It is time to talk about the filibuster; a rule that requires 60 votes to move forward on legislation in the Senate. It is typically used to attempt to block or delay Senate action on a bill.

The filibuster was used effectively for years by Senators from the south to prevent civil rights legislation and keep Jim Crow laws in effect. (As a side note, I believe it was also used to keep the US out of the League of Nations after WWI.)

I have a fairly simple proposal which I believe would protect the rights of the minority and yet keep things moving forward.

First, we should add voting and civil rights bills to the exceptions that already exist for court appointments. Then, we should allow up to two filibusters per year to each party to be controlled by the respective party leader. This would allow the filibuster to be used only on really important matters and be in line with the allowable use of reconciliation which was most recently used for the Covid bill and was previously used by the Republicans to cut taxes in 2017.

I know this sounds way too practical to ever happen. It would also lessen the ability of some cranky Senators who like to mess things up just to play in the rubble.

The only downside would be that it would be harder for Rand Paul to stop the anti-lynching bill again. Somehow, we could all survive that.