Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wa., wants to reduce the number of votes in the Senate required to end a filibuster. It currently takes 60 votes to end a filibuster, down from the 67 specified in the original rules change in 1919.
This has become an issue since the Democrats lost their 60th vote to Scott Brown of Massachusetts. That makes it more difficult for them to hold together 60 senators who want to pass Obama’s health care rationing plan. Here’s what McDermott had to say about the “reform” effort:
In the House, Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wa.) this week introduced a resolution urging the Senate to lower the filibuster threshold, adding in a statement that the legislative tactic “has begun to erode the integrity of our Democratic process.”
So, let me get this straight. Democrats in the Senate are trying to force through some disastrous legislation, that nearly two-thirds of the American voters oppose. Meanwhile, a few principled senators are trying to block it, recognizing that the voters don’t want it. And McDermott calls the filibuster undemocratic? Maybe that capital “D” is not really at typo after all.
