NEWS TAKING LIBERTIES
REFORM THE SENATE FILIBUSTER
and Restore American Democracy BY JOEL MCNALLY
L
ast month, President Joe Biden passed the first major legislation of his presidency creating a massive national vaccination program to end an uncontrolled pandemic and pouring money into the U.S. economy the deadly virus destroyed. It was celebrated as exactly what Biden was elected to do. Unfortunately, Biden’s first piece of vitally needed legislation also could be his last. That’s a shocking statement to make in the early months of a popular president elected with the largest vote in American history. It’s also the harsh reality of the vicious, anti-democratic tactics of today’s Republican Party. The word “democratic” in this case, is spelled with a capital D or a small d. Consider the vote on Biden’s desperately needed recovery plan. If anything can bring Democrats and Republicans together for the good of the country, it’s
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legislation supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans, right? Wrong. Three days before the Senate voted, a Morning Consult poll found 77% of voters supported Biden’s plan, including 59% of Republicans. That didn’t stop every Senate Republican from opposing it just as every House Republican did a week earlier. Elected Republicans really don’t care what the majority of the Americans want. Having lost the presidency, all that Republicans really care about is preventing Biden’s presidency from being successful. That’s just the opposite of what the majority of Americans want. The cruel Republican calculation is that, if Biden fails to return American lives to normal, voters will take it out on Democrats in the midterms and Republicans could regain power. Midterms usually attract fewer voters, and Republicans know they do better when fewer Americans vote.
SACRED PRINCIPLE? Here’s the scariest part. With the razor-thin Democratic control of the Senate—a 50-50 split with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking tie votes—Republicans have a wicked, undemocratic (small d) Senate rule that could destroy Biden’s presidency. Republicans never describe the Senate filibuster rule that way, of course. They call it a sacred constitutional principle designed to protect minority rights in a democracy. That’s just another Republican lie. Our nation’s founders never heard of the filibuster. Their basic principle of democracy was after robust congressional debate, a vote would take place and the majority would prevail. That’s just the opposite of the present-day tyranny of a minority that’s transformed the Senate into a legislative graveyard preventing popular bills from ever coming to a final vote. It’s the
