Washington Independent’s Matthew Delong:
Republican senators threatened a filibuster and forced a cloture vote more than 100 times and counting during the current 110th Congress — breaking the previous record of 62 filibusters in a two-year legislative session in less than one year. Is it any surprise that Congress’ approval rating fell, as Sen. John McCain liked to say on the campaign trail, to just nine percent, and the Republicans subsequently took a walloping at the polls last month.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called the Republicans out on their threat and forced a traditional all-night “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”-type filibuster only once during the current session, on a proposed amendment to the 2007 defense authorization bill that would have mandated the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. In many cases, the mere threat of a filibuster was enough to effectively kill a piece of legislation.
If Reid forced the Republicans to actually go through with all, or at least some, threatened filibusters, chances are pretty good we’d see a lot less of them. GOP leaders might pick and choose their battles a bit more strategically if they knew there’s a good chance they’d have to make good on their promises and stay up all night.
Couldn’t agree more. And while a return of the literal filibuster would often take CSPAN from “dry” to “comatose,” it would offer the House (et al) a strategy other than a temper tantrum from Republicans, and “well we don’t want to make anyone mad” from the Democrats is worth the price. Nobody watches CSPAN anyway.
- Jason
I don’t know. A filibuster is literally the only check on the executive and legislative branch right now. I kind of hope the GOP uses it frequently and effectively.
Effectively would be nice, but Reid should still make them carry through with it if it’s promised. Perhaps it’s just a childish part of me that wants to see Reid make them actually filibuster. I’m one of the rare few who enjoys watching it, and Reid wusses out every time someone threatens to do it. I want to see a good cots-in-closets, someone-go-for-more-dunkin’-donuts-coffee-please filibuster. It’s more entertaining than ER.