The U.S. Senate is broken. With everything requiring 60 votes to begin and end debate, (without actual fillibusters happening mind you, just the threat of them) and with individual members able to place holds (secret or not) on nominees and legislation for any reason, it’s no wonder that nothing is getting done. The Senate, essentially, is where good legislation goes to die. That kind of obstruction was a big part of the reason why we drafted Halter to take on Senator Lincoln, besides her just being a crappy Senator. There is a big push to get some reform of the Senate rules come 2011, but there are still a lot of people standing in the way. Surprise surprise, one of them is our other crappy Senator, Mark Pryor.

Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) said he recognizes his colleagues are frustrated over the failure to pass measures such as the Disclose Act, campaign legislation that fell three votes short of overcoming a Republican filibuster Tuesday.

“I think as torturous as this place can be, the cloture rule and the filibuster is important to protect the rights of the minority,” he said. “My inclination is no.”

As precious as the rights of the minority party are (and yeah, when we were in the minority we fought to protect the fillibuster) Republicans and a few bad Democrats have taken the country hostage when we’re in the worst economy since the thirties. I know the Senate is supposed to operate on tradition and congeniality and all that bullshit like the country club it is, but frankly the country can’t afford that kind of patrician nonsense. It’s time to get rid of holds, and while we might not want to get rid of the fillibuster entirely, they should at least make them stand and read from the phone book rather than just threaten to do so.

As usual, Pryor has showed himself to be absolutely useless, even more so than our senior senator, who has at least committed to getting rid of secret holds. He’s an agent of conservative obstruction, plain and simple.

Senator Lincoln now…NOW…wants to do something about secret holds in the Senate.  Know what she’s not talking about fixing?  The fillibuster.  You know, the process she threatened to use to kill the public option?  You know, what she tried to do with student loan reform?  Not one word.  If you want real reform in the Senate, you have to fix the fillibuster, it’s as simple as that.  The fact that Senator Lincoln wouldn’t come out for fillibuster reform shows just how half hearted her commitment to reform really is.