Member-only story
Joe Manchin (Munchkin) and Kyrsten Sinema (Cinema) are willing (read eager) to torpedo the Democratic agenda to preserve the filibuster in it’s current form, a grand tradition that goes back to…1975.
The origin of the filibuster, does not go back to the Constitution (despite the avowed reverence for it making it seem like it does) but instead goes back to 1806, middle of our fourth presidential term and third president Thomas Jefferson. It was at the advice of renowned statesman and murderer Aaron Burr. Until that time a simple majority could end a Senator’s speech. After this rule change it would take 2/3 of those present to end a Senator’s speech. I repeated speech twice because as I said, after 1975 no speech was required. A person can only talk for so long, a person can ‘not speak’ forever. Even the dead can do it.
Now there is a clear uptick in filibusters after 1975, though it wasn’t till 2000 or so that the use skyrocketed. So as Munchkin and Sinema wax nostalgic for the traditions of…1975(!?) what are they so reverent of? Now I don’t remember much of the 70s, as a consequence of spending much of the decade being born and learning how not to crap my diapers, but let’s hop in the wayback machine to the glory days of Congress.
The webpage of the senate itself has a section for landmark legislation by Congress. On it you can find the…
