Filibusted.

AuthorPeters, Charles
PositionTILTING at windmills - Brief article

The filibuster has become a major factor in the gridlock that has come close to paralyzing Congress in recent years. It explains why Democrats keep saying they need sixty votes. What many people don't know is that the threat was rarely employed before the Senate changed its rules in 1975 to permit cloture with three-fifths of the votes instead of two-thirds.

Before the rule change, resort to filibusters usually only happened when a minority felt its most vital interests were at stake, most often when southerners were faced with a civil rights bill.

When the three-fifths rule was...

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