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Today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid didn’t just fail to deal with filibuster reform, he totally committed himself to the defense of this disgraceful practice. From his floor speech about his deal with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell:
Senator McConnell and I both believe our reverance for this institution must always be more important than our respective political parties. As part of this compromise, we’ve agreed that I won’t force a majority vote to fundamentally change the Senate. That is the so-called Constitutional option. And he won’t in the future.
In accepting this worthless compromise and making this “gentleman’s agreement” Reid and, by extension, the entire Democratic party has chosen to embrace the most extreme form of small “c” conservatism, a commitment to making change almost impossible and a strong assurance to uphold the status quo no matter what. Obama campaigned on change, yet Reid has committed himself to protecting the foolish Senate rule that is used to crush change in its tracks.
By making a blanket promise to never work to reform the filibuster with majority vote, regardless how horribly it is abused, Reid has entirely turned his back on every single yet-unrealized progressive goal. Reid has decided to forever defend an absurd 60-vote requirement that means, by definition, the United States will never again pass a progressive or left-leaning piece of legislation.
Reid had to choose between advancing the policies he promised his supporters or keeping a grip on his precious power, even after voters reject his party. Today, on the Senate floor, he proudly chose holding on to power. Reid is the living embodiment of protecting the status quo, a true ultra-conservative to his core.
Harry Reid will not technically fight against progressive reform, instead he promises to fight desperately to assure those who will actively stand against progressive reform have all the power they need to crush it. The net policy, though, is that he is as great an impediment to reform as any Republican. Whether it is a public option, single payer, EFCA, campaign finance reform, or drug re-importation, Reid wouldn’t kill these changes himself, but he will make sure to hand power to those who will be sure to do the deed.
As America remains crippled by a multitude of broken systems in desperate need of reform, the Senate Democrats decided that the best course of action is to insure that any change from the status quo is almost impossible.
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Senate Democrats got the majority leader they wanted and deserved in Harry Reid. Can’t wait for Mitch McConnell to break this agreement and crush minority rights in the Senate when he takes over — “it’s my nature.”
Well said. The filibuster is most valuable to those who have already gotten more than their fair share. Those people don’t want change. I am very disappointed in the veal pen for enabling this act of cowardice.
All that said, the real problem with the filibuster is that in contrast to the Republicans, the Democrats DON’T USE IT.
The Progresssive Caucus, for example, should have filibustered Obamacare until they got the bill they PROFESSED they wanted. The Bill they told FDL that they supported and would fight for (yeah right).
Look, things have gone dramatically to the right. The Republicans are doing many things right–and that includes using the Filibuster/ threat of filibuster.
The bottom line: the real problem is the Democratic Party itself. The Filibuster is just a tool.
.. has chosen to embrace the most extreme form of small “c” conservatism,..
And has chosen to reject the small “d” of democracy. Democratic candidates run under the Democratic label because they, or their handlers, believe its image benefits them.
There is an obvious tactic for those who favor majority rule in the Senate. Just educate people outside of the political intelligentsia. I use the twitter and its search function because, IMO, the non-intelligentsia feel more comfortable with the 140 character limit. Politicians are crooks would be a good search phrase example. Then you can reply with: I agree – please follow this link!
You are welcome to use my link if you do not have one of your own.
The Filibuster: Your Senators Excuse
http://i-voter.tripod.com/SenateFillibuster.html
“The filibuster is most valuable to those who have already gotten more than their fair share. Those people don’t want change.”
This is entirely an inaccurate characterization of the filibuster. While the filibuster/ threat of filibuster has in fact most recently been deployed by the Republican and Blue Dog forces of the corporatist status quo, the filbuster is a tool of the minority.
The REAL minority in Congress is the Progressive caucus. The Progressive caucus should have been using the filibuster to jam all business and prevent the signing of Obamacare, the toothless financial reform bill, the extension of the Bush tax cuts, etc until they got more progressive bills they could actually support.
The Repugnants and Blue Dogs, who collaborate together anyway, had no need of resorting to the filibuster/ threat of filibuster. They are the majority in Congress.
However, their kabuki theater “filibustering” does have you all convinced that the filibuster is the problem and not the FAILURE to use the filibuster when it actually makes a difference–that is, by the minority to whom it properly belongs.
Maybe you’re just pissed because you realize that the Tea Party has the balls to use the filibuster while the Progressive Caucus does not.
You’re right about that, of course. But it still doesn’t make the filibuster the problem. The real problem is the Progressive Caucus. The filibuster is still just a tool.
How many times do we have to be hit in the head before we come to our senses? We continue to give our votes to democrats and then go into shock when democrats do what they do. What they do is to use progressives for their votes and then turn their backs on us once elected. They, the democrats that is, can’t win elections without us. We ought to be using that fact to make them give us what we want.
There’s barely time, but we need badly to form a voting block that speaks with one voice. We need to unite and find a spokesperson to go into that backroom and make deals with democrats. A person who will wring solid promises from them in return for our votes. If we had done this say in 2008 and we had traded our votes for genuine healthcare reform, then we’d have gotten genuine healthcare reform.
We have the numbers to demand and get concessions and its only our failure to play hardball that keeps our goals from being accomplished. Look at the way TeaParty Fascists control the GOP. The FEAR that they won’t vote for a candidate is all that it takes to move that candidate in their direction.
Obama is the best and worst example of how the democrats use us and then abandon us. He has felt free to betray us at every opportunity and then have his mouthpieces insult us when we object.
Lets all agree that the best way to achieve our goals is to temporarily put them on the backburner and instead focus on uniting as a voting block. If every member of MoveOn, HRC, FireDogLake and all the rest were to unite and vote as a block, I guarantee that we’d see one hell of a lot better progress on the issues important to us.
You’re right on the money. If Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell have decreed that this is how things are going to work, then its long past time that those Senators that claim to be our friends start acting as if they were indeed our friends. Those Senators that claim to be opposed to the right wing agenda should start putting secret holds on EVERY piece of legislation they believe to be wrong. It wouldn’t take long before the obstructionists were forced to abandon their tactics if they were used by both sides. What are they going to do? Make speeches condemning their own tactics? Of course they would, but does any decent American give a damn about their trumped up hypocritical outrage?
It really makes you wonder just how committed so called progressive senators are that they haven’t done this from day one. Are we supposed to take the high road and allow Fascism to devour our country, or do we fight fire with fire and stop this nonsense dead in its tracks/