Message From The Senate To America: Democracy Be Damned
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The Senate ignored the will of the people. (Elvert Barnes, Creative Commons)
Ninety percent of the entire country agree that expanded background checks are a good idea. But that’s apparently not good enough for the United States Senate, as the already-watered-down gun control bill was initially filibustered, and failed to reach the necessary super majority threshold of 60 votes.
Wait...something that had the support of 90 percent of the country failed to be passed in a representative legislature? If the Senate actually cared about the will of the American people, that bill would have passed with flying red, white and blue colors.
But it didn’t.
The smear campaign against the bill should really be studied in political science classes in universities across the country. It’s a textbook case on how the gun control debate is framed and how the almighty political hammer known as the dollar is used to defeat massively popular legislation. While it may be useful study material for students, this type of politics is very dangerous and damaging.
This type of politics isn’t what makes this country great. This type of politics isn’t democratic in any sense of the word. To be fair to the Senate, the majority actually voted in favor of the gun legislation. But it didn’t matter, because the massively undemocratic bully tactic, the filibuster, blocked the bill.
That’s the real lesson to be learned from the failed gun legislation. The filibuster, as it is currently being used in the Senate, is a tool for special interests—and every time it’s used is another vicious stab into the back of democracy and the American people.
It’s the same tired story over and over again. The Democrats craft a bill. Compromises are made to get a least a few Republicans on board. After months of deliberation, a bill is finally presented for a vote. The bill is then filibustered and nothing gets done.
This happens on nearly every bill. Nominations to important government posts go unfilled for months or longer because there are those who want nothing more than to see the current president fail, regardless of what happens to the country in the process.
The simple fact is, it is hard to get more than a simple majority to agree on something. Especially when the typical piece of legislation is multi-layered and filled with competing interests.
What’s that form of government called where the minority rules the majority? All the types of governments we typically denounce for their "backwardness." It’s time we started to denounce it when it happens here.
The problem with filibuster reform is that both parties stand to benefit from the filibuster. That’s where we the people come in. We need to pressure our representatives to reform the filibuster and restore it to its rightful place as a weapon of last resort—not as a tool of first choice.
We live in a world of rapid technological and social change. Things move faster than they did 50 years ago, and while the rest of our society has changed to meet these new demands, our government has severely lagged behind. We can’t afford to wait months upon months only to see legislation, with a popular majority, fail at the hands of a few radicals.
As we see yet another important piece of legislation fall by the wayside and the will of the people again denied, we must ask ourselves how much more of this we are willing to take.
It’s time we take our democracy back. Regardless of who is in power, we can do without the filibuster.
Follow Guest Contributor Ryan Shaw here.
