Thursday, January 7, 2010


Sometimes I think my head is going to explode with all of the discussion about the numbers of Democratic Senators and trying to keep a filibuster proof Senate. I say to hell with the filibuster. It is archaic. It is ancient. It is something that the southern Democrats invented to offset the power of the northern Republicans at the time. To make the Senate filibuster proof a party needs sixty members to vote with them. The Democrats have sixty when you count the two Independents who normally vote with them. With the decision of two Democratic senators to not run again the discussion is not about issues. The discussion is not about doing the right thing. The discussion is about keeping a filibuster proof Senate. As a voter and a citizen I am highly offended by this discussion. There is no filibuster in the House of Representatives so let's get rid of the filibuster in the senate. If one candidate gets one vote more than the other candidate then they win by a one vote majority and not hoping for a sixty vote majority. The only time we should consider a "super majority" is to override a presidential veto. Since a 2/3 vote is required to override, a veto-proof majority is 290 in the House and 67 in the Senate. That is very appropriate but not 60 votes to move a bill in the Senate.

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