Pearlstein: Restore Majority Rule To The Senate

The Washington Post:

By now most people have heard the story of the frog that's put in a pot of cold water on a hot stove and doesn't notice as it is gradually boiled to death. The story may not be true: Most frogs apparently will jump out of the pot at some point. But it remains a useful metaphor for how dysfunctional things can become -- in a market, or a marriage, or a political system -- and how far people can go in rationalizing crazy behavior and unsatisfactory outcomes.

I've been thinking about that as I've watched Congress tackle health-care reform.

Read the whole story: The Washington Post

Comments

[iblogleft]

This is a great idea, and badly needed.

[aflyinyoursoup]

"Because of the quaint traditions of the upper chamber, there are today scores of top positions in government that routinely remain unfilled for months because one senator or another has decided to put a "hold" on a nomination. And on any controversial issue, and even some that are not, 60 votes are now required to overcome the threat of endless "debate" and actually pass a piece of legislation, along with 60 votes on as many amendments as senators can dream up. "
"Quaint Tradition of the Upper Chamber"?
No, this procedural wrinkle was deliberately built into the process so as to insure the ease with which the 'Ruling Class' could 'manage' the outcome of an ostensibly democratic process with as little angst as possible. It effectively 'negates' any chance of 'democracy' creeping into a stacked deck.
Next time you think about voting, you might be better advised to go bowling. You'll get more out of it.....

[Marcospinelli]

People mistakenly have believed that Obama&Democrats want public health care. The DLC-controlled Democratic party gives lip service to public health care & all populist issues.

If TheBushYears taught us nothing else, it's that anyone can sell anything to Americans, if you're stolid & relentless in your sales pitch & tactics. It's not that Bush&R0ve were geniuses & knew something that nobody else knew; Bush&R0ve were just more ruthless (clumsy & careless many political graybeards would say) in doing what politicians & the parties had gone to great lengths to hide from Americans.

Obama didn't get to be the first black president, vanquish the Clinton machine & the oldest, most experienced politicians in our nation's history (including the R0ve machine) by not having mastered these skills. Nor do Democratic politicians (more incumbents than ever, in office longer) not know how to do it. How do you think Democrats managed to keep impeaching Bush&Cheney off the table & have us still reelecting them, not marching on Washington with torches&pitchforks?

Obama&Democrats know how to do it -- They don't want to do it.

The trick for them has been to keep the many different populist groups believing that they really do support our issues, but that they're merely inept. And to get us to keep voting for them in spite of their failure to deliver on any of our alleged shared objectives.

[KIVPossum]

You now have 272 fans.

[GalinMcMahon]

The democrats are being very weak. Remember the nuclear option?

[dancucich]

I have posted endlessly about the nuclear option,
and its like soemone mentioned the hostess breaking
wind at the banquet..
nobody would reply.

Bill Frist just *threatened* the nuclear option
when the dems were going to filibuster Sam Alito's nomination
to the SCOTUS...And the dems caved and gave up the filibuster

Also the dems made a deal with the gop that if the gop would allow DC
to have a congressman,the dems would confirm Judge Janice Rodgers Brown,
(a female Clarence Thomas ) to the US Court of Appeals.

Well the dems dropped the hold on Judge Brown, and then
the GOP manuevered around and killed the Congressional
representation for DC...

They got ahead of the curve and the President in the
healthcare debate
by feinting (like a boxer) a filbuster of Judge Sotomayor, while
spending most of their time and energy and organization
and money slamming healthcare reform day in and day out"
while the clueless dems were preparing for a judicial filibuster
that never happend..

The GOP outmanuevers and bullyrags the dems at every turn

I hate to say it, but Republicans are much smarter
than Democrats-and far more ruthless.

[Jefferson78]

So if they start to use "majority rules" in the Senate, does that mean they will vote to follow the wishes of the majority of Americans who oppose the current health care reform bill passed by the House?

[Ohsnap]

They'd likely pass a more moderate, less costly version.

[oldngrumpy]

You mean that Republican bill that costs $54 Billion more over 10 yrs?

[BabblingBrooks]

We could throw the whole senate out. Start over with some Republicans to balance Obama and the House Dems.

"In Virginia, which Mr Obama won by six points last year, prompting Democrats to declare an historic political realignment in the state, the Democratic candidate went down by 17 points in the biggest landslide since 1961 - a 23-point swing to the Grand Old Party.

It took Senator Mark Warner of Virginia to admit that his party "got walloped". For three days, Mr Obama maintained a studied silence about the results while his aides blamed them on local factors that had nothing to do with the President. And to think that it was Mr Bush who was always accused of being "in denial". --UK Telegraph

It takes the Brits to pay serious, unbiased attention to US politics now. Our Lamestream Media ignores much...

[oldngrumpy]

And yet, in the NY23 race that actually effects national policy the people elected a Democrat for the first time since the civil war. Did the Telegraph fail to mention that little detail, or did you fail to include it because it didn't support your politics?

[itys]

propose an amendment on the floor

Here is my amendment: THROW THE 2000 PAGE NIGHTMARE OUT THE WINDOW.

Now let's start fresh and tackle ONE topic of the bill at a time.

[oldngrumpy]

Unlike Republicans, Democrats can walk and chew gum at the same time. Why do you Reich wingers insist upon not fixing what everyone agrees is broken? Considering that you have stonewalled this since Feb and practically split the country over it I think getting a comprehensive bill done and then fine tuning it is the only workable approach. I wouldn't want to do this every year. I don't have that many years left and our economy doesn't either if we don't fix some of the problems in our health care system.

[itys]

When 85% of the country like what they currently have, you are going to "FIX" what you dems thing is broken. And tell me again WHERE specifically does the Constitution grant Congress the authority to enact an individual health insurance mandate?

As for the Republicans "stonewalling" over this crapola bill, the democrats are the majority in the House and Senate. If there is ANYONE who is split in their decision it is the dumbocrats. So please don't blame the Republicans.

And if you think that this bill will come close to passing in the senate, due to the dumbocrats again, and that the bill wont kick in until 2019, well those years you have left, you can kiss them good bye.

In the meantime, try to get you facts straight before you right some silly response.

[chronic]

Conservatism discards Prescription, shrinks from Principle, disavows Progress; having rejected all respect for antiquity, it offers no redress for the present, and makes no preparation for the future.

--- Benjamin Disraeli

[Shadow10]

It simply doesnt work that way. You cant change the rules when your party is not in power. If you think you can muster a constitutional amendment to do such a thing, I propose to you to get to work, it will not be an easy job.

[robeson]

Thank you. so many people have been led to believe that the Senate requires 60 votes on everything because of weak knee leaders like Harry Reid. The Constitution specifies what needs 60 votes and its only a damn few times. An interesting side note is that former Senate Leader Rep. Bill Frist clearly understood the constitutional law and threaten Dems not to filibuster or else.

[Scentedflower]

Of course it is messy as every one is for themselves .

[serena1313]

It is baffling why the Democrats have allowed the Republican caucus to run roughshod over them. It has become a routine for the GOP to filibuster. Yet when they were the majority if the Democrats even mentioned the word "filibuster" they threatened to abolish the procedure; effectively known as the "nuclear option."

On a number of occasions Blue Dog Democrats switched sides to filibuster with the opposition party which makes passing legislation all that much more difficult. The handful of bills that did squeak-by are watered-down versions from their previous drafts.

The stimulus bill, for instance, initially went a lot further than what eventually ended-up in the final version. Conservative Democrats and moderate Republicans in the Senate removed several programmes, reduced funding for others and added more tax cuts passed a weak bill that otherwise might have created more jobs.

Essentially the spirit of the Constitution is being violated. For two-centuries passing a bill, up until recently, required 51 votes, but now just the simple threat of a filibuster the majority rule jumps to 60 votes to end the debate.

Political gain effectively replaced centuries-old traditions, mutual respect and comity to the detriment of America. The system is broken. Until fixed expect watered-down legislation, at best, to become law or none at all. I'm not sure which is worse.

[epiphany1234]

".....there is nothing preordained about this wholesale disregard for majority rule. In fact, it violates the letter and spirit of the U.S. Constitution," .......

"...... Washington insiders are inured to the undemocratic nature of the House and the Senate. Most days they are so caught up in the gamesmanship it has spawned that they barely notice how utterly ridiculous and ineffective the legislative process has become....."

============

Thank you, Mr. Pearlstein!!

I thought I was the odd one having these kinds of thoughts about the messed up process in Washington that is preventing us from making necessary advances as a nation. I could never fathom this idea of 60 votes in the Senate being necessary to give us the kind of health reform we urgently need. Last time I checked, fifty one votes was a majority, and if I recall correctly doesn't "majority rule" in this country? When did minority rule become the standard?

All this gobbledygook about filibustering and the need for 60 votes to ensure the minority has a voice is a lot of malarkey to me. If filibustering is an issue then limit the time a representative can debate an issue on the floor.....and that means EVERY representative and EVERY issue.

For the life of me I can't understand why suppossedly intelligent politicians cannot see the dysfunctionality of certain Congressional rules, and why supposedly clear minded people won't resolve to fix the problems in Congress that have now become a disservice to the people.

[dragonmaster]

I blame many for this disaster

The 'Conservadems' of course, the very clever lies and spin by the far right- and the lack of response by the progressives- and I think also the President has showed a total lack of leadership

Let the American people see what a larger swing to the right of the political spectrum gets them---

a further decline in the USA as a nation- and the very good possibility of a union that separates.

[mitsie]

It's time for term limits, lobbying reform, change of the senate rules, take away their health insurance and pensions etc etc. Let's get all new blood in there and not allow the lobbyests to bribe our politicans any more. They work for us, not themselves and the problem is that they have forgotten that fact. How many of us have worked for an employer and then we decide what retirement and healthcare plan we want? It's time we fired these people and get some people in there who want to work. This is our country and our government, and we can't allow this to go on.

[somefool]

The Senate is worthless anymore, all it does is give small states the chance to hold up democracy.

[Shadow10]

All States are equal in the Senate, one of the basic tenents of our democracy.

[newhouse1]

This article is short, to the point, and completely on point. Lacking the political courage to make the change Pearlstein suggests, it would be a great and patriotic move on the part of someone, anyone in the country, with the resources and skills, to sue the US Senate for violating the Constitution of the United States of America for abandoning the simple majority rule. Following World War II, the downsizing of our military resulting from a combination of illogic based on "war to end all wars" beliefs and need to cut budgets actually had the fate of the US Marine Corps debated. The Senate deadlocked 50-50, and it was the Vice President performing his Constitutional role of tie-breaker that "saved" the Marines. The resulting process produced the National Security Act of 1947 which defined the mission of the Marine Corps that exists to this day. Further, had the Marines actually been abolished, the Korean War would have turned out dramatically different, and not America favorably.

The process is broken when politicians wink and nod at the Constitution for short term political benefit. They would find all the courage they need if they simply followed the law as written.

[research]

great example. Yes!

[wagthedog1001]

Exactly. GOPers are the ones always waving around the Constitution as if Democrats don't know it.

Make it work!