Republicans Use Filibuster to Prevent Government from Working for the American People

Guest Commentary
By HAYLEIGH STEPHENSON FOR BUZZFLASH
Fri, 03/05/2010 - 6:40pm.


The filibuster is used to protect minority interests in the Senate, ensuring that minority interests are not trampled by the popular party.

However, the Republicans have used the filibuster to simply paralyze government. Creating this paralysis feeds the Republican talking point that government doesn't work and should be slashed.

In fact, the reason why "government doesn't work" is because Republican senators use the filibuster to prevent essential legislation from becoming law. Republicans can thus block the legislative process, then blame "the system" for being unworkable.

Curiously, almost every major news story covering congressional gridlock spreads the blame around evenly between both Republicans and Democrats. We're told that the problem is "the system," and "bipartisan bickering." However, the facts show a more specific problem. The reason why nothing is getting done in Washington today is because the Republican Senate's record-breaking use of the filibuster. Republicans, in the minority in the 2007-2008 session of congress, used the filibuster 112 times. The most that Democrats resorted to the tactic, when they were in the minority in 1999-2000, was 58.