It used to be that filibuster was one of those things that was threatened to get people to the table and negotiate, but not something really used. And it was even only threatened in extreme cases. People were afraid of being seen as obstructionist and worried about political retribution. These days obstructionism isn't seen as such a bad thing and its become a routine tool in an overly polarized political system.
Hell, the Senate had to bring together a bill at the very end comprised of a giant package of something like 20 previous measures that were blocked by a single Senator, Coburn from Oklahoma (who has the nickname Dr. No). That's just one person in one session. I'm sensative to the rights of the minority needing protection and I think that balance is a good thing. But the rules of the Senate when its divided control don't seem to be working well anymore. I'm not sure what the answer is though, sadly. The next 4 years are going to require a lot of work to get things sorted out. 2 wars, a pile of debt, shaky alliances abroad, economic troubles..the list goes on. I think that a unified House/Senate/Presidency is the best option for getting things done. The caveat, of course, is that they have to do the *right* thing. And with some of those situations there isn't an obvious right answer. So we choose the best we can and then get to work. judah On Fri, Oct 31, 2008 at 5:28 PM, Scott Stroz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I agree, 'with great power comes great responsibility.' > > I understand the the use of filibuster. But if some off the wall > legislation comes by where it would normally be used, they won't have the > option...that is what scares me. Maybe its a good thing, maybe it isn't. > and maybe 'scared' is not the best word, 'concerned' might be better. > > Lacking any bi-partisan cooperation, A split White House/Congress rarely > gets any useful legislation passed, so who knows. I really don't think > either guy will be any worse than Bush, and if they are, we are all in a > heap of shit. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;207172674;29440083;f Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:277858 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
