Walking Softly, But No Big Stick

Via BooMan, progressives have had enough with Harry Reid, and want to make it clear that Republicans should not be allowed to filibuster Obamacare if the Dems have 60 votes in the Senate.

Now liberal activists say it is time to instill some party discipline so that Democrats can take full advantage of the power they have controlling 60 Senate seats. They have gone so far as to suggest that centrists should be threatened with lack of financial support from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC).

"There ought to be real pressure in terms of making it clear to people what is expected,” said Robert Borosage, co-director of Campaign for America’s Future. “They are not going to get support from DSCC if they’re not going to be loyal on basic procedural votes to give the president an up-or-down vote on his plan.

“Inside and outside the Senate, real pressure needs to be put on folks to let them know that supporting the Republican minority’s right to block something is a lot different from opposing the program [on a final vote]," Borosage added, noting that it is Reid’s job to put this pressure on party renegades.

Liberal activists say centrists should be allowed to vote their conscience on final passage. Cloture votes, first to call up contentious legislation and then to end debate, require 60 votes; final passage only requires a simple majority.

A Democratic leadership aide, however, said that it is too soon to say how Reid will handle a final vote on healthcare reform.

The aide noted that Democratic leaders do not know whether they will be able to coax a handful of Republicans to support a healthcare reform bill, which would make it unnecessary to pressure centrists to vote to quash a GOP filibuster.

“We cannot and will not be able to determine how we will proceed until we know whether we are able to do so with Republican cooperation,” said the aide.

Two issues here: it's possible that some Republicans will not vote for the filibuster. However, it shouldn't be an issue at this point: Dems have 60 votes, period. All filibusters should be broken and all votes on the floor of the Senate should be simple majority votes.

Lack of that is all on Harry Reid. It's his job. The only people that can force a 60 vote majority on legislation are Democrats.