Hertzberg debates Boyer on the filibuster

[Eric Hoffpauir]

Speaking of Rick Hertzberg, he debated fellow New Yorker staff writer Peter Boyer briefly on the filibuster during the latest New Yorker "Political Scene" podcast: http://www.newyorker.com/online/2011/01/10/110110on_audio_politicalscene

 

To sum up, Boyer turns one of Hertzberg's own columns against him, making the case that the last Congress really did accomplish a lot, and if it could accomplish so much, especially in a lame duck congress, the filibuster isn't the harmful tool it's made out to be. Hertzberg made a decent philosophical defense of his position, but he didn't really address Boyer's point.

 

Anyway, throwing this out there so that if you run across this argument, you can be ready for it.