Posted by Sir Four at 5:49pm Apr 12 '10I just read this opinion piece on the filibuster, which cleared up some things for me. I didn't really understand why modern filibusters aren't anything like those of the past.
In the past, if a Senator wanted to filibuster, he had to actually get up and do a marathon session of obstruction. Today, all the minority party has to do is say, "Dudes, we would sooo filibuster your shit if you bring it to the floor." And the the majority party says, "Oh noes, we lose!" and that's the end of it.
In other words, today's filibuster is a totally painless filibuster.
The link above explains that Senate procedure changed so that the Senate would just move on to other business to avoid tying everyone up in a filibuster, if a filibuster is threatened. This way, nobody has to actually filibuster--they just threaten it, and then the Senate moves on to other things.
This could be changed back to the old way at any time, though. Senate leadership could decide to force filibusters to play out, which would require filibustering Senators to stay on the Senate floor and carry out their threat. They'd have to cancel all other appointments and stay there, as long as it takes, while the drama is made clear to the American people.
I kinda like the idea, because it really bugs me how easy it is to filibuster these days--I mean, you don't have to even do anything; you just threaten it and you win automatically. That doesn't seem right.
In the past, if a Senator wanted to filibuster, he had to actually get up and do a marathon session of obstruction. Today, all the minority party has to do is say, "Dudes, we would sooo filibuster your shit if you bring it to the floor." And the the majority party says, "Oh noes, we lose!" and that's the end of it.
In other words, today's filibuster is a totally painless filibuster.
The link above explains that Senate procedure changed so that the Senate would just move on to other business to avoid tying everyone up in a filibuster, if a filibuster is threatened. This way, nobody has to actually filibuster--they just threaten it, and then the Senate moves on to other things.
This could be changed back to the old way at any time, though. Senate leadership could decide to force filibusters to play out, which would require filibustering Senators to stay on the Senate floor and carry out their threat. They'd have to cancel all other appointments and stay there, as long as it takes, while the drama is made clear to the American people.
I kinda like the idea, because it really bugs me how easy it is to filibuster these days--I mean, you don't have to even do anything; you just threaten it and you win automatically. That doesn't seem right.
Fixing the Filibuster? - Sir Four