Over the last 2 years Republicans have obstructed the democratic functioning of the Senate by putting an inordinate amount of holds on President Obama’s nominees for judges and other offices. Republicans have instituted the filibuster on more bills than any other Congress in the history of the country.
In effect Republicans have been holding America hostage with their 41 votes. In other words a 41 Senator minority dictated policy over the 59 Senator majorities. That is not Democracy. Moreover, many of the Senators opposing progressive bills generally represent a very small part of the American population, thus imposing the values of an American minority on the vast majority of Americans.
Case in point is Healthcare Reform. The polls clearly showed that those who support Healthcare Reform or would support it if it were more progressive outnumber those who oppose it by about 60% to 40%. Yet the narrative remains that Americans do not want this type of government involvement in healthcare. Republican senators have used misleading interpretation of polls to make their case.
Our democracy cannot function with a Senate that allows a minority of Senators that represents yet a disproportionate minority of citizens to impede national progress. Accusing Democrats attempting to change the rules of the Senate to make it more democratic as a power grab is disingenuous, silly, anti-democratic, and unpatriotic.
One can only hope that Democrats keep their spine, overturn the current Senate arcane rules, and move the country forward. They need not worry about Republican’s behavior if they get control of the Senate. After-all, Republicans have already been successful in stymying much legislation. That said if Democrats govern as progressives and show how said governance materially impact Americans in a positive manner they will never have to worry about being in the minority.
My Book: As I See It: Class Warfare The Only Resort To Right Wing Doom
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GOP Leadership Strikes Back At Filibuster Reform: It’s A Democratic ‘Power Grab’
WASHINGTON — Republican leaders launched a coordinated attack against Democratic proposals to reform Senate rules Tuesday, making clear attempts to change the filibuster when Congress convenes for its first day Wednesday will be a highly partisan battle.
"For two years, Democrats in Congress have hoped their large majorities would make it easy for them to pass extremely partisan legislation," wrote Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in a Washington Post op-ed. "Now that they’ve lost an election, they’ve decided to change the rules rather than change their behavior. They should resist the impulse. Democrats should reflect on what they have done to alienate voters, not double down on the approach that got them here."
McConnell specifically goes after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for "setting records for the number of times he has blocked Republicans from having any input on bills, cut off our right to debate and bypassed the committee process in order to write bills behind closed doors."
"Getting things done for middle-class Americans shouldn’t be a partisan issue," responded Reid spokesman Jon Summers. "It’s a sign of how extreme Republicans have become that they actually want to make Washington work less efficiently in order to advance their own political interests."
In a speech at the conservative Heritage Foundation Tuesday afternoon, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the number three on the Republican leadership team, accused Democrats of trying to "cut off the right of the people they elected to make their voices heard on the floor of the U.S. Senate" — a move that will make voters who turned out in November "pretty disappointed." From his prepared remarks:
When the United States Senate convenes tomorrow, some have threatened to try to change the rules so it would be easier to do with every piece of legislation what they did with the health care bill: ram it through on a partisan vote, with little debate, amendment, or committee consideration, and without listening to minority voices.
The brazenness of this proposed action is that Democrats are proposing to use the very tactics that in the past almost every Democratic leader has denounced, including President Obama and Vice President Biden, who has said that it is "a naked power grab" and destructive of the Senate as a protector of minority rights.
The Democratic proposal would allow the Senate to change its rules with only 51 votes, ending the historical practice of allowing any senator at any time to offer any amendment until sixty senators decide it is time to end debate.
GOP Leadership Strikes Back At Filibuster Reform: It’s A Democratic ‘Power Grab’
