Nobody will filibuster in the Senate...

From David Sirota:

http://www.workingassetsblog.com/2007/10/dems_fume_about_the_tyranny_of.html

Dems Fume About the Tyranny of the Tiny Minority

By David Sirota
Working Assets, 10/17/07

The Hill Newspaper has an interesting story today about how House
Democrats, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, are fuming over the U.S.
Senate's tyranny of the tiny minority - the situation which I
mathematically detailed a few weeks ago whereby a tiny segment of the
population has the Senate representation to stop anything. The Hill
says there is "a deepening frustration among House Democrats, who are
irritated with lack of progress in the Senate and are starting to
publicly press their Senate counterparts to stop letting Republicans
use procedural tactics and instead force Republicans to carry out a
filibuster, if that's what it takes."

I (obviously) agree with that. Except what the House Democrats have
not said is that Senate Democrats could use the filibuster for the
progressive agenda. For instance, Senate Democrats could filibuster
any Iraq war spending bill that is a blank check with no provisions
to end the war. Remember the whole "nuclear option" terminology in
the Senate? That derived from the fact that the filibuster is a sort
of mutually destruction - that is, both sides can use it if they
want. One of the big problems is that only one side seems genuinely
interested in using it.

Another huge problem is that Senate Democrats have empowered people
like Montana Sen. Max Baucus (D) to chair panels like the Finance
Committee - the most powerful panel in the Congress, which oversees
tax, trade and health care policies. The story explains why that is a
problem:


"Looking ahead, Democrats in the lower chamber see more unpalatable
compromises on issues like tax policy, where they are disappointed to
see their goals in the hands of cautious centrist Sen. Max Baucus
(D-Mont.). House Democrats say on tax issues, they are constantly
told that nothing can get off the ground unless nine or 10 Republican
senators will agree to it. 'Everybody says, 'What can we get in the
Senate?'' explains Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.). 'So we have to go
over to Max Baucus with hat in hand.'"
Again, Senate Democrats have made a deliberate decision to put Baucus
in that position. Sure, he has seniority, but it is the collective
decision of the Senate Democratic Caucus to put him in that position.
You may recall a few years back that House Republicans installed Rep.
Bill Thomas (R-CA) as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee
over the more senior Rep. Phil Crane (R-IL). Democrats could do the
same - but they don't want to.

So I give Pelosi and House Democrats credit for raising the issues
surrounding the tyranny of the tiny minority. I hope it puts pressure
on Senate Democrats to get serious, especially considering a new poll
out today showing that the Democratic Congress's approval ratings
continue to plummet. But just remember, there are powerful forces in
Permanent Washington that want to preserve the gridlock and that love
the tyranny of the tiny minority. Some of these forces are right
within the Democratic Party itself, as I will show in my next
nationally syndicated newspaper column, out this Friday. Stay tuned.

Wrap...