Three majority votes in the Senate failed this week because Democrats were unable to muster 60 votes in their favor. 60 allows for a cloture vote, which breaks a filibuster.
1- A proposal to lengthen home leaves failed even though it received a majority vote of 56 to 44.
(S A 2909)
2- A proposal to give DC a vote in Congress failed despite receiving a vote of 57 to 42. (S 1257)
3- A proposal to habeas corpus to those detained by the United States despite a vote of 56 to 43. (SA 2022)
No surprise really since the Senate, by design, has always been able to empower a minority to stop legislation. That's why it looks the way it does. If we tallied the populations represented by the senators we may well find that they represent the interest of an even smaller fraction of the population.
The votes demonstrate that president Bush still has the ability to rally his party behind him. If the population is firmly behind the Democrats, they will be able to use these votes as campaign items in 2008. That's why we have elections.
Here's my question: When Democrats were in the minority and used similar tactics, Republicans argued that they violated democratic principles and proposed a nuclear, or constitutional, option that would have eliminated filibusters. It's not a constitutional power after all. So why don't we hear the same from Democrats?
