I just read a brilliant article by Peter Beinart that explains how with the advent of the Clinton presidency, Republicans began a campaign to debilitate the government. As Beinart points out:
All that changed when Bill Clinton took office. With the GOP no longer controlling the White House, a new breed of aggressive Republicans — men like Newt Gingrich, Tom DeLay and Trent Lott — hit on a strategy for discrediting Clinton: discredit government. Rhetorically, they derided Washington as ineffective and conflict-ridden, and through their actions they guaranteed it. Their greatest weapon was the filibuster, which forced Democrats to muster 60 votes to get legislation through the Senate. Historically, filibustering had been rare. From the birth of the Republic until the Civil War, the Senate witnessed about one filibuster per decade. As late as the 1960s, Senators filibustered less than 10% of major legislation. But in the '70s, the filibuster rule changed: Senators no longer needed to camp out on the Senate floor all night, reading from Grandma's recipe book. Merely declaring their intention to filibuster derailed any bill that lacked 60 votes.
And a little later:
In 2009, Senate Republicans filibustered a stunning 80% of major legislation, even more than during the Clinton years. GOP leader Mitch McConnell led a filibuster of a deficit-reduction commission that he himself had demanded. The Obama White House spent months trying to lure the Finance Committee's ranking Republican, Chuck Grassley, into supporting a deal on health care reform and gave his staff a major role in crafting the bill. But GOP officials back home began threatening to run a primary challenger against the Iowa Senator. By late summer, Grassley wasn't just inching away from reform; he was implying that Obamacare would euthanize Grandma.
The article is a bit long but it is worth reading the whole thing. It’s a bit depressing at the end as Beinart sets forth some ideas and events that might solve the problem – the ideas all make sense, but I cannot get myself to imagine any of them happening. I sure hope I’m wrong.
1 comment:
The Founders designed the government as a Republic and not a Democracy. They wanted change to come slowly which would necessitate bipartisanship. Democrats are attempting a government takeover of health care. This not only is contrary to what the public wants but is very likely a violation of the 10th Amendment. Filabuster is good.
Post a Comment