Should Congress eliminate

the filibuster?

Schoolhouse
Rock
How a Bill
Becomes a Law

Laws are like sausages: its best not to see them

being made.
- Otto von Bismarck

A Simplified Version of
how a bill becomes a
law:

House

Senate

435 members; 2 yr terms

100 members; 6yr terms

Reqs: 25 years of age; 7 years a citizen;

resident of state

Reqs: 30 years of age; 9 years a citizen;

resident of state

Salary: $174,000
Exceptions: Speaker of the House,
majority/minority leaders

Salary: $174,000
Exceptions: VP, president pro tempore;
maj/min leaders

Debate limited to one hour

Unlimited debate

Members are policy specialists

Members are policy generalists

Emphasizes tax and revenue policy

Emphasizes foreign policy

More formal and impersonal

More informal and personal

Scheduling/rules controlled by majority Scheduling/rules agreed to by majority and

party; powerful Rules Committee
minority leaders

Senate Rules
Floor debate is almost unlimited in the Senate
no time limit for debate in the Senate as a whole or to floor
time given to individual Senators
This is because the Senate was conceived as the more deliberative
body; further
removed from the
people; to some
extent wiser, more
experienced

The Filibuster
A tactic used by a minority to obstruct or delay
the passage of a bill
Traditionally, those who wanted to block a bill
would engage in non-stop floor speeches to
demonstrate that debate continued - talk a bill
to death
When a bill is filibustered, a minority of 41
Senators (of 100) could block a vote favored
by the majority
The Cloture Rule
- this is the Senates check on the filibuster and
limits debate, but requires of the full Senate
to vote on cloture (60 Senators)

In the 1930s Huey Long engaged

in a number of filibusters to oppose
bills he believed favored the rich
over the poor. He entertained his
spectators with recitations of
Shakespeare and read recipes
from his favorite cookbook.

The record-holder for

the longest filibuster
in US History goes
to:
Strom Thurmond,
Democrat segregationist of
South Carolina
Filibustered the 1957 Civil
Rights Act
24 hours and 18 minutes!

The problem with the filibuster today:

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/301sct/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-filibusters
play to 3:20

The problem with the filibuster today:

Used far more frequently than ever before, ie. if a Senator
simply disagrees with a bill (this is a relatively recent
creation)
Senators are no longer expected to engage in a talking
filibuster
Paul Krugman, a NY Times journalist has warned that the
Senate has become ominously dysfunctional

The routine use of the filibuster as

a matter of everyday politics has
transformed the Senate legislative
process from majority rule into
minority tyranny...Leaving party
affiliation aside, it is now possible
for Senators representing the 34
million people who live in the 21
least populous states (11% of the
entire American population) to
nullify the wishes of the
representatives of the remaining
88% of Americans.
- Jean Edward Smith, biographer
and journalist

How does Smiths statement speak to

the reason why Sanford Levinson
argued the Senate is fundamentally
undemocratic?

Should we bust the

filibuster?

Potential Reforms to improve practices in Congress?

Eliminate the filibuster; or require talking filibusters only
Campaign finance reform - overturn Citizens United or amend
Constitution
Require greater transparency from Congressional leaders
Proportional representation - ie. eliminate single-member
district voting for Congressional elections
Stricter gerrymandering laws