What 60 Votes Means

Today, the Minnesota finally made their predictably unanimous ruling on the Minnesota senatorial election in favor of Al Franken. Norm Coleman finally conceded that his obstructionist ways would only further hurt the people of Minnesota and Governor Pawlenty has said that he'll certify the results shortly. This means that not only will the good people of Minnesota have their representation in Congress but the Democrats now hold 60 seats.

Well, that's all fine and dandy, but that doesn't take away any power from the Blue-Dog Conservodems that want to hijack every bit of progressive legislation and water it down to the point of uselessness. What it does do is provide the Blue-Dogs with some political cover. To understand this, you have to know that it still only requires 51 votes to pass legislation and not the 60 votes that Progressives (like myself) are always bitching about. The 60 vote barrier is required to break a filibuster or to bring "the end of debate" (cloture) over a particular bill.

The Blue-Dogs are now in a position where they can support progressive legislation (remember they are still beholden to primary voters) and still keep their conservative street cred. This is done by voting "yes" on cloture while voting "no" on the actual bill. This tactic is not at all unusual and I suspect that this is going to play a huge rule in the ACES bill in the Senate. I wouldn't be shocked to see this exact statement made by a blue-dog while the GOP threatens their filibuster:

This bill represents a monumental shift in the environmental policy of the United States. While I am opposed to this bill, I agree with Rep. Boehner's sentiments that this bill is the most "monumental piece of legislation to hit the floor of congress in 100 years." Because of this I feel that it would be a gross injustice to the American people if the bill were not held to a vote by the entire Senate.

I felt a couple of days ago that ACES was a dead-duck in the Senate but now I am wondering if the conservodem caucus will be willing to allow the bill to pass with 51 votes if they can have their political bomb-shelters to hide in.

Now the Blue-dogs can have their cake and eat it too. If they don't like the cake, they can go find other work because we only serve one flavor. Time to put-up or shut-up.