Friday, January 22, 2021

The Congressional Struggle Begins

On the one side you have a minority that has no respect for the fact that the American majority opposes them and that in democracies the majority rules. This minority is adamant about using historical quirks and technicalities to maintain their control despite their minority status.

On the other side you have a majority which has a pile of work that needs to get done to relieve suffering and even the toll of death in our country. Much of this work has genuine bipartisan support. 

If our institution of democracy is to survive, it must be able to respond positively to the will of the majority. The majority will need to fully exercise the power it has within the rules to affirm the power of the majority. Only this can bring the obstructive minority back into the fold of a truly democratic process. The minority has shown itself to not be willing to submit to the demands of a democratic form of government. Essentially despite the failure of the storming of the Capitol, our democracy is still at risk and will remain so as long as the faction that does not have the support of the people is able to exercise more power than that to which they are entitled.

Under standard Roberts Rules, two-thirds of a body can close debate and bring a question to vote. Any member of the body who gains the floor can move to close debate. Originally, the Senate operated without any cloture rule because senators wanted to maintain the privilege of any one senator to hold the floor as long as he wanted to talk. There was a natural limit to debate in the stamina of any single member.  In 1917, the Senate adopted a rule that brought it into line with standard Roberts Rules. Historically, this rule was most often used by southern Senators to block efforts to disassemble Jim Crow laws. In 1975, the rule was slightly modified to use a three-fifths threshold for cloture. It now takes 60 senators to force cloture instead of 67. Nonetheless, a united minority can block legislation yet today. 

What can the majority do to bring the minority into line? I'm not an expert on all this but this is how I see it. The majority can drop the "nice-guy" attitude since the minority has clearly thrown it out the window altogether. It should require senators to physically debate the questions they wish to block. And they should actually force cloture votes, repeatedly if necessary. At some point, the minority will crack. The optics of them intentionally voting against things that the majority of American desire must be a burden they risk and bear. Furthermore, the majority can bring bill to the floor outside of the minority-controlled committees and force votes on things that indeed have a filibuster-proof majority. In doing so, the hidden fragmentation of the minority party will be exposed. Given that the minority fights with procedural technicalities, the majority must also enter the same battlefield and bring sufficient humiliation to the minority that in no longer falls within their self-interest to continue the battle. 

The will and cohesion of the majority will be tested. But perversely, it's the will and cohesion of the minority that will, in fact, strengthen the cohesiveness of their opposition. This is how democracy should work. The things the majority wants should be the things the legislative bodies provide. If such is not the case, democracy is not present. 

Make no mistake. This battle is existential for our democracy just as much as the struggle against the mob in the Capitol.

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