The first order of business in the new Congress has to be filibuster reform. We cannot have a government where the will of the majority is constantly and methodically thwarted by the minority.
From a blog today on the Senate schedule:
Wow, awesome, huh? Two failed cloture votes on the tax cut extension, a failed cloture vote on the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act, a failed cloture vote on the Emergency Senior Citizens Relief Act, a failed cloture vote on the DREAM Act, a failed cloture vote on the 9/11 first responders health care bill, and a failed cloture vote on the DOD authorization bill with DADT repeal. And then... nothing
Not to mention the pending executive and judicial appointments.
The first order of business in the new Congress has to be filibuster reform. We cannot have a government where the will of the majority is constantly and methodically thwarted by the minority.
I don't even care who is in charge - Republicans or Democrats. The Constitutional checks and balances are two independent chambers of Congress, the President and the Supreme Court. Not an obstructionist minority.
Legislation that passes a majority vote in the House and the Senate, and is signed by the President, becomes law. It can be challenged in the courts. Other than that, we are at the mercy of the voters every two years.
I am a Democrat and believe that the Democratic agenda for this country to move forward is infinitely better than the Republican desire to return to the past. Nevertheless, the Senate has to function. I would love to see the discipline in the Democratic caucus that we've seen from the Republicans the last two years. However, if we don 't have the discipline and the willpower to prevail in a straight up vote, the filibuster cannot be the mechanism to subvert the results of the election.
The last two years were a travesty. It's tempting to want to preserve the filibuster to protect us in the next two years, but it is still wrong.
Mr. President - I hope you have the resolve to veto bad legislation. It is part of your job, and you will need to do it.
By the way, as a practical matter, I don't think that Democrats have a stong enough caucus to hold a filibuster in 2011, and if the Republicans take the majority in 2012, they can and probably will kill the filibuster at that time.