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The current Senate rules haven?t been changed for decades. They just don?t work in today?s super-charged political climate. In past years, our nation was able to move forward on landmark legislation that put in place workers? rights, civil rights, retirement security for seniors and so much more. Today, we only see outrageous obstruction, like this:

For workers, the minority?s ability (40 votes) to endlessly block key nominations made by the Obama administration has a real cost. Even without this abuse of the rules by the minority, workers fighting for economic justice must wait much too long under the National Labor Relations Board process to get their jobs back after being wrongly fired or to finally get a union voice.

The Senate has been called ?the world?s greatest deliberative body.? Today, it barely functions. That?s a sharp contrast from what the Founding Fathers intended. When they drafted the Constitution, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison were determined to avoid the paralysis of the ?supermajority? requirements contained in the Articles of Confederation.

Obstruction tactic No. 1?Endless Debate The word ?debate? does not mean much in the United States Senate. Rather than being a free exchange of ideas intended to convince other senators of one position or another, most Senate debate time is occupied by senators giving closely vetted speeches to an almost-entirely empty chamber. Nevertheless, the Senate rules make it very difficult to stop the serial speeches and actually hold a vote. Unless at least 60 senators agree to hold a vote, the speeches go on forever.

Just how bad are things today in the Senate? If the climate of obstructionism in the Senate that exists today represented how that body has always operated, landmark legislation that brought social and economic justice to millions of Americans would never have been enacted. Organizing and bargaining rights through the National Labor Relations Act. Secure retirement and health care for older Americans that resulted from the Social Security and Medicare programs. An end to years of discrimination endured by people of color through the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act.