2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumDid Al Franken really cast the '60th vote' for Obamacare?
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With the rocky rollout of healthcare.gov, Minnesotans can expect to hear a lot about the symbolic 60th vote; for example, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann recently penned an opinion piece calling Franken a leading cheerleader and the 60th vote for Obamacare. But in a body of 100 senators, Franken is hardly the only contender for the distinction. Not to mention that in the end, the essential finishing touches of the health care law passed the Senate thanks to some tricky legislative maneuvering with a mere 56 votes, not 60.
As the disputed (Minnesota Senatorial) 2008 election headed for the courts, Senate Democrats were still two votes shy of a filibuster-proof 60-vote supermajority. The late Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter changed that in early 2009 by switching parties, becoming a Democrat. That gave the Democrats control of 59 votes, and sharpened the stakes in Minnesotas protracted recount. Frankens final victory in July 2009 made it 60. But a month later, the health care bills most ardent champion, Massachusetts Ted Kennedy, died.
Kennedys temporarily appointed replacement, Paul Kirk, could just as easily be considered the 60th vote. Or, just as plausibly, it was Connecticut independent Joe Lieberman, who held out until the controversial public option was jettisoned. Or perhaps more famously, the distinction could go to conservative Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson, who held out for a Medicaid provision widely derided as the Cornhusker Kickback. Whoever takes the credit or the blame, the Senate approved the law in December 2009 on a vote of 60-39, the minimum necessary to avoid a GOP filibuster.
But the drama was far from over. In January 2010, Massachusetts voters elected Republican Scott Brown to fill Kennedys seat. Suddenly, there was no more 60th vote. The House, then still controlled by Democrats, hadnt voted on the bill. Any changes in the House version would send it back to the Senate, where the Democrats were back to 59 votes. And to pass Obamas signature health care law, the White House still needed to win over centrist and conservative House Democrats with a long list of concerns about abortion funding and the Cornhusker Kickback.
To get around this, the House passed the underlying Senate bill, but only with the understanding that a separate bill would be crafted to address the remaining stumbling blocks. Since those issues were mainly related to taxes, subsidies and other money matters, the Senate was able to pass the second bill under a budget reconciliation rule that didnt require a supermajority. It passed, in March 2010, by a vote of 56-43.
http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/238733121.html
onehandle
(51,122 posts)He was the 60th vote sworn in to the Senate and that's all I wanted.
question everything
(47,470 posts)that it was HIS VOTE that brought that devil ACA...
Such a claim is often used. I think that Chelsea Clinton's mother-in-law (please don't ask me to spell her name) was defeated because her vote was a determining one. You have 60 - in the Senate - or 278 in the House, how can one possibly pick on one vote and, more so, why are voters willing to fall for this.
SunSeeker
(51,550 posts)And the day the ACA passed was not one of them.
quadrature
(2,049 posts)LAGC
(5,330 posts)That is all.