Senate filibuster, invented to uphold slavery, needs abolishing before any progressive legislation passes. The author offers an insider’s account of how reactionary politicians use the upper house to repress working people and hamstring democracy.
The question is whether even a supportive president can reverse the decline in union power that economists say has helped hollow out America's middle class. Neither organized labor nor sympathetic politicians have managed to do that for decades.
Here's why she thinks it can get support from reluctant centrist Democrats.
The PRO Act will not pass unless we end the filibuster. Those two things are a package deal.
They are using the filibuster, so that 41 GOP senators, representing just 21% of the country, can block everything from a $15 minimum wage to legislation to restore the Voting Rights Act.
“So if that $15 minimum wage isn’t in this package, we are going to have to figure out a way to get it through. And if that means reforming the filibuster, then we should reform the filibuster," Rep. Pramila Jayapal said.
Sanders, who will oversee the reconciliation process and has voiced skepticism over eliminating the full filibuster, has not offered an opinion on sidestepping a parliamentarian ruling.
If the filibuster is sustained the minority will block even the common-sense reforms contained in the John L. Lewis Democracy Act.
Both Sanders and Warren said the timely passage of another massive stimulus bill is more important than waiting on GOP lawmakers mired in gridlock.
"Do Senate Democrats want to keep the filibuster or do they want to pass comprehensive democracy, anti-corruption, and voting rights legislation to realize the promise of a multi-racial democracy?"
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