In essence, the power to enact significant legislation has passed to a few Senators (e.g. Joe Lieberman), whose swing votes were garnered by making major concessions to important provisions within the bill. A lasting legacy of the 2009 health care reform debate will most likely be anger among partisans on both sides of the aisle.

The inability of Congress to achieve even a modicum of bi-partisanship on something as simple and routine as a spending bill that keeps government services flowing is a troubling sign of the times we live in. The use of the filibuster to block legislation, which used to be used prudently and infrequently, is now an “everyday” weapon in the arsenal of Republicans