This is Floyd Wynne with THE VIEW FROM HERE 5/26/05

Who won in the filibuster battle in Congress?
Was it the Republicans or the Democrats?
The Republicans hoped that the compromise would enable them to proceed with the approval of some of the Presidents choices for judicial positions. At present ... while there are 55 Republicans and only 45 Democrats....it takes 60 votes to stop a filibuster.
The Democrats were hoping to keep their options open of being able to filibuster judicial choices that they deemed to conservative.
So....who won?
Well....I can tell you who lost.......it was us.
Only in recent years have the two parties been so solidified.
In most cases they have been controlled by their leadership to voting pretty much as blocs.....Republican as well as Democrat. The
result in this particular case is that the filibuster rule remains the only option for the minority party to have a say in what the Senate does.
Over the years, both parties have resorted to the filibuster at one time or another, but these have been very exceptional cases and the filibuster has been a court of last report.
It remains to be seen whether the so-called compromise will hold. Apparently the Democrats have agreed not to filibuster the three judicial nominations that they have hitherto deemed to conservative to be on the bench. That seems to be about the gist of the compromise.
When I say that we, the public, are the loser.....particularly when the two parties become embroiled in a senseless fight...is because then little is accomplished at a time when there are a number of very important issues that must be discussed and determined.
Look at the national scene......the cost of health care has risen so dramatically that few can afford adequate health care without some type of supplement from either their employer or the government.
That includes the great escalation in the cost of drugs.
Then there’s the question of the future of social security. Yes, the program has proposed privatization for some younger Americans...but thus far that issue has also become deadlocked.
There’s the issue of additional supplement for our young men and women in the military who have given up their private jobs to fight for our security.....yet they suffer great inequities in pay.
There are not only a number of important issues that face the Congress........the least of which is whether or not one party of the other can filibuster at the drop of a hat.
American prestige has suffered greatly in recent days what with the Newsweek article on the koran.....the criticism of how we handle the prisoners at Guantanamo.....the Abu Graib fiasco....and others.
We pride ourselves on urging other nations to become democratic, yet I can help but wonder what they think when they see our Senate and House...quibbling over unimportant things....and doing very little to promote harmony and prosperity here at home.
America’s brand of democracy is really on trial around the world today......and it’s time our so-called statesmen.....acted like statesmen.

This is Floyd Wynne and that’s THE VIEW FROM HERE.