Filibuster This!

Today I awoke and logged into Facebook. And to my own eyes a discussion concerning a recent Atlantic article about the Senate filibuster was commencing. Unfortunately through the vagaries of Facebook I was not allowed to comment, but alas, I have this! Like so many other things, the debate over the filibuster is an allegory for a larger discussion about the future of the greatest country that has ever graced God's green earth. In order to discuss the future, first one must realize the past, so here I go.
For those of you with a public school education, much of this will be new. See, the United States rebelled from the most powerful nation at the time on the planet, Great Britain. This rebellion was not just against tyranny, but the lack of fulfillment of the seeds of political freedom that Great Britain had planted in its own soil since 1066. With the successful conclusion of the revolution, the geniuses (and yes the Founding Fathers were genius) threw the bathwater out without the baby. They took those seeds, and grew great trees out of them.
They wanted weak central power, divided and for the most part powerless. Even though most modern textbooks will call the Constitution a strong central authority, it is that in only comparisons to the Articles of Confederation. There is not just the division of power within the structure, but additional safeguards throughout the entire framework against any sort of tyranny. These structures served us well until the mid to late 19th and early 20th century, when some of them began to be removed or "reformed".
Just what things am I speaking of? First off, there are two amendments that while today are mostly ignored, they were bulwarks against federal tyranny. The 9th and 10th Amendments, when read properly, bar the federal government from any power that is not explicitly in the Constitution. Go ahead, read it. I will wait. Unfortunately, other parts of the Constitution have been misinterpreted to mean things that they don't actually mean. But this is a discussion for another time.
This brings me after that short digression, back to the baby. The genius of the Founders also realized the possibility of tyranny from the people. While over the long term the people make the right decisions, sometimes they falter. If you disagree with this, well no matter what you political persuasion you must think that at least one of our last two presidents was a major mistake. But nevertheless, the Electoral College was an instrument to assist the people in making the right choice for president. But there is another mechanism that is to stop tyranny.
In Great Britain, there exists in Parliament an organization known as the House of Lords. While greatly reduced in power from history, its job is simply put to slow down laws passed in the House of Commons. What is the purpose of this you might ask? Well, The House of Lords is not tied to the people in any way, and when the passions of democracy become too heated, a period of cooling off is needed. The House of Lords served this function.
In our own country, the genius founders realized the value of this, and added an additional function to the House of Lords, representation of the states as well. To those of you with a public school education, this organization is known as the Senate. Since its founding, the Senate is supposed to be a roadblock to the excesses of democracy. Now, wholly because of the Progressive "reforms" of the early 20th Century, it can no longer serve this function at all. The 17th Amendment destroyed this stop. This amendment provided for the direct election of senators. While some many think that this is a good thing, it most assuredly is not. Now senators must bend to the pressure from the people as well, even though they are a little more insulated by it because of their longer terms. The House of Representatives is supposed to be awash with the people's business, heated debate and generally in the throes of democratic fervor. The Senate's original job was to moderate anything that came out of that.
This brings us to the filibuster. It is not a new device in the Senate, but over the last few years has risen in prominence. In fact, there have been more filibusters in this most recently Congress than in the entire 19th century. My point would be this is not the problem, but a symptom of the problem. There is no waiting period for the passions of democracy. With the direct election of senators, those who wish to slow down or kill excess in the Senate have to resort to blunt measures like a filibuster.
Some people have said that the political climate is more divided than it ever has been. Quite frankly, that is untrue. American politics has always been a passionate and divided affair. The biggest difference is now there is no way to cool off the heat. So like Venus, it builds and builds. Of course it would simple to say that if we only listened to the genius of the founders we wouldn't be in this mess. Part of the additional heat is due to the bloated power of the federal government itself. As any fat guy knows, you retain heat, more fat more heat. Part of the reason why even in the debate around the Civil War things were on the face at least more cordial (for the most part) ain't 19th Century sensibility, but in all reality the problem was small in comparison. The debate then was over a small increase in federal power, at the expense of the states. Now it was massive in comparison to anything done before, but compared to today, almost minuscule. Today's bloated and morbidly obese monster consumes more resources than entire continents and with each meal just grows larger. The Founding Fathers would have long ago pulled out their muskets to slay the beast.
This beast is why America is divided. It is divided between those who want it to grow larger, and those who want it to grow less or shrink. The filibuster is one of the last tools left to at least slow it down. But never fear, there is a solution. In fact it is simple, even if it ain't easy. The beast must stop eating. No new programs, no new taxes, no new anything. In fact, it would be better if nothing at all got done in Washington. Complete obstructionism. The only things that need to get done are eliminations of federal jobs (not replaced), repeals of taxes, and giving the pink slip to every federal worker that can be found. Repealing the 17th Amendment would also be a big help, which would prevent this from happening again. We as Americans should cheer if the federal government is shut down, as it truly shows just how little we actually need it in our lives.