| Al Franken is (finally) headed to Washington! We have 60 Democratic Senators!
What now?
Conventional wisdom would have us think the answer is "not much, since it takes 60 votes to pass anything and we're bound to lose a couple of votes here and there from the Bayhs and Nelsons and Liebermans and Lincolns."
I don't buy it, and neither should you.
Now is the time to be calling your Senators -- BOTH of them -- to make sure they vote to cut off debate when it makes sense to do so, and can save their conscience "no" votes for the actual passage. I don't have many doubts about Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken being good on most matters -- if we make sure a public health insurance option is included in the final Senate bill, I doubt Klobuchar will vote against cloture despite the fact that she hasn't publicly committed to the public option yet. But there are many states in which this is an open question, and we in Minnesota need to stand ready to assist progressive activists around the country as they pressure their Senators not to kowtow to the conventional wisdom.
It takes 50 votes to pass legislation. It takes 60 to cut off debate. Anyone who says otherwise is either selling something or unwilling to put in the effort necessary to make the Congress do what vast majorities of Americans want it to do. |
