The gamification of the legislative process by Democrats with the presumed guarantee of favorable press coverage is a song and dance that has become synonymous with today’s congressional leadership.

To no one’s surprise, in a string of recent legislative actions, both Speaker of the House Pelosi (D-CA 12th District) and Senate Majority Leader Schumer (D-N.Y.) have churned out as much legislation as possible in as little time as possible by declaring deadlines that only serve to rush the legislative process. These actions create fodder for the Democratic party and much of their mainstream media to bash the Republican party and its Senate members for using the filibuster in order to give the bill the time and deliberation it deserves.

The Big Picture

Since the writing of the Constitution and the founding of our government, the legislative branch and its procedures were intended to be carried out with careful and much needed deliberation and, of course, time. It is for this reason that the Senate was intended to operate in such a way that differed from the House. The “Soul of the Senate,” or the filibuster, was created so that bills and their effects on the greater country could be explored and discussed to their fullest extent without the constraints of time, and furthermore, without allowing mob rule to ensue. Despite this rich and important history of time and the filibuster, Democrats such as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer disregard this pivotal aspect of the Senate and, instead, seek to use each opportunity as a club against their opposition and advocate for abolishing the filibuster, only to be heavily aided by their comrades in the mainstream media.

The Details

Why time (and the filibuster) is important in the legislative process:

• The Framers intended Congress to act in such a fashion that guaranteed that each bill would be given the proper attention it deserves. A slow-moving legislature is far less likely to infringe on an individual’s liberties than one that moves with great fervor.
• According to the Economist, in 1984, the average length of a bill was two and a half pages, yet roughly 4 decades later, the average bill is 20 pages. Further, this almost 10x increase is deceiving as it accounts for short uncontroversial laws such as renaming a airport or bus station. The last stimulus bill alone totaled 628 pages. With bills becoming longer, it is imperative that Senators be granted the time they require, and by extension the filibuster, in order to adequately consider the legitimacy of a bill.

Why fast tracking bills through the Senate undermines public confidence in government:

• If the filibuster were to be removed, and bills were churned out and passed at the rate both Senate Majority Leader Schumer and House Speaker Pelosi desire, it would only serve to inflate the already oversized and overinflated balloon that is our government.
• Every passage of a new law, particularly those that are passed without proper deliberation and proper time granted to them as well as typically being hyper-partisan, dictates yet another action from the government that people must follow, even if the government themselves may not have verified the veracity of the law itself to its fullest extent.

Why It Matters

The legislative process is not a game ripe for abuse from Democratic leaders, or any leader. The legislative process is a delicate balance between an individual’s liberty and the security of the nation as a whole that must be guaranteed the time it deserves. What may seem like “action” and “good intentions” from Democratic leaders to “do something” is merely another attempt to expand the already overinflated power of government and use their friendlies in the media in order to attack the Republican party -- and destroy the system of governance so carefully laid out by our founders -- simply to advance their partisan agenda.