(no subject)

[merig00.livejournal.com]

Comments

[blueduck37.livejournal.com]

It's so funny to see the party that worships this man (http://www.retroist.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/bedtime_for_bonzo_1951.jpg) like an infallible god and proposed amending the Constitution to allow this man (http://fraser.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/moviepic010_1.jpg) to maybe someday run for President to be complaining that a celebrity has chosen to pursue a career in public office.

I'd be happy to pit Sen. Franken against folks like Jim Inhofe and Pat Roberts and Mitch McConnell in an IQ contest any day.

[lafinjack.livejournal.com]

[blueduck37.livejournal.com]

Liberals need to stop celebrating. We do NOT have 60 votes.

Sens. Kennedy and Byrd are out sick and are, for all intents and purposes, no longer functional Senators. So we're down to 58 right now. And then you subtract all the conservative Democrats who won't for Obama's stuff unless it is watered down to the point of uselessness-- Sens. Lieberman, Nelson, Baucus, sometimes Bayh, etc-- and you're just barely over the 50 mark.

It's sad that the President seems to subscribe to this beltway attitude that getting Republicans on board and getting a super majority vote is more important than (http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/07/politico_shame_on_obama_for_not_being_a_pushover.php?ref=fpblg) actually accomplishing his goals, because otherwise he'd show some balls and push stuff like health-care through the reconciliation process so this stuff can pass with the 51-vote majority actually needed in a democracy prior to 2007 when Republicans got everyone (somehow) to agree that everything actually needs 60 votes to pass. Funny how that works now.

In short, I'm not wasting any $$ on champagne today, as glad as I am to see Paul Wellstone's legacy avenged in this victory.

[merig00.livejournal.com]

Hmm I thought that at some point Dems lowered the number from 67 to 60. When did it drop to 51?

[annainthecity.livejournal.com]

You're confusing your numbers. 51 votes is what was always needed in a democracy to pass a bill. 60 votes just gives you the power to cut off filibuster. 67, last I checked, overrides veto. 60 and 67 are comfort points, 51 is the only "necessary" number.

Edited to add: I forgot the 67-60 change on filibuster back in the 70s, which is what I'm assuming you're referring to. Either way, it never came down to 51.

[blueduck37.livejournal.com]

The idea that-- with a few rare exceptions here and there-- that any more than 51 votes in a general sense is needed to pass legislation is a myth invented by Republicans in 2007 and now fully ingrained as fact in our political culture (they took an occasional exception to the rule, and made it the rule). The Democrats are, of course, as always, too cowardly to fight this.

[merig00.livejournal.com]

thnx... i was a bit confused with those 3 numbers

[donolectic.livejournal.com]

I wish they'd make them actually filibuster. Force the Republicans to actually debate the issue (or at least show up and bloviate) like the old days. But I guess that's just too much work and somebody might lose their sleep.

[blueduck37.livejournal.com]

PS- What commygirl said above (re: the #s) is absolutely correct.

[annainthecity.livejournal.com]

Exactly this. I like the idea of 60 (or 51 for that matter), but we can hardly rely on all the so-called Ds to act like Ds, never mind the DINOs like Specter, Bayh, etc.

[blueduck37.livejournal.com]

Well right now Specter-- with Joe Sestak on his ass in PA-- is talking more like a Democrat (http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/06/specter_endorses_public_option.php) than a lot of the other folks I named. Sad sad sad.

[donolectic.livejournal.com]

The dems should ask the Republicans to champion the Nuclear Option again, seeing as how the leadership was for it just a few short years ago.

[dwer.livejournal.com]

oversimplification. But then, that's what you're best at.

[kgbman.livejournal.com]

And so it goes. People who were passionate defenders of minority rights four years ago will start saying majority rule is the bedrock of democracy, and the people who were saying, "Ram it down their $#&*ing throats," will now become sticklers for arcane legislative minutiae.

[pacotelic.livejournal.com]

Something about screwing the pooch for the last decade?

[mylaptopisevil.livejournal.com]

it's funny because the cartoon assumes that democrats vote along the party line as often as republicans do.

[merig00.livejournal.com]

Since there's not much difference between the two parties as political organizations it is very safe to assume so

[mylaptopisevil.livejournal.com]

So when 44 democrats voted against cap and trade, that was what?

[bertro.livejournal.com]

That's the house, what are they for again?