Harry Reid Finally Kills the Filibuster (Mostly)

Image from source, New York Times

The fear that has been hanging over Senate Democrats' heads regarding the filibuster always was, If we get rid of it, we'll regret it when the day comes that we're out of power. That's a valid concern, but there was absolutely no assurance that if the Senate flipped to Republican control that they wouldn't "go nuclear," and kill the filibuster anyway.

As has been widely reported, virtually half of the filibusters that have ever happened, have been used during President Obama's tenure. Democrats even warned Senate Minority Leader Myrtle the Turtle Mitch McConnell that if the GOP continued to block the three judicial nominations on deck, that they'd revoke the filibuster. McConnell apparently called Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's bluff, and Reid--finally, finally--wasn't bluffing. This wasn't a dick move by Reid. It was a solution to the long list of dick moves by Senate Republicans.

The filibuster remains for Supreme Court appointments.

[Excerpt]

In Landmark Vote, Senate Limits Use of the Filibuster

The Senate approved the most fundamental alteration of its rules in more than a generation on Thursday, ending the minority party’s ability to filibuster most presidential nominees in response to the partisan gridlock that has plagued Congress for much of the Obama administration. . .

Read more at: New York Times