Written by Alan McConnell   

According to long-standing precedent, a new Senate adopts its
rules by majority vote at the beginning of each new term. This
means that we, the American people, have a two-month window of
opportunity to demand an amendation of the filibuster rule.

There are some good historical reasons to support some kind of
tactic by a substantial minority of the Senate to delay
legislation. But there is no argument in a democracy for the
proposition that a minority may _kill_ legislation.

Thus, as a working compromise, I suggest that a new rule be
adopted to the effect that upon the vote of 33 Senators(one-
third of the Senate) a vote on any proposed bill may be delayed
by two weeks; also that upon the vote of 40 Senators(two-fifths
of the Senate) a vote on any proposed legislation may be delayed
by up to six weeks. It seems that that amount of voting delay,
offering much scope for political maneuvering, rallying of public
opinion, etc, would serve the purpose of enabling a substantial
minority of the Senate to temporarily put off legislation for
further consideration.

Finally, we know that the institution of Congress is held in
contempt by between 85 and 90 percent of Americans. In
particular, Americans have seen gridlock for the past two
years, and the prospect of further gridlock for the next
two years is surely unappealing. Now is the time -- we
have two months -- to insist that this continued log-jam
be broken.