All good pints David and we thank you for commenting. It seems January 6th scared some sense into Mitch McConnell and he reversed over a decade of using the filibuster as a tool of obstruction including blocking a long list of judges. As of 2019 when Alice passed or 2021 when we wrote this summary of her position, there was little case to be made that the filibuster was facilitating compromise. We welcome the change in McConnell’s behavior in 2022, and elimination of the filibuster is less necessary if he maintains this new strategy BUT America needs voting rights protections and immigration reform and a sustainable climate policy and the writers of the Constitution never intended to give a minority of Senators the ability to block the majority’s efforts to solve those problems.
While the filibuster evolved over time it also stands the test of time and its elimination in judicial appointments has shown the danger of eliminating it in the Senate. While in today’s politics it can be a mechanism for blocking progress, it also ensures that small majorities do not push through extreme legislation (on both sides) - effectively keeping legislation somewhat centrist, and at least requiring some minority party support. Ensuring the minority party maintains some level of power is an excellent check and balance against extremism from the other side. It also helps ensure the Senate looks forward rather than backwards - negating a tendency for subsequent Senates to revisit and reverse extremely partisan laws passed in a prior Senate with small majority representation. In today’s world of an evenly divided Senate, which reflects a politically divided country, the “majority” party does not have a mandate to push through extremely partisan legislation. The last several years have also proven that even with the filibuster in place it is possible to pass legislation with bipartisan support.
All good pints David and we thank you for commenting. It seems January 6th scared some sense into Mitch McConnell and he reversed over a decade of using the filibuster as a tool of obstruction including blocking a long list of judges. As of 2019 when Alice passed or 2021 when we wrote this summary of her position, there was little case to be made that the filibuster was facilitating compromise. We welcome the change in McConnell’s behavior in 2022, and elimination of the filibuster is less necessary if he maintains this new strategy BUT America needs voting rights protections and immigration reform and a sustainable climate policy and the writers of the Constitution never intended to give a minority of Senators the ability to block the majority’s efforts to solve those problems.
While the filibuster evolved over time it also stands the test of time and its elimination in judicial appointments has shown the danger of eliminating it in the Senate. While in today’s politics it can be a mechanism for blocking progress, it also ensures that small majorities do not push through extreme legislation (on both sides) - effectively keeping legislation somewhat centrist, and at least requiring some minority party support. Ensuring the minority party maintains some level of power is an excellent check and balance against extremism from the other side. It also helps ensure the Senate looks forward rather than backwards - negating a tendency for subsequent Senates to revisit and reverse extremely partisan laws passed in a prior Senate with small majority representation. In today’s world of an evenly divided Senate, which reflects a politically divided country, the “majority” party does not have a mandate to push through extremely partisan legislation. The last several years have also proven that even with the filibuster in place it is possible to pass legislation with bipartisan support.