Filibuster

The Nation has an interesting editorial on the filibuster.   Seventy-five % of polled Americans favor a health care public option.  Obama favors it, the House has voted for it.   Right now it looks like as few as two democrats in the senate could scuttle the public option by way of denying Senate democrats cloture (the 60 votes needed to close debate.)   Retained to protect minority opinions, the filibuster ends up giving you huge doubts about the US as the world model of democracy.   Filibuster is not in the Constitution; it;s a Senate rule and the vote level to end debate was decreased from 65 to 60 not too long ago.   Senate Majority Leader Reid needs to have the courage to change the rules again so our representative system can more accurately represent!

If you're interested in the issue of respecting minority views in the American political system, check out the writings of Lani Guineer (yes the woman quickly torpedoes by Bill Clinton as nominee for Attorney General.)