51%, Woo-hoo; 49%, don't blame ME

GOP has the right to do business with 51 votes

thanks to "Bill in Portland Maine" and daily kos for the tip to this great editorial headline and the quote that goes with it...

What's probably not tenable, however, is the idea that filibusters can be set aside only for judicial nominees. That's a naive view of the issue. When Democrats next gain the majority after the rules change, it's likely they'll remember that the filibuster was not honored when the stakes were high.

If Republicans think the Senate should operate on 51 votes, then they should change the rules. If, however, they value the filibuster as a tool for preserving minority rights, then they ought to come to terms with Democrats on judicial nominees.

what's also not tenable to me is making appointments that are so critical to how our country is run as well as how an independent judiciary is preserved without the consensus of at least the 60% of the senate that's now required... the notion of simple majority rule equated with democracy has always been flawed... when you can leave 49% to say, "well, he wasn't MY choice," or, "don't blame ME," which has already been happening with the president, you set the stage for big-time problems down the road...

voting in and of itself is mechanical and, no matter whether a majority is defined as 51% or 60%, there will always be some left out in the cold... i believe that the constitutional framers were well aware of this and that's one of the reasons that the majority was set at 60% instead of 50%... 60%, even though it's only 9 percentage points different, still forces more dialogue and will likely require some level of bipartisan agreement... 51% considerably diminishes the likelihood of that happening - which, obviously, is precisely the plan...

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