Chill Out, Democrats; 60 Votes Means Bupkis

Majority leader faces 'a lot more pressure'

(NEWSER) - Al Franken brings Harry Reid a potential extra vote—but he also brings the Senate majority leader a massive headache, Politico reports. “What’s really changed for us?” says a leadership aide. “Nothing, really. Except there’s a lot more pressure.” That may be an understatement: Democrats won’t likely vote as a single bloc, but they'll still blame Reid if he fails to get results (and even if he does). If he compromises too much, he’ll draw fire from the left; if he “rams through” lefty bills, he’ll get pounded by the right. More»

(NEWSER) - Norm Coleman isn't going to drag out Minnesota's Senate fight any longer. Coleman conceded the race to Al Franken today, hours after the state's Supreme Court decreed that Democrat Franken was the rightful winner of November's election, reports the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "Further litigation damages the unity of our state," said Coleman. "The future today is that we have a new United States senator." More»

GOP blocks measure; parties can't agree how to pay for it

(NEWSER) - Hope your federal student loans are paid off, kids, because Washington appears deadlocked over legislation that would prevent their rates from doubling this July. A Senate bill to do so failed in a 52-45 vote along party lines today, failing to get the 60 votes needed to avoid a filibuster, the Hill reports. Republicans objected to Democrats' method of paying for the bill, namely closing tax loopholes enjoyed by S-corporations . More»

Democrats complain current system is being abused

(NEWSER) - Harry Reid is pushing forward with a plan to reform the filibuster procedure in the Senate—and at least make it harder for Republicans to gum up the works with the mere threat of one, reports the Washington Post . Nothing's guaranteed, of course, but all returning Democratic senators are on board with rewriting the rules, notes the National Journal . More»

They want tougher amendments

(NEWSER) - Harry Reid had to fight with Republicans to begin debate on financial reform, and now he's got to fight fellow Democrats to end it. He called a vote today to move toward final passage ("We've got to put this thing to rest"), only to have Democrats such as Maria Cantwell and Russ Feingold turn against him and block the cloture measure. They want more time to push through their amendments, reports the Wall Street Journal, which has more details on them here . More»