Congressional Reform

Yesterday the US Senate voted to change it's own rules and limit the filibuster option (from the required 60 votes to 51) for judicial and other nominees.
  
Democrats ditch historic U.S. Senate rule blamed for gridlock


This is not limiting all filibusters - just those to block judicial and executive branch nominees.  So Senators can still go "Mr Smith goes to Washington" on legislation - just not nominees...

To be honest I don't have a strong opinion on the use of filibusters when it comes to nominees.  But what this move represents is real change in the way Congress gets its work done.  I welcome the change.

People often complain that the problem with Congress is the people we send there - that "we just need new people."  I disagree.  We send new people to Washington all the time.  The problem with Washington is not the people, it's the rules of the institutions themselves.

If we want real change we need true congressional reform.

The current rules have been manipulated by both parties to the point that nothing is getting done.  Some might argue that's a good thing.  But when you consider how many things do need to change and how long and difficult it is to get a new law passed; you start to realize that something in the process needs to change. Something in the way legislation is debated and passed, or that a nominee is approved, a hearing is conducted, that monies are appropriated; Something in the way Congress conducts its business needs to fundamentally change.

I'm looking for new leaders willing to change the way things get done.  

New people with the same ideas don't get us anywhere.  Just as people with new ideas working in a broken system don't get us anywhere.  The good ideas and solutions to many of our nation's problems are out there.  But they will never see the true light of day under a defunct system.

The root cause of the problem in Washington is the process.  


UPDATE (11/25/2013):

Here is a nice follow-up article from the Christian Science Monitor that provides some context to my argument:  Washington blows up: Has American politics hit an all time low?

Also, The Provo Daily Herald published my letter to the editor. Funny though, the title they selected for the letter was kind of the opposite of my argument - it's NOT the people. It's the RULES: We need new people in Washington.