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- iHaveNet.com: Politics
by Tom Harkin
Alexander Hamilton, describing the underlying principle animating the Constitution, wrote that "the fundamental maxim of republican government . . . requires that the sense of the majority should prevail."
The founders, to be sure, put in place a system of checks and balances to temper pure majority rule. To become law, a bill must pass both houses of
Unfortunately, because of the filibuster, Madison's warning has become a reality.
In the last
These are not just meaningless statistics. Behind each filibuster is an attempt to block the majority from debating legislation, voting on a bill, or giving a nominee an up-or-down vote. In each of those 139 filibusters, if 41 senators did not like a bill, no matter how simple or noncontroversial, no matter that it may have been supported by a majority of the House, a majority of the
In other words, thanks to the filibuster, even when a party has been resoundingly repudiated at the polls, that party retains the power to prevent the majority from legislating and effectively governing.
The
Most troubling, the filibuster has increasingly been used to prevent the
The sad reality is that today, because of the reckless use of the filibuster, our government's ability to legislate and address problems is severely jeopardized. When the abuse of rules prevents the
That is why I recently introduced legislation to change the
In 1995, when Democrats were in the minority, I introduced the same proposal. My feeling was then, as it is now, that use of the filibuster would only continue to ratchet up unless we broke the cycle. The fact is, elections should have consequences. If the nation elects a majority of Republicans to the
Yet my proposal has absolutely nothing to do with limiting minority rights. Under my proposal, the minority members would have ample opportunity to debate an issue, try to shift public opinion, and attempt to persuade their colleagues. However, the minority would no longer have the power to brazenly block the majority from legislating. In this way, we can restore the
At issue is a fundamental principle of our democracy -- rule of the majority in a legislative body. I do not see how we can effectively govern a 21st-century superpower when a minority of just 41 senators can dictate action -- or inaction -- not just to the majority of senators but to a majority of the American people. This is not democratic. Certainly, it is not the kind of democracy our founders envisioned and intended.
Tom Harkin is an Iowa Democrat and chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Read how the filibuster can be used to build political bridges, by Sen. Lindsey Graham.
Available at Amazon.com:
The Political Fix: Changing the Game of American Democracy, from the Grassroots to the White House
AMERICAN POLITICS
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Why Senate Filibuster Rules Must be Changed | Tom Harkin
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