Raskin makes big reversal on filibuster

It sure is funny how not so long ago Democrats wanted the filibuster nuked.

Now that Trump is in there and the GOP has control, they are advocating for keeping it in place.

It goes to show why you cannot take politicians like Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) seriously.

The Capitol Riot Investigations

The GOP used the filibuster to block Democrats in the Senate regarding the January 6 investigations, and Raskin went nuclear on them for it.

At the time, he stated, “Using the filibuster to cover up the truth about Jan. 6 is a scandalous abuse of power that should bring the filibuster to an immediate and long overdue end. Until that happens, we will now have to move forward without the Senate to figure out how to create the nonpartisan, objective investigation into the events and causes of Jan. 6 that America deserves.”

He continued, “It’s shocking that the GOP has now extended the territory of the Big Lie to cover Jan. 6, too. They obviously can’t handle the truth.”

Not a member of the Senate, but clearly not afraid to give his opinion on it.

Trump Wants to Nuke the Filibuster

Let’s fast forward to today, where Donald Trump wants the GOP to nuke the filibuster to end the shutdown and ram through legislation over the next year, just in case the GOP loses the House.

Trump stated, “It’s time for Republicans to do what they have to do, and that’s terminate the filibuster.”

Trump continued, “It’s the only way you can do it. And if you don’t terminate the filibuster, you’ll be in bad shape. We won’t pass any legislation.”

The problem, of course, is that if you nuke and Democrats take over, they can pass their legislation in droves, and I think the legislation they would pass would change this country forever, and not in a good way.

Shoe on the Other Foot

Now, you saw what Raskin said about the filibuster before, so CNN’s Dana Bash put him on the spot to see if he would support Trump’s quest to break the filibuster now.

Raskin responded, "Look, we don’t need a procedural fix at this point. We need the Republicans to recognize that there’s a healthcare crisis they’ve imposed on the country. Millions of people are facing the loss of their health insurance because of the skyrocketing premiums under Trump and the end of the ACA tax credits."

He continued, "We need to restore those credits, and we need to restore millions of people to Medicaid that were thrown off when they passed a trillion-dollar cut to healthcare in America, while they gave a trillion-dollar tax break to the wealthiest people. That’s why we’re seeing a clean Democratic sweep across America."

Bash actually asked him to give a firm answer, and he responded, "You know, I’m not in the Senate, so I’ve got no say in that, right?" But that did not stop him from giving his opinion before. Other Democrats have had similar responses. It’s only okay to break the filibuster for their issues, like abortion, but when the GOP wants to do it, no way.

And for the record, I don’t want to see the filibuster nuked because it is the only guardrail we have to protect us against Democrats running roughshod over conservatives. Give them two years of no restrictions, and the GOP would likely never win an election again.