The gigantic effort in the U.S. Senate to end the Filibuster has failed. Republican Senators were unanimous in their pro-Filibuster stance, and they were joined by two Democrat Senators, Joe Manchin (WV) and Kyrsten Sinema(Ariz). Also. Senator Angus King (I-ME) has said he will stand behind keeping the Filibuster. There is now some speculation that Sen. Manchin may be considering switching to the GOP. We will have more on that in a moment. The current Filibuster rule has been in effect since 1975 and seems to have worked quite well.

A filibuster can be halted if 60 Senators agree to call for a vote. It obviously allows plenty of time for deliberation and a full-airing of any proposed legislation. Those who have been promoting the effort to do away with the Legislative Filibuster have now turned their attention to circumventing the filibuster by attempting to pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act, H.R. 4, which would give almost unchallenged power to the Federal Government. Sen. Ron Johnson said that enactment of H.R. 4 would invariably lead to the end of Voter ID laws, would make it more difficult to maintain accurate voter files, and would require ballot harvesting.

It would essentially end the right of individual states to have any significant say as to how their elections are conducted. H.R. 4 must be stopped! Now, back to the speculation about Sen. Joe Manchin switching parties. Columnist Marc Thiessen made some excellent points about this matter. He said it is in Manchin's interest to switch parties. He wants bipartisanship, but right now he is under unrelenting pressure from the radical agenda of the Left. As a Republican, he would no longer be under pressure to support such issues as court-packing, D.C. statehood, and other far-left priorities that progressives are pushing him to support. He would still be the swing vote in the Senate, but in a much stronger position to pursue bipartisanship.

With the left's radical agenda off the table, he would be in a position to forge real compromise on issues he cares about, from infrastructure to energy. And he could still cross the aisle and vote with Democrats whenever he chooses to, just as Republicans Collins and Murkowski routinely do. Columnist Thiessen then has some interesting observations. He says that probably one of the reasons Manchin has not made this move is that he is unsure of the level of support he would receive, and this is where former President Trump comes in.

He could alleviate that concern with a single phone call assuring Manchin that if he switches parties and hands Senate control to the GOP, he (Trump) would oppose any primary challengers to him and campaign enthusiastically for him, which could prove decisive in a state Trump won in 2020 by a 70-to-30 margin. Stay tuned!

Now to close on a humorous note: A famous professor of surgery died and went to Heaven. At the Pearly Gates he was asked by the gatekeeper, "Have you ever committed a sin you truly regret?" "Yes," the professor answered sadly. "When I was a young candidate at the Hospital of Saint Lucas, we played soccer against a team from the Community Hospital, and I scored a goal which was off-side. But the referee didn't see it, and the goal won us the match and the tournament. I regret that now." "Well," said the gatekeeper, "This is a very minor sin. You may enter." "Thank you very much Saint Peter," ," the professor answered. "You're welcome, but I'm not Saint Peter," said the gatekeeper, "He is having his lunch break. I am Saint Lucas."

HAVE A GREAT DAY!