Guest Blogger: Steph Bany
This past week we have been talking about the House of Representatives and the Senate. I have learned a lot of new things, especially since I had not paid any attention to the Government and how it works. The most surprising thing I learned about was the Filibuster, which is used by the Senate.
It confused me that such high powered and influential people used a tactic like talking about nonsense for hours to avoid a problem. I can understand that they are a part of the minority and don’t have another way to combat the majority, but maybe they need to think of something better and less annoying than chatting aimlessly. You would think that the people who run one of the most powerful countries in the world would not resort to acting like third graders as a solution. Maybe instead of reading the phone book or showing pictures of their grandkids, senators could actually talk about the issue they are opposing. Perhaps a better way to filibust would be to explain your view of the problem and convince others that the bill is or isn’t a good idea to pass. The bad thing is I don’t see this happening anytime soon. Senators are too busy supporting their own parties then to form their own opinions about issues. Which is way they always go back to the regular “Aaron Adamson 253-684, Andrea Anderson 938-3844, Alexis Appleton 587-4813…”
Filibusting is a tactic that unfortunately seems to work when you are the minority and don’t want a vote to take place. I know if I were in the Senate I wouldn’t last for more then maybe 2 hours listening to someone talk nonsense, I can hardly imagine endearing 24 plus hours. That’s why if I were ever to run for office in Congress it would be for a seat on the House of Representatives where speeches are limited and have relevance. Until the filibuster is eliminated you won’t find me on the Senate. Hopefully our Senators will no longer have to act like third graders, and they will find a way to discuss their issues like the suitable high powered people we elected them to be.
-Steph Bany 10-23-09 APLG
posted by erdecker @ 8:21 AM
8 comments
8 Comments:
Filibustering, while a useful minority party tool, is ridiculous in principle since it allows the Senate to do nothing for numerous hours. You would think that there would be a different way for minority parties to block action without wasting hours of a session each time an issue comes up.
This is pretty funny.
It should probably be noted that the likes of Thurmond's 24 hour filibuster are not very common.
Cloture is cool and all, but doesn't it make more sense to attach a time limit to every speech in the senate? I don't understand why they haven't done that.
A question for Abir:
Although I think the idea of a speech time limit would be a good idea, what happens at the end of the allotted time if the majority party does not give in? While a filibuster does by principle sound rediculous, I think the real reason why it has not been changed is simply due to the fact that there is no alternative way to effectively protect the minority (which is an idea that is problably not going to change). For members of the Senate, it is without a doubt annoying when someone filibusts your bill but at the same time, you have to remember that at some point, you may be a part of the minority and then the filibuster will be on your side.
I understand the cause of protecting the minority so that it doesn't get completely run over- placing a time limit on speech on the senate floor wouldn't really impede that, would it? Both parties still would have equal opportunity to speak; the minority just won't be able to stall for lengthened periods of time.
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