Do away with the filibuster and lower senate votes needed to pass law?  I told ya the left would try it.  For now its just the usual scamps grumbling about it.  The voice of reason finally chimes in and talks sense into the lib-kiddies.
Memeorandum……

I fixed your typo for you.

Hi jinks ensue.

And I'd guess they didn't have trouble voting for budgets that ran up the deficits in the first place.

That said, there is some truth to the point that Republicans filibustered this last Congress more than any other in history – by a ton. Check out the graph on the Washington Monthly page – 104 cloture votes, compared to 50-60 per year when the GOP controlled Congress.

But that's because the Democratic Party was too timid to serve as a real opposition party, not because the Republicans are abusing the filibuster nowadays. We haven't had old-school “read the phonebook” filibusters since the early 1970s; the “gentleman's filibuster” was available to Reid and Daschle just as it is to McConnell. They just didn't bother to use it, or couldn't unite the Democratic caucus the way McConnell does for the GOP.

Either way, “reforming” or “eliminating” the filibuster is a terrible idea.

Al Franken will be Senator #59 with a few weeks. The Dems will need ONE GOP vote at that point.

(1) It is amazing to see how quickly hubris has swept through the Democratic Party.

It took what . . . several years of GOP majorities . . . before they started floating the idea of the “nuclear option” to eliminate the filibuster used by “obstructionist” Democrats in the Senate.
Sanity took hold of the GOP – thanks in part to the moderate influences of the Gang of 14.

Now Democrats talk of eliminating it. Unbelivable how short their memory spans are.
Can they not remember using the filibuster in the opposition? They successfully used it to stop a number of more conservative judges being appointed?
Do they think they will be in the majority forever?

Amazing how we live in an accelerated political culture. If history is any guide, should the filibuster be “reformed” this will come back to bite the Democrats in the ass sooner rather than later.

(2) One of fascinating aspects of the posts Jazz links is the “how” — the discourse – by which Democrats are talking of eliminating the filibuster.

Note the weasely (and historically inaccurate) justifications of Ygelsias and Co. They are not going to eliminate the filibuster . . . merely “reform” it.

This is VERY similar to the current talking points now coming from the Democrats about the “Fairness Doctrine”:

They do not intend to re-impose the “Fairness Doctrine” or restrict freedom of speech in any way. Heaven forbid!
Instead, they merely want to look at reforming licenses and ownership and public responsibility.

(Remember when Left bloggers dismissed as “paranoia” conservative bloggers' warnings of precisely this?).

In both cases…they are attempting to do by the “backdoor” method, in the shadows…what they REALLY want to do:
Eliminate the GOP filibuster and destroy conservative talk radio.

Longer! The “inside job” of wrecking the Republic that Michael Reagan's complaint on this site was lamenting (changing it into something else, or more to the point by me, being “me, too” in Washington if and when not more openly Dems Lite) wasn't just done recently, but since World War II, by the Republicans. They've opposed the Dems at times, but right now they really don't define themselves very much or very well at all.

At any rate I'm all for the power of the filibuster and I hope the Republicans do not misuse this power. Though after every thing I've seen from the Republicans the last six or eight months I feel the GOP will continue to act like school children without chaperones. (Yes, I know I'm generalizing, but I'm talking about the majority of the Republicans ganging up to push their agenda, rather than the few who remain intelligent and work towards helping America.)

Obama was right about elections having consequences and that he won. The GOP seems clueless that American wants policies different than the same old Republican policies that haven't given the majority of Americans anything useful. If the GOP were smart they'd drop their old policies and come up with fresh ideas, either as an alternative or a complement to the Dems ideas.

Good, productive ideas for America should transcend political party ties and petty partisan bickering.

I thought these people (and I include some Dems in this, too) were suppose to be upstanding citizens and leaders of their communities who were adults and had the best interests of the country in mind, not the best interests of their political party.

Some of the Republicans very basic beliefs, such as lower taxes, smaller government and personal responsibility are universally appealing…. too bad they got off track with the religious nuts… and if the Republicans hadn't acted completely opposite of these beliefs over the last eight years (or longer) and had credibility then a leader could emerge. Unfortunately the Republicans demand total obedience to their beliefs and aren't up to the task of having intelligent conversations with an honest evaluaiton of what America wants today and what the Republicans COULD contribute to this debate.

The loss of a reasonable GOP not only hurts them, but everyone in America too.

The Dems shouldn't have all this power and I have been hoping the GOP would just grow up, smell the roses and at least take control of either the Senate or the House in 2010…. but I guess that's not to be (though a lot can happen between now and then). And I'm beginning to be think that's probably the best since I don't want TODAY'S Republican Party in control of anything.

Never mind the eco-weenies and techno-haters (other than with their toys and future dream objects). Where's the “precautionary principle” where it matters most, in Washington?

(Cartoon of Uncle Sam, collapsing onto floor in laughter: HAHAHAHAHA)