WASHINGTON — The long-held belief that filibusters were an important parliamentary procedure has been abandoned by the Democrats.
Now, Reuters said that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) pushed for dismantling the filibuster. It would allow his party to override and run roughshod over any Republican opposition over Obama’s court nominees.
Reid’s “nuclear option” to push out the filibuster was blasted by Senate Republicans, who echoed the sentiment that the filibuster has prevented bad legislation from being passed and allowed for compromise after filibusters were held.
Democrats blamed Republicans and the filibuster procedure for causing too much gridlock. But, as some pointed out, this was the point of a filibuster was to prevent a tyranny of the majority in the Senate. Democrats, who hold a majority in the Senate, want to abandon it altogether to ram through their legislation. But, they neglect to see the long-term harm in that if the Republicans take the Senate, they will have no way to oppose any Republican-majority Senate effort.
What do you think of Harry Reid going “nuclear”?
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