Careful What You Wish For

By BJ

It is not only beauty that lies in the eye of the beholder, but also the utility of certain institutions. Steve Benen, Kevin Drum, and Matt Yglesias are looking to do away with the filibuster and the related requirement that the Dems need 60 votes in the Senate to pass major legislation.

There isn't anything really wrong with their arguments, and the way the filibuster is being used these days is clearly problematic, but for anyone with a memory going back more than a couple of years, the arguments sound awfully familiar, just from a different source. Benen's first commenter lays it out pretty well:

It is hypocritical in the extreme for Democrats to do an about face on this issue and now advocate changing the system simply because we have power. The filibuster was an important tool during the dark days of the Bush years that we were able to use to block controversial nominees (maybe leglislation as well, I just can't remember). During those days, we argued and howled at the Republican threats of the nuclear option and arguments about the anti-majoritarian nature of the cloture system. To now argue that the system is in need of reform is completely unprincipled and hypocritical.

Although abolishing or reforming the filibuster system would be advantageous in the near term, there will come again a day when republicans control the White House and a majority of congress, and the only tool that we Democrats will have in our arsenal to prevent bad legislation or horrendous judicial nominees is the power of the filibuster. Let's not be short-sighted.

This isn't to say that there isn't considerable room for improvement of the current system, but you should think long and hard about what tools you want to hand the majority party when the scales ultimately shift again and you no longer agree with their agenda. The Republicans would have been very unhappy right now had they followed through on their threat to enforce the "nuclear option" on all votes. It would be prudent for the Democrats to learn from the Republicans' hubris rather than learn the lesson the hard way.

Comments

[Libby]

Hey BJ. We're on the same page. I've been arguing the same point for some time now.

[Enlightened Layperson]

Filibuster used as an extreme tool under extraordinary circumstances is necessary. Filibuster used as a routine tool to require 60 votes for every single piece of legislation is something new and dangerous.

[Curmudgeon]

"I really don't understand how bipartisanship is ever going to work when one of the parties is insane. Imagine trying to negotiate an agreement on dinner plans with your date, and you suggest Italian and she states her preference would be a meal of tire rims and anthrax." -- John Cole

If reforming cloture is what it takes to prevent the Party of Limbaugh from forcing everybody to eat tire rims and anthrax even after the PoL has lost the election, then that's what needs to be done. The current situation is untenable as it allows the PoL to destroy the country when they are in office and to block all efforts at corrective action while they are in opposition. Allowing this to continue will merely accelerate America's descent into oblivion.