Does the filibuster protect minority interests? Is is a good device or a bad one?
Does the filibuster protect minority interests? Is is a good device or a bad one?
I believe that the Senate is losing its way. The filibuster battle is an embarrassment to the Senate leaders and to us.
The Senate leaders should dust themselves off and start pretending to be gentlemen, again.
I think people should be careful with tinkering with a system that seems to do what it needs to do. Changing the checks and balances by even a little bit can have large consequences.Originally Posted by Old Softee
Does the filibuster protect minority interests? Is is a good device or a bad one?
Allowing decisions to be made too fast on non-emergency issues is not necessarily a good thing. The fact that fillibusters happen show that they can be useful (even if not to the majority).
The filibuster absolutely protects the minority. Without it, the Democrats would have no say in the government. The Republicans could push through any law they wished without even consulting the Democrats. It's part of our system of checks and balances. It's worked for the last 200 years. Let's don't change it now.Does the filibuster protect minority interests? Is is a good device or a bad one?
There is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so.
Slammr
This is also my take on the filibuster, Maybe, a senator would filibuster by discussing whether any characters on Seinfeld were eunuches or ought to have been.
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Last edited by Blaise; 05-30-2005 at 08:13 PM.
Re: Filibuster
Filibuster...
Yep, the Republicans used it to their advantage.
It is about like some of their sniveling, whining bunch to cry foul when the shoe is on the other foot, isn't it?
I say what is good for the Republicans is good for the Democrats and therefore it has to be good for the rest of us.
A-1
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It's the NEW CONSERVATIVE Body Modification Craze...
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There was an instance when I would have said "Down With the Fillibuster." I forget the year, somewhere in the mid 60's, there was a long fillibuster aimed at stopping Civil Rights Legislation.
Despite that, I support the right of the Congress to fillibuster.
A Baton Rouge writer Robert Mann wrote an excellent account of the passage of civil rights legislation in 1964. The title of the book is The Walls of Jericho.. Senator Richard Russell of Georgia acted badly after he lost his struggle against the legislation. He had been a mentor for Lyndon Johnson, the man who got the legislation passed, even though he had moved on to become president of the United States.
Re: Filibuster
Sometimes people change politics and sometimes politics changes people.
Always, the universe unfolds as it should. We just have to learn to understand it. Everything has a time in which to occur. We can bash ourselves against things until something gives.
It is only the strong that prevail in such cases, and sometimes even the strong fail to get things changed.
The Republicans will not occupy the White House and keep majorities in the U.S. Senate and Congress forever. Unlike some people, pendulums must swing both ways.
Just be thankful that the filibuster is there to keep complete domination at bay. Conservatism is not the savior of the country, neither is Liberalism the ruin of it.
At the end we always seem to achieve a nice balance in America. The system always seems to work well.
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It's the NEW CONSERVATIVE Body Modification Craze...
It's been misused from time to time but the filibuster is about the last/only line of defense the minority has in a democracy.
Its a good one.Does the filibuster protect minority interests? Is is a good device or a bad one?
How many times in our history has the filibuster been used? and by which party? I think if someone would take the time to look, it would be split close to the middle. I dont know the exact number but my bet would be that the republicans have used it more.
RW
He who would trade liberty for some temporary security, deserves neither liberty nor security.
Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays instead of serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinion.
Edmund Burke
River
I spent a few hours researching the history of the filibuster and I could not find which party has used it the most. I did discover, that up to 1995, the filibuster has been used 277 times.
lets see? 277 times is over one time per year.
Dont you just love it
RW
He who would trade liberty for some temporary security, deserves neither liberty nor security.
Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays instead of serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinion.
Edmund Burke
The filibuster blocked civil rights in Congress for years but ultimately things changed and civil rights legislation was passed. It is a two edged sword and can be used wisely or meanly. It is a means, however, to protect the minority from being steam rollered by the opposition.
Much like our two houses, as Jefferson said, one is like the cup the other the sauser, one is there to cool off the other. I think he is the one that started the Democratic party.
River
He who would trade liberty for some temporary security, deserves neither liberty nor security.
Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays instead of serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinion.
Edmund Burke
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