Is Richard Shelby's move to place a "blanket hold" on 70+ nominees just so he could get a little extra pork for his state the straw that breaks the filibuster's back? Let's hope so, because the Senate is broken and unable to get anything done.

Calls for Senate reform peaked over the weekend after Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., put a "blanket hold" on more than 70 Obama nominees, not out of principled opposition, but because two projects in his home state of Alabama weren't getting enough attention. [Update, Feb. 9: Shelby lifted most of his holds late Monday.]

This, for Senate-reform advocates, was the last straw. "The genie is out of the bottle with this abuse of Senate rules," wrote FireDogLake's Jon Walker. "I congratulate Shelby on fully exploring the logic of the modern United States Senate," remarked Matthew Yglesias. "Why, after all, should a great nation of 300 million people have a functioning government if preventing the government from functioning can help a lone Senator advance parochial interests?" "America is not yet lost," Paul Krugman reassured. "But the Senate is working on it."

Complaints about Senate procedure tend to focus on two tools: The filibuster, which many liberals hold responsible for the failure (so far) of health care reform, and the "hold," which allows a single senator to stall a president's nominee. Both mechanisms are outdated, say critics. Filibusters used to be rare, with roughly 8 percent of major bills getting blocked in the 1960s. Now, the rate is 70 percent.

It's not just the startling numbers that speak to the filibuster's abuse - it's real, substantive legislation that's being held up. The House passed Cap and Trade to address climate change. The House passed healthcare with a public option. The House passed financial reform legislation. But, it's all stymied in the Senate thanks to the abused filibuster. The filibuster also makes abuse of the "hold" possible as well. Newsweek explains the abuse:

Now that Barack Obama is in office, holds are running at a ridiculous rate. During George W. Bush's first 17 months in office 100 judicial nominees were confirmed, versus nine in Obama's first nine months, in part because of an inordinate number of single-senator holds on his nominees.

The American people are demanding action on a host of issues. The House is taking action. The President is calling, begging and pleading for action. But, because of just one thing - the abused filibuster in the U.S. Senate - little is getting done.