Steve Benen informs us about the Republican reaction to the procedural shenanigans last night in the Senate:
McConnell, described as “visibly angry and shaken,” fumed to his colleagues, “We are fundamentally turning the Senate into the House. The minority's out of business.” A GOP staffer added, “Just wait until they get into the minority!”
Benen quotes Brian Beutler, who sees a danger that "an opportunistic future GOP majority will seize upon what happened Thursday as an excuse to make much bigger, broader changes to parliamentary procedure, perhaps even nixing the filibuster." He's right about what's likely to happen but wrong in implying that it's a bad thing. It will probably have to be a GOP majority that ends the filibuster. While this would lead to worse outcomes in the short term, it would be a wonderful development in the long term, since the filibuster is an indefensible blight on American democracy. The Senate functioning like the House of Representatives would be a major improvement, and to the extent that Reid's actions last night made that more likely, it's a win-win situation.
