Well, the 2/3 majority thing I already mentioned. That would require a Constitutional amendment, but I think we need to stop being afraid of that. It can happen, we just have to make it happen.
The most promising reform movement I see right now is to change the voting system so that consensus is encouraged rather than punished. That's something that we can change at the local level without dealing with the feds. And it's actually happening. Maine has switched and other states are considering it. Many local governments across the country have adopted it.
It's not going to work on the federal level though unless more people become liberal or more people become conservative.
Agreed. I think it will have to be a bottom-up, grassroots effort.
You can't dance with a girl that won't get off her chair. You at least have to get her to stand up. A 2/3 House rule would bring our country to a screeching halt. Yes, that would mean a lot of bad things don't get passed, but it would also mean anything good will not get passed either.
Like I said earlier, if we dropped the 2/3 majority rule on the existing Congress it would be immediate gridlock. That would mean, in the short term, a lot of stupid, partisan laws wouldn't get passed. And I suppose some laws we need might be blocked as well. But eventually, Congress would get tired of the gridlock and start looking for ways to agree instead of acting in constant opposition. That's the point.