Why Just Fixing The Filibuster Is Not Enough To Unbreak The Senate

The Senate’s filibuster rules gave the minority party power to shut down all judicial confirmations for much of 2012, and — if a Republican court’s decision eviscerating the recess appointments power is upheld — to effectively repeal two federal agencies. Over 90 percent of the country supports expanding background checks, but the Senate’s filibuster rules allowed a minority of the Senate to kill them.

And yet, even if the filibuster were abolished tomorrow, the the Senate’s broken rules would still provide Senate minorities with numerous opportunities to block progress. ... -snip-

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Full article here: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/05/14/2000901/why-just-fixing-the-filibuster-is-not-enough-to-unbreak-the-senate/