wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

That Lugar, who ran unopposed six years ago and collected 87 percent of the vote in 2006 was tossed out by a Tea Party candidate last week should send shockwaves to every incumbent politician on the ballot this November. Why?

It’s hard to imagine the Senate without the filibuster, but now the non-profit group Common Cause is filing a lawsuit against the Supreme Court claiming that the notorious senate procedure is, in fact, unconstitutional. The Takeaway talks with the plaintiff’s attorney Emmet Bondurant and filibuster scholar Gregory Koger to find out where the filibuster came from, what good it’s done us, and whether it’s going to stick around.        

The United States Senate has taken a page from Invisible Children's playbook and produced a video about bringing Joseph Kony to justice that they hope will go viral. Bob speaks with Senator Chris Coons, the chairman of the Senate subcommittee on African Affairs and one of the senators behind the video. 

When President Obama became the first black president in 2008, it seemed to mark a tremendous historical turning point for black representation in American political life. But four years later there has been no great renaissance in black electoral representation. If the number of office-holders was demographically proportionate, there would be at least 12 African American senators and six governors. In reality, there are currently no African-American senators and only one African-American governor in office.

Ira Shapiro recounts the Senators of the 1960s and 1970s who overcame opposition to civil rights, passed Great Society legislation, and battled the executive branch on Vietnam, Watergate, and its abuses of power. In The Last Great Senate, he looks at how the Senate changed with the 1980 elections, and he offers insight into how the Senate used to work and what happened to diminish it.

Over the past ten months, Syrian Security Forces have killed more than 5,000 protestors across the country. But this weekend, two key voices announced their calls to action: the Arab League will seek U.N. Security Council approval to peacefully end the rule of President Bashar al-Assad, and Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer introduced a bill that would block financial aid and create trade sanctions against Syrian leaders involved in the crackdown.

Republicans in the House of Representatives have rejected a deal that would have extended the payroll tax holiday and extended unemployment benefits for millions of Americans. Not passing the bill, which enjoyed overwhelming support from both parties in the Senate and the White House, will cause payroll taxes to go up by about $20 per paycheck for tens of millions of Americans. More than three million people stand to lose their unemployment benefits. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has called on the Senate, which adjourned Saturday, to return to negotiations, though Democrats are refusing to return to negotiations.

Takeaway Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich looks at two major stories playing out inside the halls of Congress this week. The White House is attempting to push recalcitrant Senate Republicans to confirm former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Forty-five Senate Republicans signed a letter in May vowing to block any nominee unless Congress was given more oversight of the bureau. Zwillich also spent time on Capitol hill talking to lawmakers about GOP frontrunner Newt Gingrich. 

Neither Democrats' nor Republicans' plans for extending payroll tax cuts passed the Senate on Thursday. The former proposed to extend tax cuts on federal withholdings like Social Security and unemployment for employers and employees; the latter wanted to freeze federal worker's pay until 2015 and reduce that workforce by ten percent. While the respective failure of both measures is attributable to partisanship, some senator's refusals to vote along party lines reflect fierce internal debates about the best way to proceed.

The Senate is set to vote on a new part of President Obama's $447 billion jobs bill which includes funding for programs to help build roads, bridges and other public works programs. The bill is likely to fail, but that has not stopped the president from continuing to campaign for its passage. Andrea Bernstein, director of the Transportation Nation project and senior correspondent for WNYC, looks at why President Obama continues to push for infrastructure despite it looking like a losing cause.

On Wednesday, Senate Democratic leaders proposed a five percent surtax on Americans with incomes of $1 million or more per year. Senate majority leader Harry Reid said the surtax would raise nearly half of $1 trillion over the next decade, which is the amount necessary to cover President Obama's jobs bill. A recent CBS news poll showed that 64 percent of Americans think that those who earn more than $1 million per year should pay more in taxes, which means the public may be on board for the new tax. Now, Democrats will need to gain Republican support for the measure.

Senate leaders say the Chinese government's practice of forcing the value of the Yuan artificially low, in comparison to the U.S. dollar, gives Chinese companies an unfair advantage in trade, and is harming the American job market. To combat this, the Senate has passed a bipartisan bill, which the White House is reviewing, to pressure Beijing to alleviate some of those financial controls.

Elizabeth Warren announced her bid for the Massachusetts Senate seat currently occupied by Republican Scott Brown (and formerly by Democrat Edward Kennedy) just over two weeks ago. Since then, she's obtained widespread support from top Democrats and has created a moderately viral video.

A Senate panel will open an antitrust inquiry into the business practices of Google today. The search giant's executive chairman Eric Schmidt is expected to testify. Federal authorities are accusing the company of playing favorites with its own businesses in search results. Microsoft endured a similar antitrust case, which took nearly a year to resolve.

Consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren officially announced her candidacy for Senate in Massachusetts on Wednesday. Warren was the driving force behind the creation of the Consumer Protection Agency, and has been a lightening rod for Congressional Republicans. She'll be challenging Senator Scott Brown, who was elected in a special election to fill Ted Kennedy's seat in 2010. (You can watch her official announcement after the jump.)

Elizabeth Warren, Obama administration insider and bank bailout overseer, is expected to announce a run for U.S. Senate Wednesday, challenging Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Thursday that Congress has struck a deal to fund the Federal Aviation Administration, ending a weeks-long partisan impasse that kept 4,000 FAA workers off the job, and tens of thousands out of work in airport construction. The Senate will ensure that a deal can be made before lawmakers leave for August vacation, and the bill will fund the agency through September 16.

There are potentially three different votes pertaining to Libya happening in Washington this week. House Republicans are set to vote on a proposal that would defund the American military mission in Libya, and Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) put out a joint resolution on Tuesday authorizing limited use of forces in Libya. The senators are partly responding to critics who say President Obama violated the War Powers Act by not getting the mission in Libya approved ahead of time by Congress. There is also talk of the House putting out its own resolution to remove all troops from NATO operations in Libya.

They represent what may be the last great hope for a grand compromise on the budget crisis facing America. Their success or failure could mean either a new tone in Washington or a long fight to the finish of the 2012 elections. The fight also includes everything from raised retirement age and Medicare changes to higher taxes. But who are the Gang of Six? With the help of Todd Zwillich, The Takeaway's Washington correspondent, we take a closer look at six men in whose hands the fate of a giant policy resolution may rest.

There are 95 vacancies in the federal courts, forcing semi-retired senior judges to pick up the slack — a lot of it. Arizona judges are under particular duress; their courts have such a back load, they can’t meet the Speedy Trial Act, a law that requires courts to try criminal defendants within 70 days after they are charged. Caseloads in most federal courts continue to increase while the number of active judges shrinks — and yet 45  judicial nominees are languishing in the Senate. Why hasn't the Senate confirmed these nominees?