If only we had 100 Elizabeth Warrens
by David Atkins
Not to take anything away from Jeff Merkley, Tom Udall and other Senators who have been champions at the forefront of the anti-filibuster campaign for quite some time now, but the straight talk and reliably smart, progressive stances from Senator Warren are always a breath of fresh air. When she talks, even the national media listen. Here’s what she had to say about the abuse of the filibuster:
In the face of all this obstruction, Warren has joined progressive stalwarts such as Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Tom Udall (D-N.M.) in demanding real changes to how the filibuster is used. “So far they have shut down the government, they have filibustered people [President Obama] has nominated to fill out his administration, and they are now filibustering judges to block him from filling any of the vacancies with highly qualified people,” she said. “We need to call out these filibusters for what they are: Naked attempts to nullify the results of the last election.”
Warren went on: “If Republicans continue to filibuster these highly qualified nominees for no reason other than to nullify the president’s constitutional authority, then senators not only have the right to change the filibuster, senators have a duty to change the filibuster rules,” Warren said. “We cannot turn our backs on the Constitution. We cannot abdicate our oath of office.”
If only we had 99 more like her. Or heck–just 59 more would do.
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