Regardless of how you feel about the gun votes that were taken in Washington this week – and Republicans and Democrats both put proposals on the table they knew would be scorned by the other side – an underlying problem is the U.S. Senate itself and its rule that requires 60 votes to bring a bill to an actual vote.

The Senate is sometimes referred to as "The World’s Greatest Deliberative Body."

It would be far more accurate to call it "The World’s Most Obstructionist Body," because without the assent of 60 senators, no bill can come up for a vote. What senators voted on this week was not an actual bill, but whether to cut off debate and take a vote. They failed because the system is designed to promote failure.

There is no law that says senators need 60 votes to cut off debate and take a vote. It’s a silly Senate rule that senators could change if they wanted to. They could require only a simple majority to cut off debate. If they did, some of the issues ailing this country might finally be addressed.

That 60-vote rule, as much as anything, is responsible for the gridlock in Washington that has given rise to widespread public disaffection. And make no mistake, both sides have abused it at various times.

During this New Hampshire U.S. Senate campaign you’re going to hear a lot more talk from Sen. Kelly Ayotte and Gov. Maggie Hassan about opioids, guns, the middle class, the economy, special interests and, well, the list goes on ad infinitum.

But where they stand on those issues doesn’t much matter if bills to address them never get voted on in the first place.

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