filibuster, cloture, closure, unlimited, property, donation

In 2013 in a bid to block a health-care bill, former presidential candidate Ted Cruz read aloud from Dr Seuss's “Green Eggs and Ham”

How filibustering works

Which country's politicians hold the world record, with a nine-day speechathon?

ECON.ST

Charities 'fear closure' due to cuts and donation fall

A quarter of charities questioned said they had already been forced to cut frontline services

Continue reading the main story

Related Stories

• Charity donations 'down a fifth'
• Third of charity shops may close
• Charity jobs go as budgets shrink

One in six UK charities questioned for a survey say they fear they may have to close in 2013 due to public spending cuts and falling donations, the Charities Aid Foundation has said.

AT&T Caps Unlimited Data Plans

AT&T is effectively ending unlimited data plans, saying that it will no longer let customers use more than a set amount of data per month without penalty.


cloture (KLO-chuhr)

noun
The action of closing a debate by calling for an immediate vote.

verb tr.
To close a debate by cloture. [From French cloture (closure), eventually from Latin claustrum (barrier).

Usage
"A senator can challenge legislation by staging a filibuster, a maneuver to block action on an item by controlling the Senate floor for an unlimited time. A filibuster can be ended through legislative agreement, or by invoking cloture, which requires 60 votes. The Senate is evenly split, with 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats." — Filibuster Vowed if Bush Seeks Arctic Oil, The New York Times, Feb 13, 2001.


cloture,

[名][U][C]《米国議会》討論終結.

━━[動](他)(自)（討論を）打ち切らせて［打ち切って］すぐ採決にはいる（((英))closure）.


 Lawmakers Use Earmarks to Aid Own Properties
Post investigation finds congressmen have steered more than $300 million to dozens of public projects near their own properties.


social closure.

closure

n.

1. The act of closing or the state of being closed: closure of an incision.
2. Something that closes or shuts.
3. 1. A bringing to an end; a conclusion: finally brought the project to closure.
   2. A feeling of finality or resolution, especially after a traumatic experience.
4. See cloture.
5. The property of being mathematically closed.

tr.v., -sured, -sur·ing, -sures.
To cloture (a debate).

[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin clausūra, fortress, lock, from clausus, enclosed. See close. Sense 4, translation of French clôture.]

property

(prŏp'ər-tē)
n., pl., -ties.

1. 1. Something owned; a possession.
   2. A piece of real estate: has a swimming pool on the property.
   3. Something tangible or intangible to which its owner has legal title: properties such as copyrights and trademarks.
   4. Possessions considered as a group.
2. The right of ownership; title.
3. An article, except costumes and scenery, that appears on the stage or on screen during a dramatic performance.
4. 1. A characteristic trait or peculiarity, especially one serving to define or describe its possessor.
   2. A characteristic attribute possessed by all members of a class. See synonyms at quality.
5. A special capability or power; a virtue: the chemical properties of a metal.

[Middle English, from Old French propriete, from Latin proprietās, ownership (translation of Greek idiotēs), from proprius, one's own.]

propertyless prop'er·ty·less adj.


A filibuster is a parliamentary procedure where debate is extended, allowing one or more members to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a given proposal. It is sometimes referred to as talking out a bill or talking a bill to death^[1] and characterized as a form of obstruction in a legislature or other decision-making body. The English term "filibuster" is derived from the Spanish filibustero, itself deriving originally from the Dutch vrijbuiter, "privateer, pirate, robber" (also the root of English "freebooter"^[2]). The Spanish form entered the English language in the 1850s, as applied to military adventurers from the United States then operating in Central America and the Spanish West Indies such as William Walker.^[3][4]

拉布，又叫冗長演說、冗長辯論，係議員喺議會利用議事程序，延遲或押後一啲佢哋反對嘅議案。呢啲行動包括用拖延動議、特登缺席令到唔夠法定人數開會、陳述一啲超長或冇意義嘅演說。拉布只會出現嚮法治、民主社會 。

而議會議長運用權力去中止拉布嘅手法，就稱之為「剪布」。

Filibuster：民主是“拖”出來的嗎？

如何阻止一項議案的通過？美國參議員們的辦法是：連續演講24小時、朗讀《聖經》、莎士比亞，甚至背菜譜。上週，參議員麥康奈爾發表《 拖延戰術(filibuster)在我們的憲法秩序中扮演著重要角色 》一文，為這種看似荒謬卻古老的議事規則辯護。

Filibuster意指“使用某種極端拖延戰術（比如發表冗長演講）來推遲或阻止行動”，常被翻譯成“冗長辯論”、“阻撓議事的拖延戰術”等。由於讀音相近，也被稱為“費力把事拖”。這個詞來源於西班牙語filibustero，意為阻礙航海通行的“海盜、劫掠者”。

在美國政治中，filibuster是一種合法的議事方式：少數黨參議員往往會通過無休止的演說等手段來拖延表決時間、癱瘓議事程序。在冗長演講的外衣下，拖延戰術賦予了少數黨阻止提案通過的重要權力，沒有它，民主的結果常是多數黨自上而下的統治。