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The Filibuster Flim Flam
The U.S. Senate has become the graveyard of Congress! Dozens of bills passed by the House of Representatives-to improve the health, safety and economic well-being of Americans-are locked up in the Senate month after month. This was not always the case. In the sixties and seventies, legislation affecting consumers, workers and the environment often started in the Senate and was sent to the House in the hope that that body would not weaken or defeat these bills.
Committee chairs like Senators Warren Magnuson, Gaylord Nelson, and Walter Mondale would move legislation after great public hearings open to the citizenry. Auto safety, product safety, meat and poultry inspection, gas pipeline safety in the late sixties, followed by the sweeping air and water pollution control bills in the early seventies, were examples of Senatorial initiatives.
Today, the Senate lies paralyzed even as it is controlled by 59 Democrats-usually enough for comfortable passage of legislation sought by a majority party that also controls the presidency.
A combination of a few reactionary Democratic Senators, a unified pro-corporate Republican opposition, anti-democratic Senate rules and the decades-long weakening of citizen and trade union groups have combined to produce a constipated Senate.
The usually mild House Democratic Caucus Chairman, John Larson (CT) showed his irritation recently when he said that people are tired of the House passing legislation that stalls in the Senate.
Some of the bills passed by the House include the financial reform bill regarding Wall Street's abuses, the omnibus energy bill, a long overdue adjustment of Postal Service pension payments, vision care for children, a job security act for wounded veterans, a paycheck fairness bill, an elder abuse victims bill, a water use efficiency and conservation research bill, an act to prohibit the importation of certain low-level radioactive waste into the U.S., an imposition of additional taxes on executive bonuses awarded by financial companies under bailout salvation, a mortgage reform and anti-predatory lending bill, food safety legislation, stronger enforcement authority for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and a student aid and fiscal responsibility bill.
These are some of the 290 bills already passed in the House-many of them minor to be sure-that House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi (Dem. CA.) has noted. (See: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/83057-290-bills)
Granted the major House bills are not as strong as some citizen groups would like, which is why they try to get them strengthened in the Senate. Fat chance, as long as Rule 22-the notorious filibuster mechanism-exists, and as long as the Senators remain marinated in corporate campaign cash and prospective jobs for them or their relatives. The filibuster is now virtual, unlike the traditional filibuster where its practitioners would have to go on the Senate floor for hours straining their bladders and the patience of the public.
Presently, all Minority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell (Rep. KY) has to do is merely notify Majority Leader, Senator Harry Reid (Dem. NV) of the intent to extend debate and, voila, a minority of forty-one Senators defeats the majority rule of fifty-nine Senators.
So Senator Reid bewails that: "We had to file cloture some seventy times last year, seventy times. That's remarkably bad. Let's change that."
So why don't the Democrats "change that?" In 1975, Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, in his role as president of the Senate, ruled that fifty-one Senators could amend Senate rules. Senator Tom Udall has a resolution to do just that-predictably languishing in the Senate without even a hearing.
Moreover, Senator Tom Harkin proposed a resolution that would require a series of votes to cut off a filibuster. The first stage would need sixty votes, the second would need fifty-seven, then fifty-four and finally a simple majority over a period of weeks. That proposal is going nowhere.
Obviously, the Democrats could end the filibuster with a majority vote but choose not to because they may wish to use this tool of obstruction should they be in the minority. In fact, Harry Reid has ruled out any filibuster reform. Well then, why not end the "virtual" filibuster and make the Republicans hit the floor with round-the-clock debate televised around the nation. People are waiting and suffering from corporate-desired inaction.
Chicago lawyer and scholar, Thomas Geoghegan wrote an open letter to Senator Reid (See it at: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100222/geoghegan_editors) urging that he make the Republicans actually filibuster. Either make them stall the Senate on a minor bill to generate public ire or generate public outrage by making them filibuster a popular bill aimed at curbing corporate crime, waste and abuse or one that would save people money or their health.
Still, no response, other than debilitating talk by the Democrats about seeking bi-partisan support for their bills.
Face it-the Senate is breaking an already broken Congress into little pieces which are then sold for a mess of pottage. Organize Congress Watch Locals in every state, folks, for nobody will save you but yourselves.
- Posted in
31 Comments so far
Show AllRalph,
When you ran for President you talked about organizing these Congress Watch groups.
Where are they?
I'm waiting to sign up here in Wisconsin.
Seriously. I actually signed up for one the week after the election...it was called the November 5 project or something. I never heard anything from it.
Do you have a link to that project? I would like to see it just so I could figure out exactly why it went nowhere. Thanks.
Here's a novel idea ... start it yourself. Democracy doesn't work when the citizens wait for a leader. Democracy works when the citizens lead.
Oh sure. Let's just ignore those leaders crushing our democracy and let's just pretend that we're leading the way. It's our fault, not the politicians', not the CEOs, not the Chamber of Commerce, not the Pentagon. Just blame grandma and grandpa for not "leading". No no, the leader is not responsible for thwarting democracy. It's our fault for not leading. Snark snark snark !
Despite your attempted irony it is exactly a case of the people failing to lead.
I've become active in the new Coffee Party movement, although many progressives on here don't think much of it.
If the Coffee Party's mission was to hold electeds accountable, you would see many CD posters support it.
To date the Coffee Party has not articulated that mission.
Not yet, but it's still young. Give it time...and perhaps get involved and push your local chapter to do exactly that.
I didn't wait for anyone else to start a watch dog group in my Congressional district. I did it myself. We have about forty active members who contact our Representative each month on issues that we are concerned about. We are totally disgusted with the loss of our democracy. The members of Congress heed their contributors---not their constituents.
Our two party system is a serious problem. People think that they only have the choice between one corporate party and the other. We have to get over voting by party. We need to vote for people who will really be our representative and heed our advice and vote in our interests.
Our Congress is corrupt. When the vast majority of the people oppose the bankster bailout and the expansion of the illegal and immoral wars of empire our 'representatives' votes for the give away of our tax funds to Wall St. with not accounting required and they vote again and again to fund the ongoing wars. Now the people want Single Payer but big pharma and the insurance companies stuff so much money in the accounts of the legislatives Single Payer is 'off the table'. We got the best government money can buy.
You must not vote again for a representative who so blatently votes against the will of the people. If your 'rep' voted for funding the wars, and the bankster bailout and is not voting to get the insurance companies out of our health care system---you must not vote for that person again.
Kick the corrupt out of Congress and we can begin to move toward democracy in our nation.
The U.S. Senate is doing this on purpose and I know just what they have in mind. If we had this same kind of Senate back in the 1960s, neither Civil Rights nor Medicare for 65 and over would have made it by 1965. Sometime ago, RichM and Sioux Rose recommended that I read "JFK & The Unspeakable. Why He Died and Why It Matters" and I intend to do just that and correct my misunderstanding of JFK. To all of you young voters who still believe that Obama is the next JFK, stop and look at what Obama has done for the past year and compare that with JFK's first year in office. Something tells me that JFK was about to be one of the few brave ones to steer this lost soul of a nation out of its lost status but the minute he was ready, he lost his life and once again, our nation further drifted into lost soul status.
I was a dumb fool to have this shitty race guilt feeling and this anxiety to turn VA blue on the last minute when I abandoned Nader and voted for Obama on the last minute but I will correct that. I'm already burning in anger after watching how other countries are struggling to pull away from getting dragged into lost soul status and the Senate never hesitates to keep pushing the dragging via "free trade", military spending to keep those meddlesome military bases and troops occupied, and other kinds of divide-and-conquer against other nations. No, the Senate isn't paralyzed. They know what they are doing and they don't deserve our sympathy. Ralph, please get out there and knock Dodd out of the Senate if you aren't running for president in 2012. We need more senators just like you. Thank you.
As soon as he was elected Obama proved that he was not another JFK, RFK, MLK or FDR.
Since his inauguaration Obama has proven to be another Herbert Hoover, enabling foxes to guard hen houses wherever the opportunity arises.
"Sometime ago, RichM and Sioux Rose recommended that I read "JFK & The Unspeakable. Why He Died and Why It Matters" and I intend to do just that and correct my misunderstanding of JFK. " maxpayne
I, too, highly recommend the book -- which is meticulously documented!
If the repiglicans get back in power, and have less than 60, I'm pretty sure the first thing they will do is amend filibusters. And, if they feel they are about to lose their 50 in a future election, they will put it right back. Doh!
The Republicans don't to. All they have to do is yell "nuclear option" to scare the Democrats from filibustering.
Yep, just like when the rethugs were in the majority if a demorat even whispered filibuster the rethugs screamed, "traitor!"
The greatest number of republicans in the Senate, during the eight horrific years of George Walker Bush, was 54. They seemed to do whatever they wanted to rather nicely then, as they do now.
Agree.
The 51% most wealthy in America, this is the voting majority
that establishes this illusion of democracy.
Democracy, the most stupid and insane form of government
ever created by the deceitful mind of man.
" But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on govt would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the greatest difficulty lies in this; you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself." Federalist Paper # 51
" The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism- ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power." Franklin Delano Roosevelt
"Democracy is the worst form of government, next to all the rest."
From who is the last quote from?
Is a dictatorship the same as Fascism?
Was Stalin considered a Fascists?
I think people mistakenly believe that a dictatorship is fascism.
Sorry, Churchill......
"Social fascism was a theory supported by the Communist International (Comintern) during the early 1930s, which believed that social democracy was a variant of fascism because it stood in the way of a complete and final transition to communism. At the time, the leaders of the Comintern, such as Joseph Stalin and Rajani Palme Dutt, argued that capitalist society had entered the "Third Period" in which a working class revolution was imminent, but could be prevented by social democrats and other "fascist" forces. The term "social fascist" was used pejoratively to describe social democratic parties, anti-Comintern and progressive socialist parties, and dissenters within Comintern affiliates throughout the interwar period."
At least that what Wiki says....
Another good reason to do away with the Senate:
1. The Senate does not represent people in a representative way as Wyoming, population 600,000, has the same voice as California with 56,000,000. This is extremely undemocratic and should be done away with.
2. Senators are the elite of the elite in terms of representation for wealthy folks-the average election represents over $2,000,000, hardly in reach of an unknown, new voice.
3. The U. S. Senate is the most conservative and unresponsive body of legislators we have-the 1965 Civil Rights Bill barely made it through.
3. The time has come to push obstacles out of the way.
Rule 22 gives individual senators of both parties vast power (convertible into dollars), and they're not about to give that up. The senate--meant to be a check on the power of the people--is an institution that's outlived its usefulness.
I would like to remind everyone that neither Italy nor Germany had our form of government when they became fascistic early in the last century.
The greatest problems are corporate control of our elected officials through the application of corporate money and corporate control of the mainstream media.
When we can solve these two issues then we can get back to what we think of as democracy (and the trolls and miniwits can blather over whether we are truly a 'democracy' or a 'republic' or whatever).
Also, remember that neither the Germans nor the Italians solved this problem on their own. Both countries had to be crushed in a horrible war.
Doesn't look good, does it?
q
Remind me again--why do we need a Senate? What great deliberative purpose does it fill? When Senator Nelson holds up the public for Nebraska's Medicaid kickback is that what David Brooks means when talks about the Senate as a body of individual free thinkers? Well. it is true that if Republicans had their way by simple majority in 2004 they would have seriously weakened Social Security but what would have happened then. The subsequent stock market crash would have sent Republicans into an almost permanently discredited position, Social Security would have been returned and those who made the mistake of privatizing SS money would have been able to buy back in on generous terms. Yes the country would swing right and then left but that is what democracy is supposed to be. Elections should have consequences. Government is supposed to serve the people. The Senate certainly does not. It's all about them and the rules that defend their individual privilege. I have reached the conclusion that Senate reform is not good enough-- we need to abolish the Senate, strip any who are in that body of any pension or privilege they have accumulated for being part of such a corrupt body, publicly disgrace and shun them, and disqualify them from holding any political office because they way they have been behaving is criminal. Then to show we have learned our lesson put a multi-party,parliamentary legislature in its place.
Sorry Ralph. The time for reform of any US government entity and corporation is over. It's beyond redemption.
It is long overdue to allow states through citizen's initiatives, like Canadian provinces, to secede if they so choose if the fed gov't doesn't clean up their act and abolish multi-national corporations.
Ralph and Chomsky support this solution:
http://www.ni4d.us/
And so do I.
Empower We the People.
This is the obvious answer...end the VIRTUAL filibuster. Make them get on the floor like they are supposed to and test the patience of their constituents.