End the Filibuster

The already undemocratic Senate is being held hostage by Minority Leader McConnell. He wants to force Democrats to keep the 60 vote threshold to get anything done. Democrats will only have themselves to blame if they don't stand up against the filibuster. Amanda Marcotte notes the long-term strategy used to damage Democratic control of government.

Ever since Ronald Reagan's administration, Republicans have campaigned on the idea that government is inherently dysfunctional. The idea is to demoralize voters and drive down turnout so that the only people who show up to vote are right-wing culture warriors. And the best possible way to do that is to make absolutely sure that government never works, by tanking any efforts by Democrats to pass bills that actually help people.

[T]hey believe — rightfully — that seeing the government work effectively for the common good would do long-term political damage to the Republican Party. They'd rather just keep screwing over their own constituents, and pretending the problem is government itself, and not Republican obstructionism.

Update (January 26):  McConnell has backed off his effort to block the organizing rules for the Senate. John Stoehr reports Majority Leader Chuck Schumer may have found a way to gain the upper hand. 

Last night, he told [Rachel] Maddow the Democrats would no longer trust the Republicans to act in good faith! (He said his party will not repeat the mistakes they made during the Obama years.)

This could be a good sign. I hope Schumer told McConnell something to the effect of "you get in our way and we'll fuck you up".

Update (January 29):  Republicans are only too happy to forget about the Big Lie over the election and the insurrection at the Capitol. Heather Digby Parton says Democrats shouldn't waste time trying to get cooperation from the opposition.

Of course, the minute [Biden] set about enacting the agenda he ran on the Republicans called for the smelling salts, shrieking that he isn't unifying the country, presumably because he isn't enacting their agenda instead.

John Stoehr sums up their purpose well.

The point of being a Republican is not accomplishing things for the greater good of the country. The point is creating conditions in which accomplishing things for the greater good is impossible.

Amanda Marcotte points out that despite some intra-party squabbling, Republicans know what it takes to hold onto power.

[U]ltimately, that power struggle is more about aesthetics and tactics than goals. The McConnell wing prefers to undermine democracy through procedural obstructionism that slips the notice of the average voter. The [von Clownstick] wing wants violent insurrection and in your face gun-waving. Either way, the objective is the same: Installing minority rule, gutting democracy, and shutting the majority of Americans out of power.

And there's increasing danger as one wing bends ever more toward the will of the other.

Instead of shunning [Orangeman] and his fellow travelers for stoking an insurrection, congressional Republican leadership is supporting and encouraging the very people who are most responsible for the attempted overthrow of the government.

Update (March 5):  The filibuster itself is already profoundly anti-democratic and Heather Digby Parton makes it clear that U.S. democracy will be effectively destroyed if voting rights aren't secured through the For the People Act (H.R.1).

The Democrats have a small window of opportunity to prevent this undemocratic movement from gaining steam and securing minority rule for the foreseeable future. [Dear Leader] himself is not out of the picture and his party is single-mindedly focused on attaining power by any means necessary. Democrats must act decisively now and make sure that all 50 Senators understand the stakes and do what is necessary to pass H.R.1.

Update (March 14):  Matthew Rozsa recounts the erroneous beginning and mostly racist history of the filibuster.

If the filibuster were actually some venerable bulwark of democracy, enshrined in the Constitution and protecting good government, maybe a case for it could be made. None of that's true: It was born of absent-mindedness and has mostly been used as a tool of oppression. To preserve democracy — and basic human decency — the filibuster has got to go.

Update (March 17):  Jake Johnson suggests Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is scared Democrats really will move against the filibuster. Heather Digby Parton points out McConnell made a big mistake by showing no respect for democratic norms himself.

By being so smug and so flamboyant in wielding his power he finally managed to get the Democrats to understand that they have nothing to lose by going around him to enact their agenda and letting the people decide if they like the results. If it works out they will be re-elected. If not, they did their best. That's democracy, after all, the most important norm of all.

Update (March 19):  Senator Raphael Warnock makes the connection between voting rights and the filibuster.

[T]his issue — access to voting and preempting politicians' efforts to restrict voting — is so fundamental to our democracy that it is too important to be held hostage by a Senate rule, especially one historically used to restrict the expansion of basic rights.

It is a contradiction to say we must protect minority rights in the Senate while refusing to protect minority rights in the society.

Update (July 22):  So only six months in and the Biden presidency has effectively come to an end.

President Joe Biden reiterated his opposition to abolishing the Senate's filibuster rule on Wednesday, claiming that rather than making it easier to pass legislation, it will actually make it harder.

"There's no reason to protect it other than you’re going to throw the entire Congress into chaos and nothing will get done," Biden said during a CNN town hall. "Nothing at all will get done, and there’s a lot at stake."

Biden hopes to "bring along Republicans who I know know better" which requires 10 more votes for voting rights. Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, isn't buying it.

What are their names? Name the Republicans who know better. This is not a strategy. The time for magical thinking is over.

Update (September 25):  There is still a chance for some progress, but I'm not too confident.

Democrats are currently discussing two ways to change the Senate’s filibuster rules in order to pass voting rights legislation. The options under consideration include a special carve-out from filibuster rules for voting rights legislation or the implementation of a new kind of talking filibuster.

Update (October 7):  President Biden hints that the filibuster could be modified if Republicans remain too obstructive. 

Update (October 21):  More hints from Biden after Republicans block voting rights legislation for the third time.