{"id":69551,"date":"2015-08-05T12:37:37","date_gmt":"2015-08-05T16:37:37","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=69551"},"modified":"2015-08-05T12:37:37","modified_gmt":"2015-08-05T16:37:37","slug":"wasnt-majority-vote-enough-defund-planned-parenthood-insane-filibuster-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wasnt-majority-vote-enough-defund-planned-parenthood-insane-filibuster-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"Why wasn’t a majority vote enough to defund Planned Parenthood? Insane filibuster rules"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

On Monday, pro-lifers won the Senate vote to defund Planned Parenthood, but lost anyway<\/a>. Anyone else see a problem here?<\/p>\n

The bill got fifty-three votes. A majority. Odds are, your civics class taught that\u2019s how bills pass. Heck, the federal government still teaches kids<\/a> that\u2019s how it works.<\/p>\n

How it actually works, however, is much more convoluted. Technically<\/em>, a simple majority still passes legislation, but in practice that doesn\u2019t matter anymore because under current Senate rules, the vote can be staved off with indefinite debate (filibuster) unless sixty votes are cast to end the debate (cloture).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a setup brought to you by a torturous history of conflicting interests and shifting political winds<\/a> (seriously, I have a degree in this stuff and my eyes still glazed over), and consequently, pro- and anti-filibuster sentiment doesn\u2019t fall neatly along the Left-Right divide.<\/p>\n

The defense (aside from \u201cI wanna keep it because my party happens to be the beneficiary right now,\u201d of course) is that it allows the minority to keep the majority from passing anything too extreme, theoretically forcing lawmakers to seek consensus in drafting legislation.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a lovely thought\u2026if you ignore basically everything we know about modern-day politics. One party\u2019s vision of how the world should work is so ideologically radical<\/a> that it simply isn\u2019t open to incorporating opponents\u2019 ideas in any meaningful way, and the other is so philosophically craven and aimless<\/a> that its idea of consensus has more to do with political expediency than effect on the country.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, conservative commentators Charles Krauthammer<\/a> and Hugh Hewitt<\/a> called on Senate Republicans to end the filibuster so we might actually see some results from their new majority. The former argued that the \u201cfilibuster has grown in use and power over the decades to the point of dysfunction. Everything needed 60 votes. This is relatively new and nowhere to be found in the Constitution.\u201d The latter warned that Republicans \u201cneed to tell their story through action, not speeches, and they need to start now.\u201d And both pointed out that the Democrats are likely to kill off the filibuster during their next majority anyway, so the GOP might as well reap the benefits of cloture-free governing while they can.<\/p>\n

Yes, the sixty-vote threshold can prevent pro-abortion majorities from passing horrible legislation like the EACH Woman Act<\/a>, but it\u2019s also keeping pro-life majorities from defunding Planned Parenthood and banning abortions at twenty weeks.<\/p>\n

\"supreme-courtAnd consider: we\u2019ve all been frustrated by the prospect of having to wait years and years until Supreme Court Justices eventually resign, then a pro-life president eventually replaces them, then<\/em> a future legal dispute eventually reaches SCOTUS again, then<\/em> the new majority votes to overturn Roe v. Wade, then<\/em> we can finally vote to directly end abortion-on-demand.<\/p>\n

But what if I told you Roe v. Wade could be overturned, and all<\/em> abortions voted on, as early as January 20, 2017? A bill like the Life at Conception Act<\/a> could do it. A pro-life president may well win election next year. Congress\u2019s pro-life majority could hold or expand. But do you really want to risk the fates of millions of preborn babies on the likelihood of the next Senate having sixty strong pro-lifers?<\/p>\n

Ultimately, we live in a system where the majority, while not without limits, rules. We\u2019re all used to hearing the phrase \u201celections have consequences\u201d used as an excuse for the losing side to capitulate (see: judicial nominees<\/a>), but here it should be a clarion call for the winning side to act. In November, the American people voted to move away from pro-abortion extremism<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A supposedly pro-life Senate shouldn\u2019t let meaningless, extra-constitutional rules get in the way of keeping their promise to the electorate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Monday, pro-lifers won the Senate vote to defund Planned Parenthood, but lost anyway. Anyone else see a problem here? The bill got fifty-three votes. A majority. Odds are, your civics class taught that\u2019s how bills pass. Heck, the federal government still teaches kids that\u2019s how it works. How it actually works, however, is much […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":69338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[19,4544,403,4176,2534,131,3906,4545,14,31,615,1156,408],"yoast_head":"\nWhy wasn't a majority vote enough to defund Planned Parenthood? Insane filibuster rules - Live Action News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On Monday, pro-lifers won the Senate vote to defund Planned Parenthood, but lost anyway. 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