The Senate gives a lot of power to individual Senators as well as the minority. In the Senate, compared to the House, it just isn't easy to ram legislation or confirmations through in a rush -- there is always the chance for a Senator to slow down the process and ask for more deliberation and reflection. Actually, I generally agree with this line of thinking.
The problem now is that the 'Rats are using the power to slow down as a power to block everything they don't like permanently. That's going too far. People like Boxer are totally unreasonable and will end up as squashed bugs on the windshield of Bill Frist's train when it starts down the tracks next week.
"The Senate gives a lot of power to individual Senators as well as the minority"
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And why weren't the Republicans using those rules, when they were in the minority for many years?!
They always want to be the "nice guys", forgetting the saying that "nice guys finish last". The Dems know this and take full advantage of the Republican wuss factor.