Chuck Schumer: “I think we should do that because we have heard these arguments over and over and over and over again. We have not…”

“I think we should do that because we have heard these arguments over and over and over and over again. We have not talked about the minimum wage once or for providing health care for the uninsured or many other issues. But so be it. Let me again go over what our Constitution says. Does our Constitution say, ``Do not filibuster''? It does not say that. In fact, our Constitution says the Senate ought to be the cooling saucer. We all know the story. James Madison was explaining, I believe it was to Thomas Jefferson, why there was a Senate. Jefferson thought it looked too much like the House of Lords. He had been over in Paris. And he had not written the Constitution. He came back and he goes over to James Madison's house and Madison is pouring tea. He says: You see. He pours the boiling water into a cup, and he says: You see the boiling water in the cup? That is the House of Representatives, where the people's passion bubbles over. Then he poured some of the water into the saucer, and he said: The Senate is the cooling saucer. Well, James Madison, we have been, by stopping these four nominees, a little bit of that cooling saucer.”