Posted by
Bill Crawford on Wednesday, August 26, 2009 10:01:24 PM
In 2004, Senator Kennedy helped change the Massachusetts rules to replace Senators by special election. They were afraid that John Kerry would beat George Bush for President, and Governor Romney would replace him with a Republican.
Now Kennedy is gone, and if they don't change the rules back, Harry Reid will only have 59 Senators until January.
This means that the Senate is one step closer to considering the "nuclear option"- closing off 60 vote cloture on legislative decisions and changing it to a simple majority, as if health care reform were a simple budget revision. The Democrats were screaming bloody murder about this when the GOP considered in five years ago to counter the stream of Bush appointed Judicial nominees that never made it the floor for an up or down vote.
I say, let 'em try it. The Senate is a safe bet to stay in Democrat hands in 2011 (even if Harry Reid loses his seat and they have to find another leader). If they try this, that notion is in play, too.
If they vote in Kennedy Care (is that the new header now?) with a simple majority, there will be hell to pay.
They were between a rock and a hard place before Ted passed on. They may not see themselves as having a choice. Only Obama can call them off this one.