So, I'm listening to Mara Liasson talk about the health care bill, the merging, the votes. And she says: Baucus has to make the bill agreeable to all 60 Democrats because it takes 60 votes to pass a bill in the Senate.
FALSE.
It takes 60 votes to break a filibuster. There are 60 Democrats. Surely, 60 Democrats would vote AGAINST 40 Republicans to break a filibuster. And then, 5 or 6 or 10 Democrats can vote against the final bill if they want to ... remember, we have Biden?
And what's with the courting of Olympia Snowe? Is this to make her feel relevant and powerful b/c Maine always votes for Democrats for President but has 2 GOP Senators who are outcasts in their party? Is it to make the bill appear "bipartisan" as if to be able to say, "See, that liberal Republican from Maine voted for it, so those other GOPers are crazy?"
Politically, what does it get us. Make the bill good. Make it work. And get 60 votes to break the filibuster and 51 to pass it. And then we'll see. I'm betting Americans want Congress to pass a bill and I'm betting they will punish Rs who stand in the way of progress instead of offering their own solutions.
Stop spreading lies, NPR -- use your journalistic skills to say something like "Democrats are trying to get all 60 of their members to vote for the bill to ensure they can stop a filibuster -- or, Democrats want to be able to block a filibuster, and need 60 votes for that, even though final passage requires only 51 votes"
a little clumsy, sure -- but much more accurate.
2 comments:
I'm trying to understand why there isn't more on the story of how generally dysfunctional the Senate has become. On what earth did bills suddenly have to meet the bizarre 60 vote threshold? Oh, when senators decided to be jackasses for the sake of being jackasses. And the fact that you don't actually have to actively do anything hardly to filibuster. It's no longer a verb, only a noun.
The solution seems obvious to me and you which is break the filibuster and make people vote. Then we'll see what the consequences of voting yes or no will be. The problem being is if you put out a shitty bill that fails your yes vote could bite you in the ass. USA! USA!
"Politically, what does it get us. Make the bill good. Make it work. And get 60 votes to break the filibuster and 51 to pass it. And then we'll see."
Great post, Andy. I totally agree. When it comes to something as complicated as reforming health care in America, news outlets need to be accurate in their reporting.
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