This topic will be among the hottest debated this week as Congress reconvenes, as it was almost six years ago — before the sides changed.  Now the Democrats want an end to the filibuster, and the Republicans want to preserve tradition.  Can there be a middle ground?  CNN prepares people for the week ahead by reaching back to a film classic:

It’s important to remember that in 2005 the GOP proposed an end to filibusters on judicial nominations only, not on legislation. That would have put judicial appointments on the same level as the budget in the Senate. When it was their ox being gored, Harry Reid and Thomas Mann at the liberal Brookings Institution wanted to preserve the filibuster in its entirety. Now that the filibuster has been used against them effectively, just as Reid and the Democrats used it to block well-qualified candidates like Miguel Estrada from the federal bench, they want it dismantled.

My friend Jazz Shaw has already made this point, but it’s worth making again.  Democrats won’t always have a Senate majority.  In fact, since they have to defend 23 seats in the 2012 election to only 10 for the GOP, they’re almost certain to be in the minority again two short years from now.  If Barack Obama loses his bid for a second term, that would put a Republican in the White House and Republicans in control of both chambers of Congress, without any procedural barricade to their agenda.  Is that what Reid proposes to create?  I somehow doubt that his colleagues who will have to live with that outcome will be anywhere near as enthusiastic as Reid.  For that reason, I’d guess that this is mostly just lip service to the base, perhaps even from Reid.

However, the Senate should make one reform at the beginning of this year — eliminating the secret hold.  No one Senator should freeze the process of legislating or confirmation and put the other 99 on ice.  Either get rid of them altogether, or force the holds to be open and limited in duration.  If one Senator wants to arrogate that power to him or herself, let it be done in the light of day and force the Senator to account for the action.  A filibuster is, after all, a public procedure, while a hold is done in the dark — which is something everyone should find objectionable, regardless of party or the whims of majority.

Oh, and for the record, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is vastly overrated.