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Cooper: Defending the filibuster, the last safeguard of minority rights

Photo by Erin Schaff of The New York Times / President-elect Joe Biden addresses a campaign drive-in event for Georgia Democratic Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock in Atlanta on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020. He urged Georgia voters to cast ballots for two Democratic candidates in a pair of critical runoffs early next month, seeking victories that would give his party full control of the Congress and help Democrats advance the agenda he promised on the campaign trail.
Photo by Erin Schaff of The New York Times / President-elect Joe Biden addresses a campaign drive-in event for Georgia Democratic Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock in Atlanta on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020. He urged Georgia voters to cast ballots for two Democratic candidates in a pair of critical runoffs early next month, seeking victories that would give his party full control of the Congress and help Democrats advance the agenda he promised on the campaign trail. Photo by Erin Schaff of The New York Times / President-elect Joe Biden addresses a campaign drive-in event for Georgia Democratic Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock in Atlanta on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020. He urged Georgia voters to cast ballots for two Democratic candidates in a pair of critical runoffs early next month, seeking victories that would give his party full control of the Congress and help Democrats advance the agenda he promised on the campaign trail.

By John Cooper / Tribune Content Agency 3 min read

Most of what you’ve heard about the left’s extremist agenda is true. They haven’t been exactly quiet about it.

The radical left, which is now setting the agenda for the White House and at least one chamber of Congress, is intent on imposing a government takeover of the health care system, implementing the job-killing Green New Deal and packing the Supreme Court.

And that’s just for starters.

There is, however, one thing preventing the left from getting its way and fundamentally reshaping America: the Senate filibuster.

The filibuster is a central part of Senate tradition, a rule that ultimately requires 60 votes to pass legislation that was designed to encourage moderation and counter the House of Representative’s majoritarian impulses.