The election is over, the confetti is gone, signs are down and the speeches are fading from our ears. The new Congress has been sworn in with expanded majorities for the liberal machine and the leadership of the House of Representatives, the body meant to speak for the people, has discovered their Orwellian tendencies. Despite promises to get to the people’s business and leave partisanship behind the Democrats have taken steps to insure the Republican minority has even less impact than even their paltry numbers would permit. This should not be a surprise because the guy in any debate decrying partisanship is either the biggest partisan in the room or your drunk neighbor who thinks Obama would give him a job if everyone would just get along.

Within hours of being sworn in the 111th Congress changed the rules to strip the minority of an important tool in the fight against a liberal feeding frenzy. In any deliberative assembly there will be those for, against or undecided on any decision. These assemblies, when properly led take measures to restrict the power of the majority so that the minority is at least heard. The minority is allowed to speak its position and has measures it can take to cause the body to reconsider or delay the decision to allow them time to try to sway the assembly to their view. A democracy requires such protections for the minority.

One well known tactic is the filibuster. While still used in the Senate, the House did away with when when its size makes it too obstructive. In a traditional filibuster members who have unlimited time to speak in debate can prevent a vote by speaking for hours on end. Today the Senate can end a filibuster and force a vote with a vote of “cloture,” which requires 60 votes. If cloture fails the filibuster continues. For the history buffs, the record for the longest filibuster is held by Strom Thurmand when he spoke for over 24 hours.

Since the House limits the length of debate the members take other actions to slow votes. One of these has been a “motion to recommit promptly.” If this passes the bill goes back to the committee, improving good legislation or allowing bad legislation to die.

No one can be sure of their freedoms with over 500 people whose primary job is to make law. The people of this country are never more free than when the House and Senate get hopelessly deadlocked. The reason the founding fathers made it so difficult to bring a new law into being is because they knew an abundance of laws would erode our liberties. The best defense for the rights of Americans is a strong voice for the minority—regardless of who’s in the majority. This recent step empowers the majority to ram through legislation while gagging dissent. This will not improve the lives and expand the freedoms of the average American, but will warp our nation into a liberal Utopia. Such a pipe-dream society has never existed and every attempt to produce one has birthed tyranny and desolation.