Reid's barking on the issue was simply a way to get the base riled up. He knows that Dems have in the past and will continue to use the filibuster rules to their advantage when they are in the minority. It simply isn't good Senate policy to change the rules when it suits you. It isn't rocket science.
Now hold on. The last set of changes in the filibuster rule -- that allows the minority to simply full-stop the will of the majority of the Senate, without so much as lifting a finger -- are abysmal. They absolutely, unequivocally need to be removed, returning the Senate to its former method of functioning. Which is to say-- being able to function at all. The changes that were bad policy are the rules that are
now in place. The problem is that the minority won't relent, even though they will get rammed by the same crippling stupidity when they take over the chamber.
The current rules are terrible because they ensure that neither party can ever enact the legislation on which they ran, were elected for, and won a majority based upon. A
super-majority is now necessary for the elected majority to implement and test any of policies on which the campaigned. That's simply absurd, and not the way the chamber was intended to operate. There was never an intent to require 60 Senate votes to pass anything, as is the case now. When a party take over the Senate,
they should be able to enact their platform to see if its works. Dems or Pubs. That's the point -- you ran on a platform, convinced the majority of voters you were right, and now need to put theory into action. That's how a healthy government works. But now, instead, the minority simply prevents any of those policies from ever seeing the light of day, blocking all policy changes and simply banking on winning the next cycle. We never learn a damn thing about anything. Nothing gets done. No one discovers who was actually right on an issue. And the country slowly wobbles its way toward the ditch.
Every American should be for filibuster reform -- which is simply a return to the Senate rules as they were originally written and intended. Otherwise, this country will stay locked in paralysis, while our problems multiply and no solutions are ever implemented.
. But for the most part I agree. Republicans operate more efficiently except for the Tea Party which has swung some of the advantage to the Democrats. TP has introduced some uncertainty into a party that amongst other things is often ver sure of itself.