Save the Senate: Bring Back the Filibuster

Aaron Zelinsky writes in the Huffington Post Save the Senate: Bring Back the Filibuster.

"In response to the routine invocation of the filibuster, some commentators have proposed that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid undertake an effort to scrap the filibuster completely (a tactic the Democrats once dubbed the 'nuclear option').

They're wrong. Senator Reid should not get rid of the filibuster: He should bring it back. What we have today is a cheap and easy filibuster-lite; Senator Reid should reestablish the real thing.

Traditionally, senators had to physically speak on the Senate floor to sustain a filibuster. Filibusters were costly and dramatic. They truly tied up the Senate and the individuals undertaking them. Members of both parties had to be present during a traditional filibuster, the majority for quorum calls, the minority to sustain the ongoing discussion. Senator Reid no doubt remembers these traditional procedures vividly; he filibustered on the floor of the Senate in 2003, against judicial nominees of President George W. Bush.

However, Senator Reid's 2003 filibuster was the last of its kind. In the Aughts, the modern filibuster fully emerged; it requires no real action or sacrifice by senators. In recent times, Senators merely notify the Majority Leader of an intent to filibuster, and the Majority Leader delays further action unless he has sixty votes."

I wrote in November I wasn't sure where I stood on it but I thought " it is too easy to filibuster and Senators should watch the old Star Trek episode A Taste of Armageddon." I still stand by that. Then again, I'm sure the Republicans speeches will have more pithy lines that will resonate on cable news channels over and over again.