Quote Originally Posted by rvg View Post
Yes, it is difficult to administer sweeping changes, and that is a good thing. Revolutionary changes usually bear sweeping consequences, and if the healthcare bill if flawed (which it is), then the public will end up paying the price for a legislative mistake.
At the same time, the current use of the filibuster is not remotely historical. Google-fu tells me that there were no filibusters at all between 1789 and 1840, and fewer than 2 dozen total between 1841 and 1899. Between 1919 and 1963, there were a total of only 23 filibusters. From 2000 through 2008, there have never been fewer than 43 filibusters per year, with 139 filibusters in 2008 alone.

There's something wrong with our system. It was not intended to work like this.