If you have paid any attention to the news lately you should be aware that the Republican controlled Senate is discussing changing Senate rules to eliminate the filibuster. I won’t go into the politics behind this course of action, but I think it is important to discuss the ramifications.
To start with, people in this country seem to have a short term memory. Depending on the talking points you hear it would sound like this is the first time in history a filibuster has been used to stall and/or prevent legislation or nominees from passing a vote of the Senate. That simply is not true. Both parties have used the filibuster when they were in the minority to their advantage to prevent the majority party from passing an agenda to left or right of center.
And that is the real point of the legislative branch of government. I asked my father when I was young why it took so long for Congress to get things done. His answer in part was that the system was designed so that everyone was heard, and that the minority was protected. This way people have to compromise and as a result we get the best laws in place for the country as a whole.
There it is, the protection of the minority… this country was founded in principle to protect the minority, wither it was speech, or religion, and yes, after a long time race was finally included in that and today we have protections for sex, disabilities, age, etc… What happens when the minority is no longer protected? Believe me; you don’t want to live in that world.
So here is where we get to the incredibly short sided nature of this effort to eliminate the filibuster. The truth of the matter is there has always been and always will be a majority and minority party in the Senate. And this party in power typically cycles back and forth every few years. Doesn’t anyone in the Republican Party besides Bob Dole understand this? If the Republican Senate goes ahead with this action, they will be successful in pushing through any legislation or nomination they see fit, my question is…
what are they planning to do when the Democrats are back in power?
And here is where short sidedness takes over. The answer is nobody cares. Why? Because by the time it happens it won’t be their problem. Yes that’s right, someone said that all Congressmen want to be Senators, and all Senators want to be President. So there is this overwhelming belief that outside of one to two terms in the Senate (a whopping six to twelve years) they will have moved on and somebody else can deal with the problem. Does that seem right to you?
This is on the same line of thought as another topic that irks me to no end. We currently have record low interest rates. The interest rate is still at a 20 year low. So what do you think this means? Interest rates are guaranteed to go up. Everything cycles, give it enough time and you will start to see a natural rise and fall in systems. The interest rate is no exception to this.
So with record low interest rates what are people doing? They are purchasing homes on interest only and variable interest rate loans. They do this so that their interest rate and hence mortgage payment is cheap today, right now. So let’s think about the logic with this. An ARM (variable interest rate loan) is guaranteed to have an increase in interest (depending on your loan let’s say three to seven years from now). When that interest increase happens it adjusts to what the current interest rate is. So what do you think the interest rate will be at in three years? How about seven?
Wake up people! It is a guarantee that the interest rate will be higher than it is today. So what are you going to do, sell your house when interest rates are on the rise? If you are selling your house because you cannot afford your mortgage anymore, how many people out there do you think will be in the same position?
Start thinking ahead more than five minutes, there is more to life than the now.