Rule 22

"We will go through the gate. If the gate is closed, we will go over the fence. If the fence is too high, we will pole vault in. If that doesn't work, we will parachute in."  So says Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi regarding her intent to pass Obamacare despite a majority of Americans dead set against it.   When Democrats can't pass their trash onto the public through legislation, even when they have huge (or did) majorities to do so, they find other ways in which to try and succeed.  Witness activist judges, college professors, teachers' unions, and now the assault on the rules of the U. S. Senate.

Rule 22 of the U. S. Senate was established in 1917 at the behest of President Woodrow Wilson.  Wilson wished to negate the effects of a handful of stubborn senators who did not wish to arm U. S. merchant ships in the lead up to America entering World War I.  When first passed by the Senate, a supermajority of two-thirds or 67 votes were necessary to end debate and invoke cloture.  This proved too difficult a number to attain even after post-Watergate victories left the Democrats with a 62 vote majority in 1975.   Once again the Democrats changed the rules to require only three fifths of the Senate, or 60 votes to end debate.   As Wikipedia explains, "This has considerably strengthened the power of the majority, and allowed it to pass many bills that would otherwise have been filibustered."  Apparently 3/5's is still not strong enough for those brazen enough to try and pass defective legislation over the repeated wishes of their constituents.  

With their numbers dwindling with each election, and a potential bloodbath ahead of them in November, the Democrats and their allies in the media are calling for a simple majority of 51 to be all that is necessary to shut down debate and pass a bill in the Senate.  While a simple majority of 51% may seem fair to most of us in our everyday lives, in the Senate, the requirement of some kind of supermajority remains an  important cog in our check and balance against extreme ideologies.  It's terribly hypocritical of the Democrats to try, on the one hand, to advance the idea that a mere majority in the Senate is just, when on the other hand they repeatedly ignore the majority of Americans who oppose their plans.   A change in Rule 22 could prove disastrous for the Democrats in the fall elections.  And wait for their howls when they  eventually lose their current majority and the Republicans need only 51 votes.