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Statesman
 
Posts: 11324
Joined: 15 Aug 2000, 8:59 am

Post 23 Jan 2021, 12:51 pm

So Biden says he wants to preserve the filibuster. He may be posturing so that Mitch basically forces Schumer to end the filibuster. If he can. Perhaps it has to be made obvious to a couple of Democratic Senators that the filibuster will have the same effect a republican majority would have before Schumer holds a vote to end the filibuster....

"Defenders of the filibuster argue that it prevents a majority of lawmakers from ignoring the minority. They often claim it preserves the Senate’s comity and forces senators to act in a bipartisan fashion, which is supposedly good on its own merits. In functional terms, the filibuster allows a minority of senators to effectively veto what the majority of their colleagues would like to do—a bizarre inversion of how legislatures are supposed to function. In certain cases, like constitutional amendments or impeachment trials, the Senate is required to reach a two-thirds majority to act. But day-to-day business isn’t supposed to be governed by the whims of the party that didn’t win the most seats."

Interesting that the filibuster is a vestige of slavery and the primary tool used to stop civil rights expansion for a hundred years....

https://newrepublic.com/article/161033/ ... ster-biden
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Adjutant
 
Posts: 3646
Joined: 17 May 2013, 3:32 pm

Post 23 Jan 2021, 11:10 pm

There is a lot that goes into this. First, it should be noted in the negotiation between Schumer and McConnell that Schumer has not been willing to give up the filibuster in writing. So in 6 months to a year if Republicans are being as obstructionist as we expect them to be, then Democrats could revisit the issue.

The Democrats do not have votes at this point. Joe Manchin is adamantly against giving up the filibuster. (There is a small state reluctance to give up the filibuster--they have little say in the House and if it becomes easier to pass things in the Senate states like West Virginia will lose power) I believe there are a few others. So not having the votes it is not politically prudent for Biden to be pushing for something he cant win. But maybe he can in a while if Republicans dont play ball.

It's not just the filibuster that allowed Southern states to delay civil rights. Robert Caro's biography on LBJ showed how they used their knowledge of senate rules and control of senate committees (southern senators got sent back for many years so they tended to have seniority) to thwart reform.

The power moves made by McConnell are reminiscent of that...