I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT FILIBUSTERS lately, and it caused me to do some quick calculations about the current state of affairs.
Republicans have turned a time-honored tradition in the Senate into a ruthless partisan club—using the filibuster to block or delay an unprecedented number of bills.
Recently, they used it to delay the extension of unemployment benefits—a bill which both helped Americans in need and provided a powerful stimulus for the economy.
The Democrats are reluctant to get rid of the filibuster. They remember the first eight years of this century too well, and are afraid they might need it in the future.
But I'm not sure the filibuster is such a good idea.
Like the ability of a Senator to put a hold on a bill, it's a hold-over from the European tradition of privilege for the upper class.
Senators get to do undemocratic things that mere Representatives can't in our system.
But, of course, the Senate itself is fundamentally undemocratic, giving, as it does, unequal power to the voters that it represents.
Which brings me to my calculations.
I did a little research on the way the Senate represents the voters, and found some generally available, but rarely talked about, facts.
The Senators from Wyoming represent just 544,270 people—or about 270 thousand each.
On the other hand, the Senators from California represent 36,961,664 people, or about 18 million each.
Yet they get the same vote in the Senate.
That means that if you live California, your vote for Senator packs only about 1/68th the punch that it would if you lived in Wyoming.
This isn't a partisan thing by the way, I could make a similar case using Texas and Vermont.
But there are, at any given moment, partisan issues involved.
Right now, for example, the citizens of this country have voted for 59 Democratic Senators, and 41 Republican Senators.
That's a pretty decisive edge, if it weren't for the filibuster.
But it's still skewed because of the way the Senate is chosen.
If we take into account the populations of their states, Democrats represent about 193 million people, and Republicans only represent about 113 million.
That's 63% to 37%—enough to override any filibuster.
But because our system contains a very undemocratic twist, compounded by several small ones, the government has had an uphill battle to get anything done during one of the most critical periods in our history.
Representatives of 37% of the populace have been able to delay those who represented 63% from making speedy progress.
I have no idea what that means, but I think it's an interesting issue.
