Since Democrats took over the United States Senate in 2007, Republicans have filed 313 motions for cloture and successfully filibustered 139 bills. In all, they have forced 230 cloture votes since 2007. That's more than the previous 5 Congresses combined.
The quick answer to this from Republicans is that they are blocking bad bills from becoming law. They are fighting on the front lines in the struggle between freedom and tyranny. They are, essentially, saving America. This is, of course, a complete fantasy. But a fantasy the media is happy to oblige.
Two days ago when Senate Republicans successfully filibustered the president's infrastructure jobs bill, the MSM barely called it such. It simply became a vote that failed to pass even though it had 51 votes. The lead article, in what is considered a paper of liberal tripe by most on the right simply said the senate had blocked the vote. As if the senate as a whole had done this. The senate hadn't done it. A majority of the senators voted in favor of allowing the bill to the floor. Republicans obstructed that from happening. In every sense that means Republicans had blocked the bill, not the senate. And keep in mind, this is the "liberal media" portraying it this way.
It wasn't always this way. When Democrats were in the minority throughout most of George Bush's reign, an attempt to block legislation was forthrightly called a filibuster. It was being obstructionist. It was, according to Republicans in the majority, a threat to the Constitution-- and I'm sure a threat to the very survival of freedom and liberty. Dick Cheney, as president of the senate, vowed to override any filibuster at will.
We've come a long way since the days of Cheney floating in Constitutional purgatory where he could enter and leave the executive or legislative branches at will. For sure, the era of vice presidential enigma and filibuster-breaking is over. That doesn't mean we can't call a filibuster exactly what it is, a filibuster.
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