyCT]

Senator Sanders has got the back bone, courage, integrity, and strongest sense of moral obligation that President Obama and other democrats are lacking! They should be ashamed of themselves.

[terry]

By the terms of the agreement people whose unemployment has run out can no get a 13 month extension. That means if you add 99 weeks - the previous max - and 13 months - 52 weeks - you get 151 weeks of unemployment. That's just short of 3 years of unemployment insurance.

Can you say 'work ethic' boys and girls?

Staunch liberal - I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you are (trying to be) sarcastic.

If I am wrong I list you as just another democrat who has a severe irony deficiency.

Tasha - the government is NOT trying to keep this vital information - the filibuster - from reaching the gum-chewing public. How do I know this? I was channel surfing and I stumbled on msnbc.com and your very own (sainted) olby was showing it.

Keep your knickers on folks - Obama is showing signs of pragnmatism, which means that this is the last gasp of the democratic wet dream.

Meanwhile - People like Bernie & Barney (there's a cute couple!) will do & say whatever they please because they come from safe areas where the voters (that's you!) do what they're told.

[Marxist-Leninist Baloney]

Christine O'donnel is a mental giant compared to Sanders.If Jk 2001 listened
for 3 hours he needs to see an exorcist.Some people wish that we all become
equally poor.Cycle and hammer nostalgia is alive and well among Sanders
worshipers.

[Barry Hussein]

The more time wasted on this nonsense the less likely that the traitorous "Dream Act" will receive any chance to be debated. It needs to die on the Senate floor like the garbage swept off the podium.

[Let's hear it for comrade Sanders]

Tovarich Sanders is god's gift to the rebirth of the proletarian masses noblest
of strugles.Hugo Chavez and Spain's Zapatero figure like right wing nuts in
comparison to our heroic vermont senator.Socialism of Carl Marx inspiration
is the only way forward and if Obama cant cut the mustard rest assured that
sen. Sanders will be victorious as a primary challenger to the Chicago
schlepper.

[America's Fidel]

Sen. Sanders is the USA's best hope to achieve the dictatorship of the proletariat.Ask not what you can do for your country ,let the rich criminal
capitalists regurgitate the wealth they have stolen from the exploited true
creators of the wealth...I.E. the workers.Cuba does provide free universal
healthcare and free childcare to all of it's citizens.Our pseudo left wing
uncle toms's best moove is to force us all to buy an overpriced insurance policy from the capitalist sharks.

[Carol Boersema]

Bernie Sanders

You are amazing and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.

[Worse than the bubonic plague]

The socialo/marxist recipees of Sanders would bring about the demise of this
planets most succesfull human experiment.Freedom and entrepreneurial spirit
would be replaced by dependency on government handouts until total
bankruptcy brought the nation back to the stone age.

[jeremy lee]

anyone find it interesting that the blame of these passing was pushed onto democrats in this article? instead of those pushing the bill in the first place, republican representatives. gotta love how the media spins stories in whatever way benefits them the most.

[Dunlop]

Proud to be a Vermonter today. Go get 'em Bernie!