Ban the Filibuster

“The filibuster has been perverted to derail proposals that some members simply don’t like. The Senate should ban it,” says the L.A. Times. The legislative tool isn’t what it used to be. “No longer does a filibuster involve a senator standing for hours on end, reading volumes of extraneous material and refusing to give up the floor as Jefferson Smith memorably did. Now it’s simply a party leader refusing to allow a bill to be brought up by unanimous consent, forcing bill supporters to round up a three-fifths majority — or 60 votes — in support of a cloture motion just to end debate on the motion to begin debating.”