The Constitution says each house of Congress "may determine the rules of its proceedings." Also, the Constitution requires of Congress six supermajorities (for ratifying treaties, proposing constitutional amendments for ratification, impeachment convictions, overriding vetoes, expelling members, and removing an incapacitated president who objects to removal). It is a perverse non sequitur to say that if the Constitution does not mandate a particular supermajority, it is impermissible.
Conservatives believe that 98 percent of good governance consists of stopping bad — meaning most — ideas. So conservatives can tolerate liberal filibusters more easily than liberals, who relish hyperkinetic government, can tolerate conservative filibusters. Come January, 21 of Reid's 55 Democrats will have come to the Senate in 2009 or later. They have never been in the minority. They must remember this: Some day they may be.
George Will's email address is georgewill@washpost.com.
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George F. Will is one of the most widely recognized, and widely read, writers in the world. With more than 450 newspapers, his biweekly Newsweek column, and his appearances as a political commentator on ABC, Will may be more ..
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@jcs
Two can play...
The answer to George Will's question is obvious: McConnell and the rest of the conservative/republican extremists will use the filibuster to subvert the political process in an attempt to impose their More..
More than anything, I would like to see the rule put back in place which requires people to actually get up and TALK if they want to fillibuster . . . not just express a lack of agreement with a bill.
I do't wat to see the fillibuster More..
To John Charity Spring 2:11 p.m. Dec. 23, 2012
Your statement is incorrect as writen. Let me correct it for you. to be accurate, it should read as follos:
The answer to George Will's question is obvious: McConnelland the More..