ELIMINATE FILIBUSTER and the FORCED SUPERMAJORITY

Filibuster forces a supermajority on every vote. This is against the intent of our founding fathers. 
The Republicans now feel they can dictate with simply 41 votes. This is outrageous.

The filibuster rule is a non-constitutional rule.  It is being used to force an unconstitutional supermajority vote on all main issues.

It can be changed quickly by a simple majority with Biden's support.

For more details of how to do this, here is an part of an excellent post by a member of another board, who found this on Wikipedia. It is well worth repeating. 
BruceMcF 

"A senator makes a point of order calling for an immediate vote on (a) measure before the body, outlining what circumstances allow for this. The presiding officer of the Senate, usually the vice president of the United States or the president pro tempore, makes a parliamentary ruling upholding the senator's point of order. The Constitution is cited at this point, since otherwise the presiding officer is bound by precedent. A supporter of the filibuster may challenge the ruling by asking, "Is the decision of the Chair to stand as the judgment of the Senate?" This is referred to as "appealing from the Chair." An opponent of the filibuster will then move to table the appeal. As tabling is non-debatable, a vote is held immediately. A simple majority decides the issue. If the appeal is successfully tabled, then the presiding officer's ruling that the filibuster is unconstitutional is thereby upheld. Thus a simple majority is able to cut off debate, and the Senate moves to a vote on the substantive issue under consideration. ... The  filibuster ... would thereafter be barred by the new precedent."

I believe the filibuster, as it is practiced, forces supermajority votes on legislative issues, and is therefore contrary to the constitution. The writers of the constitution knew that a democracy could not function with supermajority votes required, which is why only a simple majority is required. The senate can and should eliminate it.

For more details, see page six of this document: https://www.policyarchive.org/bitstream/handle/10207/176/RL32684_20050405.pdf?sequence=1

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Is Supermajority Requirement Constitutional?

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Tags: Filibuster (all tags)

Comments

3 Comments

The Senate during the Bush years

Didn't need a supermajority to do whatever it wanted.

by Kyle Shank 2010-01-19 11:02PM | 0 recs
RE: The Senate during the Bush years

that was due to Dems rolling over.  The filibuster did save SS from privatization though.  If it would have gone through, that would have been the last pece of legislation passed.

by AZphilosopher 2010-01-20 04:47AM | 0 recs
Wait until

Social security privatization, extreme SC justices and some form of religious legislation under the next Republican administration.  Surely we want 50 votes to be able to pass all of that stuff. /sarcasm

by AZphilosopher 2010-01-20 04:45AM | 0 recs

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