KEITH OLBERMANN: In 30 seconds, what do we do to fix it [our political system]?
MARKOS MOULITSAS: Well, our system is broken. Mostly the Senate. In 30 seconds I can do it quicker: kill the filibuster. And that's something I hope Democrats start looking into.
The argument for the filibuster (as it is presently being abused) is that there are some issues that are so important that only a supermajority should be allowed to determine whether or not we embrace a new policy.
This argument, however, ignores the fact that when you vote "no" on health care reform, you're also voting "yes" for the current health care system. It's not "health care reform" vs. nothing. It's "health care reform" vs. "the current health care system."
Let's take another hypothetical scenario. Imagine the Senate bill (with some fixes) becomes law, but without a public option.
At that point, if the public option requires 60 votes, it's easy to imagine that 55 Senators might vote in favor of the public option, but that it fails to pass because 45 oppose it.
Those 45 senators would be voting to require people to get their health care insurance from private insurers. Whether or not you agree with that position, it's clear that they aren't just against the public option -- they are for requiring everybody to get insurance privately.
So if you have 55 senators who are for making a public option available, and 45 Senators who are for requiring everybody to get insurance privately, why on earth should the 45 Senators prevail?
It's clear: they shouldn't. And the way to make that happen is to kill the filibuster, not just by using reconciliation, but by actually getting rid of the rule altogether at the start of the next session of Congress.
If we don't do it, we're just going to see more gridlock, and more headlines like this.