Reply to post:

NSA mass spying reform KILLED by US Senators

dan1980

Filibusters are just plain wrong.

Yes, they have been used for goals that I consider worthwhile but it is no way to run a democracy. Representative democracies - at least in theory - involve the representatives voting on issues on behalf of their electorate.

A filibuster is a direct, blatant attempt to prevent that happening. There have been changes (as I understand only applicable to the current congress) but the fact is that there is still an allowance to, essentially, try to prevent measures being passed by an ordinary majority.

It's simple - decide what votes are required for a given type of motion and leave it at that.

If one Senator attempts prevent a vote then they are trying to silence the voice of those people who voted in the rest of the members. I am rather glad that Australia doesn't have such nonsense. (And yes, I realise that it's not just the US.)

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon