New York Times correspondent Peter Baker should know better than to parrot GOP talking points. The filibuster is not constitutional. The Senate chose to slow itself down.
Peter Baker is parroting GOP talking points
Peter Baker appeared on the 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle. She asked him if there was any chance the Senate could get anything done on some prescient issues. I could swear I was listening to a Republican politician.
“The Senate is designed by the Constitution to avoid exactly the kind of rush to legislation that we’re talking about,” Peter Baker said. “It is designed as an institution to avoid, you know, quick response to popular outrage. The founders believed that there was something valuable in that. But obviously, in today’s political environment, there’s great frustration with that frustration that doesn’t just slow things down to give it some thoughtful consideration, but it slows things down forever and never gets anything done.”
Really, Peter. What slows the Senate down? Their own rules. There is nothing constitutional about the filibuster. They create their own rules that temper themselves.
The Senate is an undemocratic body by design. But it still abides by the majority rule tenets. By majority rule, we mean a majority of Senators. Of course, the undemocratic nature is that California gets two Senators as Wyoming does, even though it has several times its population.
If the Americans believe the filibuster is constitutional, they will tend to tolerate the ills it creates. But if they know it is not, they will likely penalize the Senators using it to obstruct good legislation.
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