Now that the Republicans can filibuster, the Democrats want to change the rules.  According to The Hill yesterday, Tom Harkin (Democrat from Iowa) intends to introduce legislation that would take away the power of the minority party in the Senate to filibuster.  I can’t believe that Scott Brown had any idea when he got in his truck and talked to the voters of Massachusetts how far the impact of his election would go. 

The article in The Hill goes into the details of the bill, when it will be introduced, etc., but there is something else going on here.  The voters of Massachusetts elected a man who a few months ago was relatively unknown in the state to fill the seat of Ted Kennedy.  That seat should have been a lock for the Democrats.  Martha Coakley was not really out of line in assuming that she did not have to campaign.  Anyone with a “D” after their name should have been elected.  But the Democrats lost the seat.  One of the reasons was that the voters felt that the Democrats were taking them for granted and not listening to them.  Well, wanting to change the filibuster rule is more of the same.

The current healthcare reform bill has never done well in public opinion.  The Democrat spin is that everyone will love it once it takes effect.  The other spin is that it is budget-neutral–sure it is–for the first four years you collect the taxes, after four years the benefits begin, therefore over a ten year period it is budget neutral.  What happens next, do you suspend everyone’s healthcare for four years so you can play that trick again?  So how do you pass it–you move the goalposts in the middle of the game!

Obviously, the Democrats in Washington are not yet listening to the American people.  Republican victories in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts have simply not been recognized.  I guess we need to throw out more incumbents in November.