# McConnell should eliminate the filibuster **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 23, 2014, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcconnell-should-eliminate-the-filibuster/705442 "2014-11-23T22:29:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 8
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcconnell-should-eliminate-the-filibuster/705442/8 "2014-11-24T01:23:51Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > That would be pointless. I expect the GOP to abolish the filibuster if they keep the senate and win the white house in 2016, but right now any bills the GOP like will get vetoed. > > A better idea than banning the filibuster is making it painful. Right now it is too easy to filibuster. Force people to actually stand and stay in session, that way it’ll only be used on occasion. The latter is “Reforming the filibuster”, which I don’t have a problem with. As discussed in previous threads IIRC, can you come up with a single great example of constructive filibuster?[sup]1[/sup] The classic one reflected attempts _to maintain Jim Crow_. Also, let me quote my 2009 post: > [@Should Procedural Filibustering Be Abolished?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-procedural-filibustering-be-abolished/486789/35): > > Filibusterers have **never** had to read the phone book. Strom Thurmond’s recitation of recipes and phone books was pure theater, tolerated only out of Senatorial courtesy: the majority had already secured the votes for a quorum. > > To mount a filibuster, one Senator need only sit aside and simply say, “I suggest the absence of a quorum.” He can do that again and again and again. This was proven by Alan Simpson of Wyoming when he blocked campaign finance reform in 1988. The rest of his supporters can go home. > > Cite: [The Myth Of The Filibuster: Dems Can’t Make Republicans Talk All Night](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/23/the-myth-of-the-filibuste_n_169117.html). [sup]1[/sup]Here’s one! [Janice Rogers Brown](http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/2005/02/the_return_of_t.html). Except I see that she was appointed to [the appeals court](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janice_Rogers_Brown) anyway. [Here are more](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/the-slim-case-for-preserving-the-filibuster) possible examples. They aren’t exactly high profile. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcconnell-should-eliminate-the-filibuster/705442)._