A friend sent some more information on Tom Daschle's previous position on the use of the filibuster which can be found in an article by John Cornyn titled "Our Broken Judicial Confirmation Process and the Need for Filibuster Reform": Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy; Volume 27, Number 1, Fall 2003.
Senator Daschle: "The Constitution is straightforward about the few instances in which more than a majority of the Congress must vote: A veto override, a treaty, and a finding of guilt in an impeachment proceeding. Every other action by the Congress is taken by majority vote. The founders debated the idea of requiring more than a majority to approve legislation. They concluded that putting such immense power into the hands of a minority ran squarely against the democratic principle. Democracy means majority rule, not minority gridlock." (141 Cong. Rec. 2832 (1995) (statement of Sen. Daschle))
1995, when the previous statement was made, was of course a situation where a Democratic president wanted to pass legislation. Back then democracy was all about majority rule. Apparently today democracy is about protecting the minority from the rule of the majority.
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