How obstructionist is the Senate?

This is an excellent post on the subject by Ezra Klein.  There is no easy way to answer this.  Like Ezra I have used the number of cloture votes.  As Ezra explains, the number of Cloture votes is an imperfect measure, because if the majority begins trying to break the filibuster more often, you could see more cloture votes, even though the filibuster isn’t actually being used any more frequently. On the other hand, it misses the many, many, many filibusters that never receive a cloture vote, either because the majority decides that a cloture vote is too time-consuming — simply holding a cloture vote takes about 30 hours of floor time — or because they won’t win it.  Having said that, it is a relatively consistent measure.  So, let's see how it has fared:

• The levels of cloture with the recent GOP Senate minority is at levels never seen before.

• As of 2010, President Obama had experienced levels of cloture substantially higher than Bush.

• As of 2010, the use of cloture votes becomes even more stark if one looks at cloture motions filed.

So, the GOP appears to have adopted the cloture strategy before Obama came to office, but Obama has been particularly badly affected by it.