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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHere's an interesting take on the filibuster.
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@OfficialJonZal
Get rid of the filibuster and pass everything: healthcare, childcare, family leave, minimum wage, etc. Pass it all. Make Republicans have to try to take those things away from people instead of letting Republicans stop those things from ever happening. Youll win every time.
1:06 PM · Jan 21, 2021
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That might be the only way to show people how much better their lives would be if the United States had social programs like the rest of the industrialized nations.
Pantagruel
(2,580 posts)Sen. from right leaning states are hard sells on Gv't programs, Manchin, Sinnema and others.
Otherwise, I agree with the concept.
Fullduplexxx
(7,839 posts)Blaukraut
(5,692 posts)Tester basically advocated getting rid of the filibuster in so many words. His state isn't exactly a liberal mecca either.
Politicub
(12,165 posts)Anything it takes to get legislation that will endure for decades to get passed is peanuts compared to the long-term benefits.
OMGWTF
(3,937 posts)You know, those "taker" states that the blue states support.
Bernardo de La Paz
(48,935 posts)dchill
(38,429 posts)BComplex
(8,017 posts)overturn if they're ever granted. And once granted, democrats need to go on ALL the news organizations, and take out ads in all the major papers, tooting their horns that DEMOCRATS are the ones who made these programs possible.
Bleacher Creature
(11,250 posts)The choice is clear. If the GOP filibusters everything, we're going to lose both the House and the Senate. That's virtually guaranteed, because too many people on our side will stay home because they feel like their vote in 2020 didn't make a difference.
But if we pass things that make people's lives better, we'll at least have a fighting chance to hold Congress in 2022. We could still lose, but at least we'll have a chance. And if we pass things that help millions of Americans, and still lose, we lose knowing that we made a difference, which is the point.
Thekaspervote
(32,689 posts)TryLogic
(1,722 posts)Republicans block almost everything, then attack Democratic congress for being do-nothing congress. Congress has, what?, 15% approval rating.
Stop fooling around. Get stuff done. Just do it.
gab13by13
(21,234 posts)Hortensis
(58,785 posts)But that's always been the argument and problem: that Republicans use this anti-democracy tool to gain great ground and that we can't afford to lose the same advantage, not least when we have nominal control of the chamber, to do what we need to.
FBaggins
(26,714 posts)I doubt that it would even be particularly close
And, just like previous "nuclear" options... I suspect that we would later come to regret it.
ancianita
(35,925 posts)MoonlitKnight
(1,584 posts)Senators need to legislate. That means debate and votes. There is no accountability without recorded votes. Its the most basic function of a legislative body. The Senate has shirked its duty for far too long.
bucolic_frolic
(43,025 posts)3 a year for 3 days each, and
2 a year for 10 days each, and
1 absolute filibuster per Congressional term.
Their choice on each.
I'm not a big fan of silencing the minority. If we don't want tyranny, and we don't want tyranny of the minority like Moscow Mitch McConnell has practiced at times, and we want Judges debated on the merits and not by burying their nominations, then minorities must be heard. That's open government. We've lived under it. We can do better.
Plus it will be fun to see them try to invent rationales for their positions - because they have none. They've never thought about explaining anything. They just want to exercise power. Theirs.
SunSeeker
(51,502 posts)bringthePaine
(1,727 posts)forgotmylogin
(7,518 posts)Originally to filibuster legislation, a person or party had to hold the floor and talk to delay the vote. The only way to end a filibuster (I believe) was to get an in-person 2/3rds vote to close debate, so that's why you hear of people reading the phonebook all night to stop legislation they believed needed to be stopped.
I say trash the shortcut "insta-filibuster" which is just a cheap way for changing the majority threshold to pass bills and keep the manual one. If they want to hold things up, they need to work for it.
appmanga
(565 posts)That way, it still exists, but exists in the form that compels the objectors to make their case and move public opinion and not simply just gum up the works. The filibuster used to be dragged out to oppose civil rights legislation. Today, the end result is the same AND it's easier to achieve. Stop playing around and pull the sheet off of what's going on here.
Wounded Bear
(58,584 posts)bucolic_frolic
(43,025 posts)Nuke the filibuster. They will only use it against us, and not allow us to use it against them.