The silent filibuster was the bane of the liberal existence during the first two years of the Obama administration.
Many expected that a Democratic landslide in 2008 would lead to federal action on a whole host of progressive priorities. While those two years did see an economic stimulus, health care reform, and financial regulation, all three required contentious partisan fights and huge expenditures of political capital. Legislation to address climate change, empower unions, and reform the immigration system was blocked altogether.
