Filibustering in D.C.
As is discussed by Sunstein, debate and discussion is necessary to a democracy. Instead of congressmen being able to have discussions in which all parties have open minds and work through problems together, we have party politics. And what happens when one party is the majority? Congressmen give their allegiance to parties, rather than to the people, making open discussion nearly pointless in Congress.
Why talk if nobody is listening? Debate and discussion that all parties actually listen to each other in order to come to the best conclusion, in their opinion, for their constituents. Unfortunately because of party loyalty, many are simply voting however their parties tell them too.
Because of this filibustering has come into play by the minority parties., as is described in an article from The Huffington Post. Because republicans in the senate know that they are a minority and will always be out voted by democrats, they have resorted to simply preventing voting from ever occurring. This means that our laws are now depending on whether or not democrats have the patience to sit through these tactics or not. This is most certainly not what the framers had in mind when creating a legislative branch.
The current case of filibustering as described by The Huffington Post involves the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy in the military. Democrats want discuss taking this policy out and making it legal for open homosexuals to enlist in the military. The republican party, lead by John McCain, is currently resisting this liberal policy move because it is in their opinion against American morals. How though, may I ask does halting the democratic process go along with American morals? Of course, by not listening to the G.O.P. or ever seriously considering important points made by other party members, it seems that the democratic party isn’t doing perfectly either.
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