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When Republican Assemblyman Cameron Smyth decided to leave the Legislature rather than run for the state Senate this year, it virtually guaranteed that Democrats will achieve a two-thirds supermajority in the Senate, changing the Capitol's political dynamics. Having already won – via a 2010 ballot measure – the right to pass budgets by simple majority votes, Democrats would gain more power in the Senate over other issues, such as taxes. That would, in turn, isolate Republicans in the Assembly, who are likely to retain more than a third of the lower house's 80 seats this year, and could even gain...

Before the week is done, one of the longest single "days" in the history of the Senate is expected to finally come to an end. Amid a long-running dispute over decades-old filibuster rules, Senate leaders have used a parliamentary trick to leave the chamber in a state of suspended animation - in reality adjourned since Jan. 5 but officially considered in a long recess that's part of the same individual legislative day. This nearly three-week break has taken place in large part so leadership could hold private negotiations to consider how to deal with a group of Democrats agitating to...

The aerial photograph does not lie. Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor Rally drew just about as many people as any other rally ever held at the Lincoln Memorial. I took the train into town from home in Northern Virginia, packed in like in those Tokyo subway video clips, even though I was late. I marched down to the Memorial from the nearest subway stop at Foggy Bottom, where the D.C. bureaucrats had helpfully disabled the steep escalators from the underground tubes to greet the half a million or more celebrants of liberty on the way in. From my perspective on the...

Whether or not a reconciliation bill on health care meets the intent of the legislative procedure is certainly a matter for legitimate debate. But Reid said reconciliation has been used 21 times since 1981, and that most of the time, it's been Republicans who have initiated it. We find that there have been 22 reconciliation votes, 14 of them by a Republican-controlled Congress, and that it makes more sense -- in light of the debate over making an end-run around the 60-vote threshold -- to focus on the reconciliation bills that passed without a supermajority. But even then, Republicans have...

"I love Tom Harkin. I'm totally familiar with his idea," Reid said during a news conference on the Capitol on Thursday. "It takes 67 votes, and that, kind of, answers the question."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is pinning the blame on Republicans for a lack of bipartisanship in Congress and plans to bypass them if they continue to oppose efforts to enact near-universal health care. “A constitutional majority is 51 votes,” Pelosi said in an interview Tuesday with Roll Call. “If in fact the Republicans are going to say nothing can be done except by 60 percent, then maybe we all should be elected with 60 percent. It isn’t legitimate in terms of passing legislation.” Pelosi has been wary of publicly giving advice to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) or...

Vowing to be an independent voice among the partisan sniping in the Senate, Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown yesterday officially took over the seat that belonged to the late Ted Kennedy for 46 years. Vice President Joe Biden administered the oath to the new senator, whose arrival ends the Democrats' short-lived and ultimately useless supermajority and signals a new order of business on Capitol Hill. His GOP colleagues are so thrilled about his presence, they've taken to calling him "41," after the number of Republicans who now serve in the Senate.

Sen.-elect Scott Brown is expected to be sworn in as the "41st vote" on health care on Thursday, heading down to Washington, D.C., after Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick signed the certification of election to make him the next U.S. senator. !!!!!!!

Biden: Losing supermajority may be a blessing By Eric Zimmermann - 01/26/10 02:10 PM ET Losing their 60 seat supermajority may be a good thing, Joe Biden suggested today. Speaking to a meeting of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Finance Committee, Biden said that the supermajority came with excessively high expectations. "Yes it's had a practical impact, but I'm not so sure what a blessing 60 votes was. Not a joke, I mean it sincerely," he said, according to a pool report. "When we had sixty votes there was the expectation left, right, and center that we could do everything...

Losing their 60 seat supermajority may be a good thing, Joe Biden suggested today. Speaking to a meeting of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Finance Committee, Biden said that the supermajority came with excessively high expectations. "Yes it's had a practical impact, but I'm not so sure what a blessing 60 votes was. Not a joke, I mean it sincerely," he said, according to a pool report. "When we had sixty votes there was the expectation left, right, and center that we could do everything we wanted to do, which was never realistic. Never," he explained. Biden tried to buck...

Washington (CNN) - Americans are divided on whether Democratic control of Congress is good for the country, according to a new national poll. A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Monday also indicates that 7 in 10 Americans believe that the Democrats' loss of their 60 seat supermajority in the Senate is a positive move for the country. Forty-five percent of people questioned in the poll said Democratic control of Congress is a good thing, with 48 percent disagreeing. The margin is within the survey's sampling error. But the results are a shift from last June, when 50 percent felt that...

Health Care: Will the administration seize the moment of Scott Brown's victory to work out real solutions, or will it follow Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid over the cliff? Or is it just about government control? Before Sen.-elect Brown became the Scott heard 'round the world, House Speaker Pelosi was asked what his victory in the bluest of blue states would mean. "Certainly the dynamic will change depending on what happens in Massachusetts," she replied in a bit of an understatement. The dynamic has changed, yet the Democrats, as the country song goes, apparently don't know when to hold them...

Although false optimism seems to continue on the Democratic side, the polls show a different story. Scott Brown seems, poised to break up the Democratic super majority that has time and again thumbed its noses at the people who elected them to their positions. As you can see, the most recent polls are weighted heavily in Brown's favor. These are mere samplings of likely voters, they in no way tell the whole story. However, for those out there who thought all was lost. For those who thought this awful healthcare bill was going to be forced upon us, there is...

Thus confronting the Democrats about their obstructionism while he’s still got media following him around. Excellent. Insurgent Massachussetts Republican Senate candidate Scott Brown told CNN he expects to be installed quickly as Massachusetts’ next senator should he win the state’s special election Tuesday. Asked about the state of the race, Brown said he’s still campaigning as if he’s running “down 30 points.” But sounding confident, the GOP state senator says he’s made plans to travel to Washington Friday if he’s victorious. This is one of two reasons why the margin of victory will matter. The first, obviously, is that the...

How can the Democrats possibly include a clause in health-care reform that requires a super-majority to repeal, if they don't pass it with a super-majority? I think they're blowing smoke up our exit-orifices, and know that the next Congress can undo anything they do.

Just in ...

Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) pointed out some rather astounding language in the Senate health care bill during floor remarks tonight. First, he noted that there are a number of changes to Senate rules in the bill--and it's supposed to take a 2/3 vote to change the rules. And then he pointed out that the Reid bill declares on page 1020 that the Independent Medical Advisory Board cannot be repealed by future Congresses:

The Senate Democrats declare a super-majority of senators will be needed to overrule any regulation imposed by the Death Panels

If ever the people of the United States rise up and fight over passage of Obamacare, Harry Reid must be remembered as the man who sacrificed the dignity of his office for a few pieces of silver. The rules of fair play that have kept the basic integrity of the Republic alive have died with Harry Reid.

<p>Reid is trying to do cram through, he has his 60. But what if, that is the question. Their is a special election in Massachusetts on 01/19/2010. What if their internals are so bad that a Republican has a chance to win Teddy Kennedy's seat? What if Scott Brown actually wins in Massachusetts? Tangential to this is the age and health of Senator Byrd. These are two risks that could delay their 60 vote fillibuster proof majority. One by going back to 59 if Brown wins, and the other is all the issues that would occur if Byrd's health failed or worse, note we wish him well, but at 95 if my memory is correct, he has been in better health. I look forward to Freepers' thoughts on this.</p>

C-SPAN 2 is carrying the Senate floor debate live this afternoon.The Democrats control the floor right now. Earlier, Republican Senators Judd Gregg, Kit Bond, Jeff Sessions and David Vitter gave good speeches and dialogues on the budget-busting effects of ObamaCare.Maria Cantwell is speaking now. Mary Landrieu is excpected to speak shortly.The cloture vote is scheduled for 8 p.m. EST tonight.

While 15 states require supermajority votes for tax hikes, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, only two – California and Arkansas – also require supermajorities for budget approvals. Opponents of California's two-thirds approval requirement contend that the rules hamstring the state's ability to raise revenues in times of need, are the primary cause of new budgets being late virtually every year, and allow a relative handful of lawmakers to wield an inordinate amount of influence over the state's finances. "It is wholly unreasonable for the largest state in the union, with the eighth-largest economy in the world, to...

For Democrats, 60 Senators Is Magic Number for Health Bill CARL HULSE September 16, 2009 WASHINGTON — The unveiling of a compromise health care proposal has Senate Democrats pondering a daunting mathematical challenge: how to keep all 59 Democrats united and attract at least one Republican to pass an overhaul measure. As many lawmakers on Wednesday got their first detailed look at a Finance Committee plan that was months in the making, senators immediately began exploring whether the plan — when combined with elements of another, more liberal one — could win enough senators to reach that magic procedural number...

Democrats in the Senate may have a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority when healthcare reform comes up for a vote, but at least one Democrat is telling party leaders not to count on him to be the 60th vote. Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska told The Hill newspaper: "I'm not going to commit anything at this point in time on procedural votes, neither pro nor con, because it will depend on the circumstances. "I can't make those decisions in advance because it depends on what the bill is and what the circumstances are at the time. Otherwise you're just giving away your...

It may be months before Ted Kennedy's U.S. Senate seat is filled, but it took only minutes Wednesday for the chatter to start over possible successors - among them his mourning widow, Victoria. The stakes are high. Kennedy's death now deprives Democrats of the 60-vote "supermajority" that the party could theoretically use to push through health care reform and other top item

Senator Edward Kennedy's death has placed a significant hurdle in front of President Barack Obama's attempts to push sweeping plans for reforming health care through Congress. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Speaker of the House, vowed that legislation to insure every American, which Mr Kennedy had described as "the cause of my life", would be achieved. "Ted Kennedy's dream of quality health care for all Americans will be made real this year because of his leadership and his inspiration," she said in a statement. But procedural rules in the Senate mean Mr Kennedy's absence could be crucial when a vote is...

(Disclaimer: The following is simply a brutal Machiavellian political analysis, and is not intended in any way to celebrate another's physical misfortune) Democrats were giddy when Al Franken was declared the winner of the Minnesota Senate race, and for understandably good reason - they finally, but barely, had a filibuster-proof majority in that Body. And so they now press forward with their controversial healthcare legislation, confident that Republicans - and everyone else opposed - can do nothing to stop it. But wait. One of those Senate votes is in serious decline - Sen. Ted Kennedy. Again, speaking in cold-blooded political...

This past spring, Senator Claire McCaskill wrote to me asking for $50 to help elect more Democrats, so we could have a filibuster-proof Senate. Now that Al Franken has finally been declared the sixtieth Democratic senator, her plea may seem moot. But even with Franken in office, we don't have a filibuster-proof Senate. To get to sixty on the Democratic side, we'll still have to cut deals. Maybe we should start sending postcards like the following: "Dear Senator: Why do you keep asking for my money? You've already got the fifty-one votes you need to get rid of the filibuster...

The Secretary of State's office has given the green light to begin gathering signatures for a ballot initiative to lower the vote requirement for passing a state budget or increasing taxes from two-thirds to a three-fifths supermajority. The man behind the initiative, Berkeley-based attorney and editor Robert Denham, says he figures that a three-fifths majority would prevent gridlock over the budget but still be palatable to voters wary of dropping the requirement to a simple majority. "I thought voters are more likely to sign off on something that doesn't make it too easy," said Denham, a Democrat. "That sort of...

California is just one of three states that require supermajority votes to enact state budgets, and while that constitutional provision has been in effect for nearly eight decades, only in the past quarter-century has it become a major political impediment. The state's socioeconomic evolution, term limits, gerrymandered legislative districts, volatility in the state's revenue and the concentration of fiscal power in Sacramento have made the budget process infinitely more complex and, in turn, turned the two-thirds budget vote, once a formality, into a major factor. Much of last month's machinations over overhauling the deficit-ridden budget stemmed from the legal requirement...

Politics: The career of Roland Burris, a political cipher from Illinois who became a U.S. senator and the lamest of ducks, is over. He can now retire into the obscurity he so richly deserves.Having obtained the seat under a cloud of typical Illinois corruption, Burris announced Friday he won't run for a full term in 2010. He was appointed by the former and recently impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich who, among his other accomplishments, tried to auction off the seat formerly held by Barack Obama. Blagojevich was forced out of office and may soon join other Illinois governors who went on...

The comedian Al Franken will be welcomed by fellow Democrats at a lunch on Capitol Hill today after he has been sworn in as senator, taking the party’s Senate vote bank to the magic threshold of 60. His arrival makes the Democrats the first party in three decades to attain the fabled super majority, allowing them – in theory – to override Republican filibusters and implement their legislative agenda. A week after Mr Franken was declared Senator of Minnesota, however, doubts are growing as to how politically useful a super majority will be when the hard bargaining over controversial issues...

Al Franken -- the former comedian who won a bruising, eight-month vote recount and court battle in Minnesota -- arrived on Capitol Hill on Monday, a day before he was to be sworn in as a new Democratic member of the Senate. But Franken immediately downplayed the importance of his vote in the Senate. "A lot has been made of this number 60," Franken said. "The number I'm focused on is the number two.

60 votes not so super for Obama, Senate DemocratsBy: LAURIE KELLMAN The Associated Press July 4, 2009 Congress returns for its midsummer session Monday with a Senate supermajority not super enough for President Barack Obama's top priorities to pass without Republican support. The seating of Minnesota Sen. Al Franken will give Democrats the filibuster-proof 60-40 majority in the Senate, but only on paper. Absences by two ailing senators mean the party can count only 58 votes, and then only if Majority Leader Harry Reid can herd two independents and the independent streaks of 55 others behind Obama's biggest initiatives: expanded...

Politics: The former Stuart Smalley becomes the 60th Democrat in the U.S. Senate, thanks to the community organizers at Acorn and the little-known Secretary of State Project. Is the system being rigged? Incumbent Republican Norm Coleman conceded defeat in the mother of all recounts in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race after the state's Supreme Court unanimously rejected his lawsuit. Arguably, his seat may have been lost the day in 2006 when Democrat Mark Ritchie defeated two-term incumbent Republican Mary Kiffmeyer to become Minnesota secretary of state. It was Ritchie who orchestrated the recount that gave Democratic challenger Franken a lead some...

Politics: The former Stuart Smalley becomes the 60th Democrat in the U.S. Senate, thanks to the community organizers at Acorn and the little-known Secretary of State Project. Is the system being rigged?Politics: The former Stuart Smalley becomes the 60th Democrat in the U.S. Senate, thanks to the community organizers at Acorn and the little-known Secretary of State Project. Is the system being rigged? Incumbent Republican Norm Coleman conceded defeat in the mother of all recounts in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race after the state's Supreme Court unanimously rejected his lawsuit. Arguably, his seat may have been lost the day in 2006...

As a political writer and blogger, I applaud the decision of the Minnesota Supreme Court that effectively made Alan Stuart Franken the junior senator from Minnesota for the next six years. Of course, it’s not such a good thing for Republicans, considering that the Democrats have added another body to their already huge majority. But Franken in the Senate will pay dividends for both the party and us bloggers far into the future, as long as he remains above ground and has the ability to open his mouth — all the better to stick his foot in it. Al Franken...

Like an oasis in the desert, the 60-vote Democratic supermajority is a mirage. Yes, former comedian Al Franken is now Minnesota's senator-elect -- thanks to the state Supreme Court's ruling Tuesday -- giving Democrats enough members in the Senate to hit a filibuster-proof majority. This is no laughing matter. But that's on a really, really good day. For all intents and purposes, Democrats don't truly have 60 votes in the Senate. With the addition of Franken, they technically have 58. Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., caucus with Democrats but don't define themselves that way. Sanders, a socialist,...

Like an oasis in the desert, the 60-vote Democratic supermajority is a mirage. Yes, former comedian Al Franken is now Minnesota's senator-elect -- thanks to the state Supreme Court's ruling Tuesday -- giving Democrats enough members in the Senate to hit a filibuster-proof majority. This is no laughing matter. But that's on a really, really good day. For all intents and purposes, Democrats don't truly have 60 votes in the Senate. With the addition of Franken, they technically have 58. Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., caucus with Democrats but don't define themselves that way. Sanders, a socialist,...

Not a whole lot to be happy about with this win by Franken but at least now they own everything. They have a filibuster proof Senate. Either everything they have whined about for the last eight years gets fixed or they are outright liars. Scott said it best in the comments: DEMS OWN IT NOW. What’s it? IT is EVERYTHING. 2010 midterms: if unemployment is still worse than when Obama took office, it’s their faultif GDP is still falling it’s Democrats’ faultif every American-EVERY SINGLE AMERICAN and most illegal aliens-don’t have the same high-quality/free medical coverage as Barack Obama…it’s their...

Exhibit A in why it is in fact possible to have too big of a majority: Once you hit 60, the cranks on your side demand results. The nutroots will be watching cap-and-trade and amnesty and health care and maybe even a second stimulus verrrrrry carefully, Harry. As will we, as will we. Note what constitutes “fair and balanced” on Ed Schultz’s show. Kos and Bill Press.

Franken Declared Winner of Minnesota Senate Election, Giving Dems Filibuster-Proof Majority After the Minnesota high court rejects a legal challenge from Norm Coleman, the Republican concedes to Democrat Al Franken in the state's Senate race. Democrat Al Franken, right, with his wife Frannie Franken smile as they meet the media at their house in MInneapolis Tuesday June 30, 2009 after the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Democrat in the Senate race against Republican Norm Coleman. (AP) Democrat Al Franken as the winner of the state's vacant Senate seat after the state's high court ruled that Republican challenger...

Minnesota Court Confirms Razor-Thin Election Win, but Party's Filibuster-Proof Majority Is Vulnerable to Internal Fissures. WASHINGTON -- The Minnesota Supreme Court cleared the way for Democrat Al Franken to become Minnesota's new U.S. senator, ending a festering eight-month election dispute and giving the Democrats a 60-seat voting majority in the Senate. The court on Tuesday unanimously upheld Mr. Franken's margin of 312 votes out of 2.9 million cast in November's election, giving him the seat that had been held for one term by Republican Norm Coleman. Mr. Coleman conceded at a news conference at his home two hours later, saying...

There is absolutely nothing to stops a single party from turning this country upside-down. Nothing. If we have any patriots in the Dim side at all, they must be getting worried. Can you imagine the pressure that will be put on them? This is going to get interesting very quickly because if radical changes are to be made, then it must be before an election.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Democrats are urging Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty to certify Democrat Al Franken's election to the Senate following the state Supreme Court's ruling that the former Saturday Night Live comedian defeated GOP incumbent Norm Coleman.

In a 15-minute news conference, looking relaxed and upbeat, Norm Coleman congratulated Al Franken, reminisced about his 6-year term and the "longest election in Minnesota history" and didn't discuss the details of the rejected legal challenge. "We have reached the point where further litigation damages the unity of our state," Coleman said. "I congratulate Al Franken in his victory in his election." "The bottom line is that's history. I'm not looking back… We are a nation of laws, not men and women. The court has spoken.".... Moments later, Gov. Tim Pawlenty's office issued the following statement: "The Minnesota Supreme Court...

ST. PAUL, Minn. -Republican Norm Coleman conceded to Democrat Al Franken in Minnesota's contested Senate race on Tuesday, ending a nearly eight-month recount and court fight over an election decided by only a few hundred votes. Coleman announced his decision at a news conference in St. Paul hours after a unanimous Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that Franken, a former "Saturday Night Live" comedian and liberal commentator, should be certified the winner. "The Supreme Court has made its decision and I will abide by the results," Coleman told reporters outside his St. Paul home. Coleman, appearing relaxed and upbeat, said he...

By large margins, California voters want to retain the two-thirds legislative vote requirement for budgets and the state's initiative system that allows voters to pass laws, according to a new attitudinal survey conducted by students at the University of California, Riverside. Voters also oppose layoff of teachers to narrow the state's budget deficit, and blame the Legislature, more than Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, for the state's chronic fiscal difficulties. . . . The two-thirds budget vote, which has been in the state constitution in one form or another for most of the last century, has become a point of partisan contention...

Conservatives can sputter endlessly that Sonia Sotomayor is a lefty judicial activist. Privately, they glumly recognize the political reality - she's a slam dunk for confirmation. Republican leaders also understand - most of them, at least - that Sotomayor's nomination is also a savvy political move by President Obama that puts the GOP in an electoral bind. At heart, this appointment reminds that as a President who has already made history, Obama is intent on making more. Elections, as the old adage goes, have consequences. Yet Supreme Court nominations are never just about the law. Politics is always a centerpiece...

Pelosi: now we don't have to 'explain process' @ 7:44 pm by Eric Zimmermann Sen. Arlen Specter's decision to switch parties will make it easier for Democrats to move forward with their agenda, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Tuesday. Specter's switch will give Democrats 60 caucus members in the Senate (assuming Al Franken wins his legal battle in Minnesota). That is enough votes to end debate on a bill and overcome Republican filibusters. "Very exciting, very exciting for the American people, because now we can get things done without explaining process," Pelosi told CNN's Candy Crowley. Specter has said that...