Our Broken Senate

Update: Also, news comes that Senator Richard Shelby has placed a blanket hold on Obama administration appointments, apparently as part of a plan to extort pork for his state.  With Scott Brown having been seated, the

Is the Senate broken?  Or is the recent fretting over the filibuster just myopic whining that misunderstands our history?  The following graphs and links indicate that, in fact, the Senate is broken — the filibuster has been deployed more often, than before.  Details below the fold.

Via Ezra Klein “The Radicalism of Majority Rule“:

Cloture Motions
Cloture Motions

From Talking Points Memo “The Rise of Cloture“:

Who Uses Cloture?
Who Uses Cloture?

Again via Ezra Klein:

More evidence the Senate is broken
More evidence the Senate is broken

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