Memo to the House: Adopt the Filibuster

[Kevin_Kennedy]

The filibuster is sure taking its lumps these days. New York Times columnist Paul Krugman says "the Senate — and, therefore, the U.S. government as a whole — has become ominously dysfunctional" (http://tinyurl.com/yeklkbj). The Democrats won the White House and Congress last year and should have had no trouble passing the health care overhaul, yet "the need for 60 votes to cut off Senate debate and end a filibuster — a requirement that appears nowhere in the Constitution, but is simply a self-imposed rule — turned what should have been a straightforward piece of legislating into a nail-biter. And it gave a handful of wavering senators extraordinary power to shape the bill."

Why is this "dysfunctional"? I assume Krugman would praise the filibuster if a President Palin and Republican Congress were ramming bills through. Regardless of what senators in the 19th century had in mind, the filibuster is a wonderful antidote to the tyranny of the majority. It's no argument against it to say that the statists' favorite piece of legislation didn't fly through smoothly enough. They'll have to come up with a better case than that.

Memo to the House: Adopt the Filibuster by John Stossel on Creators.com - A Syndicate Of Talent

 

[Polk]

Just when you think Stossel can't declare himself a fool in any more certain terms, he does so.

 

[EriktheRed]

It's no argument against it to say that the statists' favorite piece of legislation didn't fly through smoothly enough. They'll have to come up with a better case than that.

Why do I get the feeling Stossel won't be saying this if the GOP takes the House next election?

 

[Polk]

It isn't about a "favorite piece of legislation". 90 percent of bills in this session have been filibustered. That's insane.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

The less the Congress gets done the better off we'll all be.

 

[antagon]

The less the Congress gets done the better off we'll all be.

we agree!

 

[Oscar Wao]

It's no argument against it to say that the statists' favorite piece of legislation didn't fly through smoothly enough. They'll have to come up with a better case than that.

Why do I get the feeling Stossel won't be saying this if the GOP takes the House next election?

C'mon, Erik, this is John Stossel, not Mark Levin or Michael Reagan or someone like that.