The Public Needs a Nap

By GAIL COLLINS, NYT

One of the many problems with the Senate filibuster rule is that it requires us to think about the Senate filibuster rule.

The American public has other things to do! The American public is extremely busy! The holidays are coming up, and the American public’s workload is somewhat larger than, say, that of the House of Representatives, which is planning to show up for four full days in the month of December.

So give the American public a break.

The filibuster is, of course, the fascinating Senate tradition that allows a minority of members to stop action on a bill unless the majority can come up with 60 votes. Every once in a while the majority gets fed up with all this stonewalling and threatens to change the rules. This is known as the “nuclear option” because change is worse than atomic war.

“If the Democrats proceed to use this nuclear option in this way, it will be Obamacare II,” cried Senator Lamar Alexander on Wednesday. This was in keeping with a brand-new Congressional tradition under which Republicans making remarks on the floor of the House or Senate are required to mention the Affordable Care Act at least once every 35 seconds.

(More here.)