there is no room for compromise

[zaph]

Attempting to compromise with people who are unwilling to compromise is futile and should not be attempted.

The Democrats in the Senate should start operating as if the Republican Party does not exist at all. They might actually be able to get something accomplished that way.

And if the Republicans want to filibuster? Make them actually

Comments

[jazzfish]

While I agree with your general sentiment, actually filibustering isn't all it's cracked up to be. The only way this can end well at all is by getting rid of the damn thing.

"I suspect deep down the Dems are relieved there's no reason to really show up for work for the next three years." -LGM commenter KC45s

[arashink]

Thanks for the link. After reading that, I have this nagging feeling that politicians are a pack of munchkins and rules lawyers (okay, that was a poor choice of words) who don't want to get anything done. Is that an unfair assessment?

[jazzfish]

It's a little more complicated than that.

Republicans, to quote PJ O'Rourke, are the party that insists government doesn't work, and then get elected and prove it. They have a vested interest in watching all the Democrats' initiatives fail, and with the filibuster the way it is they can block literally every piece of legislation that doesn't go through the budget reconciliation process. And there aren't any consequences: voters don't see "republican filibuster," they see "democrats not doing anything even with a majority."

Democrats are still running away from the 1972 Presidential election and are terrified of doing anything that might look like they have liberal principles, or of standing up to Republicans. They're also a bunch of corporate whores (although slightly less so than Republicans), and (like Republicans) are reluctant to do anything to upset their big campaign contributors.

End result: politicians will take any excuse to do nothing, because nobody ever got fired for not passing a bill.

[zaph]

Given how poorly the Democrats managed to employ the filibuster during the Bush administration (i.e. they didn't bother at all), I'd be all for eliminating it entirely. Then we might actually see a public health care option.

[starfishchick]

Take control, Democrats! You have 58 seats, which is more than the Republicans have had in almost a century, and yet somehow, they've still managed to force through an awful lot of their heinous agenda.

So stop being fucking pushovers and make some progress already.

YES THIS NOW PLEASE. And I'm not even American!