Beto O’Rourke Bluntly Calls Democrats Who Cherish The Filibuster Dumb

Last updated on June 25th, 2021 at 03:41 am

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Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke said that it is dumb for Democrats to cherish the filibuster and lose the opportunity to get things done.

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O’Rourke said on MSNBC‘s Deadline: White House:

It’s pretty dumb from where I’m looking. Think about it this way. If you had to bet money on whether we would still have a filibuster in ten years, almost none of us would bet on — it has been chipped away over the last 20 years, first four, federal judges, supreme court justices, reconciliation, budget bills. It’s going to go out the window at some point. Do you want that to happen when Democrats can literally save democracy or when Mitch Mcconnell is perhaps, once again, the majority leader? No matter how you look at it — I’m most compelled by the need to same democracy and voting rights right now, or whether you look at it in terms of the tactical advantage the Democrats would enjoy.

 If the filibuster is going to go, you want to be in the majority when it does. This will be Democrats last best hope. To what Garrett was saying in the previous segment, after two years of power in the white house, in the U.S. Senate, if you’re unable to tell the American people how you have made their lives demonstrably better, they’ll throw out that party. If the thing preventing you from doing that was a filibuster, then get rid of it now. 

O’Rourke is right. The stars have aligned. Democrats have total control of the Executive and Legislative Branches. It makes no sense to squander that control because a few Democrats are worried that they will have no power when they are in the minority again.

The filibuster dispute is really about some Democrats who are willing to sacrifice current power for a chance at maintaining future power from within the minority.

The problem is that sort of thinking leads to defeat.

The status quo is broken. The filibuster will be totally gone soon, and Democrats get rid of it before Republicans do.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association