Dear Tom Harkin: End the Filibuster
This is not a political blog; however, I sent the following letter (well, e-mail) to Tom Harkin, my Senator, today, because it’s important. Feel free to copy it and send it to him, or to revise it to send to your own Senator, if you are so inclined.
Dear Senator Harkin:
Today I read in a story from the Los Angeles Times about your efforts to change the Senate’s rules regarding the filibuster. I support those efforts. But I also urge you to be more ambitious: the filibuster should be ended for good and the Senate’s rules should be changed to severely curtail blocks on Executive branch appointments.
The minority’s ability to block everything from legislation to Executive branch appointments means that the United States cannot take on the important problems of our time, such as the rising costs of health care and the dire consequences of climate change. It means that positions important to the smooth running of government, such as the Undersecretary for International Affairs and the Assistant Secretary for International Economics and Development in the Department of the Treasury, are left empty in a time of great financial distress. It means that America’s judiciary is poorly staffed and that criminal cases go untried and unprosecuted. The arcane, antidemocratic procedures of the Senate need to end now to ensure the United States can operate and be governed well.
I am sure that some Democratic Senators worry about ending the filibuster because they believe there will be a time when they will again be in the minority. Their hesitation is a hedge to protect the legislation they worked so hard to pass. I acknowledge that danger, but I am willing to accept it, as should they. As you have said, “Elections should have consequences“—that is true just as much as when Republicans win elections as when Democrats win them. When the elected majority cannot pass legislation it was elected to pass, when the elected President cannot pursue policies he or she was elected to pursue, then it is not just legislation and Executive branch policy being undermined by the filibuster—it is the will of the people.
Again, I support your efforts change the Senate’s rules, and I urge you to step up those efforts.
Sincerely,
