That rotten filibuster in Senate has to go

[WI_DEM]

The filibuster thwarts the will of the majority. The House has acted on dozens of bills that are awaiting senate action but the minority (with renegade Dem support) rules even though on paper the Dems have 60 votes. The filibuster is what kept full civil rights from minorities for 100 years after the Civil War. Now there are 56 Democrats in the senate willing to vote for a Public Option but 3 "democrats" and 1 Liebercan are holding it up with the GOP.

Yes, I know that one day we can use the filibuster threat to stop a Republican president (though do Democrats ever do this!?) but in the long run I think every measure deserves an up or down vote.

Obama and the real Democrats can't accomplish anything of substance in the Senate (including a Climate Bill) due to the Liebercans in the party and threat of a filibuster.

I wish we could get rid of it.

[librechik]

1. I hear the "Senate has to go" part

they are useless to a 21st century populace. The House is enough for god's sake.

[whistler162]

5. Heck... lets just rewrite the whole Constitution and not just

the little part about the Senate and its jobs.

[librechik]

7. Might be a good idea--but I didn't say that.

The Constitution should be amendable by its current legitimate users. Not locked in a secret golden box where only the elite can piss on it at will.

[napi21]

2. I disagree. Pubs always seem to be able to get the 1 or 2 Dems or Inds. to

pass whatever they want. I want the fillabuster to stop any future Pub from getting insane! I know it would be great if the current makeup of the Senate could pass all the bills they want to, but think about the future. We are not crazy like the Pubs who thought they could have a permanent Pub majority! The Dems won't either! That's also the reason I don't want the line item veto.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

9. +1

[SteppingRazor]

3. It certainly is overused. Think about this simple statement:

A charismatic, popular president with a "filibuster-proof" majority in the Senate and a solid majority in the House is, at this point, seemingly incapable of governing the country.

If this administration and this Congress cannot pass its agenda -- and do so quite easily, in fact -- then how can we ever hope to accomplish anything?

[harun]

4. You've worked your way to the real definition of Conservatives "Accomplish nothing"

Let the rich keep getting richer, make the poor more poor as to provide cheaper labor for the super rich, and repeat.

Congress uses these road blocks to skirt responsibility.

[whistler162]

6. Okay.. and that way the next time Republicans take control

they can just ramrod through all there nice bills!

[DrToast]

17. What a concept! If the Republicans gain control they deserve to have their legislation passed

Elections matter, what a concept!

[karynnj]

8. Lieberman is working with Kerry on the Climate bill

Lieberman is awful on most things, but quite good on the environment. In fact, in 2004, he was the only opponent who really could have complained that the League of Conservation Voters endorsed Kerry early in the primaries. Kerry was the leading environmentalist in the Senate, but his LCV life time record a high 96, was just a point higher than Lieberman's - as opposed to Edwards' score which was in the 60s. The bigger threat to a bill are 14 Democrats who want a complete pass for coal power plants - including DU favorites like Franken and Feingold.

[WI_DEM]

10. that's good, but he certainly is a thorn on democrats on most other things.

[karynnj]

13. You aren't kidding on that!

I absolutely can't believe that we have a former VP nominee who would filibuster healthcare just because he is angry at the party.

[joeglow3]

11. Ummm, no.

Think about all those judicial nominees of Bush we would be stuck with now.

[Arkana]

12. Yeah, I'm pretty sure the prevailing opinion was the exact opposite

when we were in the minority.

Seriously, people.

[Clintonista2]

14. No freaking kidding. Some people have such short memories

And they lack the ability to see beyond the next 3 years.

[DrToast]

18. Some people prefer democracy

Let the party in power pass their legislation an let the people decide what they want. What are you afraid of?

[onenote]

15. and a few years ago MoveOn and Common Cause were defending filibusters

I think the repubs are being obstructionist and I'd like to see it made more of an issue and maybe even force their hand by requiring them to engage in an old fashioned hold the floor filibuster on health care when the time is right (i.e., after there has been a sufficient period of debate so that they can't claim that they haven't had their say).

However, it wasn't all that long ago that progressives were strongly defending the filibuster and I have no doubt that the day will come when we will be glad to have it available to us.

And yes, Democrats have used the filibuster threat/cloture vote to block legislation that, on a simple up or down vote, would otherwise have passed. Some things that would be law today if we hadn't had this tool at our disposal (just off the top of my head) Drilling in ANWR;Strict parental notification law for abortion; Repeal of the estate tax.

[Better Believe It]

16. Bush got almost all of his legislation and all of his Supreme Court nominations past the Senate

So much for so-called filibusters.

The Democrats can stop phantom Republican filibusters any time they wish.

Now tell me Senator Reid isn't familiar with parliamentary procedures and the power he has as the Senate majority leader.

[onenote]

19. how many bills has obama not gotten in his first 11 months because of "so called" filibusters?

As I said, I think health care reform may be the bill where Reid ought to force an old fashioned filibuster.

But killing the filibuster would be a bad idea, unless of course you're a fan of the types of legislation that the Democrats did successfully prevent from being enacted during chimpy's term or a fan of judges like Estrada, Myers, Pickering, Saad, and Haynes, all of whom were blocked from being confirmed by the Democrats.

Yes, Roberts and Alito were confirmed. As was Sotamayor. And yes the repubs are forcing more cloture votes than has been the norm. But in the vast majority of instances, the repubs have failed to block cloture. More nominations and legislation has probably been held up this term by the practice of Senatorial "holds" than by need to get 60 votes to bring a bill or nomination to a vote.

[HughMoran]

20. It sucks

I wish we could temporarily suspend it for healthcare