[Peace-discuss] Fw: The myth of 60

[John W.]

On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 4:46 PM, LAURIE SOLOMON <LAURIE at advancenet.net>wrote:

>  The problem with the key assertion here is that, while the Senate only
> needs 51 votes to pass the bill, it does need 60 plus to prevent the
> opponents from filibustering the bill to death.  Thus, realistically you do
> need 60 votes to make change happen.
>

Either you didn't read the thing you're responding to, Laurie, or else
you're not convinced by it.  Here's what it says, below:

"While Senate rules allow a procedural tactic known as the filibuster to
block most bills without the support of 60 senators, there are exceptions --
because Senate rules also ban the use of a filibuster to block budget
reconciliation bills. That means, if the Senate can't pass healthcare reform
including the choice of a public option with 60 votes, they can still pass
it in the budget bill this year by majority vote."



> Morover, all the petitions in the world will not produce the votes
> necessary to get a reasonable bill that grants any sort of guarantee of good
> “healthcare for all” legislation from getting past the minority who will
> block it with filibusters and institutes a detailed set of reasonable and
> enforceable controls over the insurance industry and its work-a-day
> practices.  One only needs to look at the states where the insurance
> commissioners who are suppose to regulate the industry in their states have
> been captured by the very same industry and do not have the authority in
> most instances to demand proprietary documents or carry out in-depth
> investigations of individual cases under current privacy laws even when the
> client grants permission to them to examine their records.
>

I agree that we won't end up with a health care 'reform' bill that's worth a
damn, due to the incestuous, criminal relationship between corporate America
and our politicians.  But a bill could be passed with fewer than 60 votes,
as explained above and below.

John Wason



> *From:* peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net [mailto:
> peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net] *On Behalf Of *Jenifer
> Cartwright
> *Sent:* Friday, September 18, 2009 2:43 PM
> *To:* Peace-discuss
> *Subject:* [Peace-discuss] Fw: The myth of 60
>
>
>
>
>
> --- On *Fri, 9/18/09, Jim Dean, Democracy for America <
> info at democracyforamerica.com>* wrote:
>
>
> From: Jim Dean, Democracy for America <info at democracyforamerica.com>
> Subject: The myth of 60
> To: jencart13 at yahoo.com
> Date: Friday, September 18, 2009, 12:31 PM
>
> Jenifer -
>
> [image: Join President Obama in calling on Congress to get the job done]<http://dfa2.convio.net/site/R?i=T9ztJAiMQ2EYqeNCZmSfTw..>
>
> Yesterday, Governor Dean laid out the strategy for passing the choice of a
> public option this year and contrary to the conventional wisdom in
> Washington D.C. and the media, the Senate doesn't need 60 votes to make
> change happen.
>
> The Senate only needs 50 senators and Vice-President Biden to pass -- by
> majority vote -- healthcare reform including a public option in a budget
> bill this year. Thanks to you, *we have 50 senators on record ready to
> vote for real reform.*
>
> The budget process can start as soon as October 15. We need to hit the
> critical mass of at least 250,000 signers by then to make sure our call to
> action has an impact on every member of Congress nationwide. We're already
> off to a great start with over 10% of our goal in just 24 hours. If we work
> together, I think we can double it and gather 50,000 signatures by Monday.
>
> As the President said in his speech to Congress last week, this is the
> season for action. *The majority of Americans want the choice of a public
> option and majority votes in Congress will pass it. Join me in calling on
> Congress to get the job done this year.*
>
> *ADD YOUR NAME RIGHT NOW<http://dfa2.convio.net/site/R?i=OySosTCo69La6io9zB44cw..>
> *
>
> *The myth of 60 is pushed by those who want to kill reform.*
>
> But the foundation of American democracy is based on majority votes and the
> United States Congress is no exception. While Senate rules allow a
> procedural tactic known as the filibuster to block most bills without the
> support of 60 senators, there are exceptions -- because Senate rules also
> ban the use of a filibuster to block budget reconciliation bills. That
> means, if the Senate can't pass healthcare reform including the choice of a
> public option with 60 votes, they can still pass it in the budget bill this
> year by majority vote.
>
> As I mentioned above, your hard work has identified a majority of Congress
> in both chambers -- at least 218 House Democrats and 50 Senators -- who will
> vote for the final healthcare bill if it includes the choice of a public
> option rather than vote against the bill and kill reform. So Congress has
> the majority votes needed to pass a public option.
>
> *The question is do they have the political will to fight back against
> right-wing fear mongering and misinformation to deliver real reform?*
>
> It's up to us to demand action. Let's work hard to get 50,000 signers by
> Monday.
>
> *ADD YOUR NAME -- THEN PASS IT ON<http://dfa2.convio.net/site/R?i=INolzL_CC8KCIJTeUcK0bQ..>
> *
>
> We're winning because you know it takes action to succeed. You don't sit
> back and hope for change, you deliver results and get the job done. That's
> why we're going to win.
>
> I know I can count on you to deliver. Thank you for everything you do,
>
> -Jim
>
> Jim Dean, Chair
> Democracy for America
>
>
>
> Democracy for America relies on you and the people-power of more than one
> million members to fund the grassroots organizing and training that delivers
> progressive change on the issues that matter. Please Contribute Today<http://dfa2.convio.net/site/R?i=kKa4Tj1mcERMIJ5VHtM3eg..>and support our mission.
>
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