John Oliver's deep dive into filibustering is way more interesting than it sounds

"The Senate is supposed to address America's problems, and the filibuster is basically making it impossible for them to do that."
 By 
Sam Haysom
 on 
John Oliver's deep dive into filibustering is way more interesting than it sounds
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Filibustering may be fun to say, but it's significantly less fun in practice.

As John Oliver explains in the segment above, filibustering is a tactic used in the Senate to block something from coming to vote. It used to require rambling speeches where people would waffle on for hours and hours, but these days it just means that a bill requires 60 votes -- nine more than a 51 majority -- in order to pass.

"The Senate is supposed to address America's problems," explains Oliver, "and the filibuster is basically making it impossible for them to do that."

Cue the Last Week Tonight host taking to the podium to filibuster the filibuster itself, before finally collapsing exhausted on the ground, Jimmy Stewart-style.

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Sam Haysom

Sam Haysom is the Deputy UK Editor for Mashable. He covers entertainment and online culture, and writes horror fiction in his spare time.


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