LAT: Filibuster Fight Isn’t Lost for Dems Yet (need 6 Repubs, have 2) [View All]

[DeepModem Mom]

Filibuster Fight Isn’t Lost for Democrats Yet
By Maura Reynolds, Times Staff Writer


WASHINGTON - For Senate Democrats, the magic number is six.

That's the number of Republican senators Democrats need to convince to cross party lines if they want to win a potential showdown on changing the rules for selecting federal judges. And by most accounts, they are getting close....

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The arithmetic is fairly straightforward. Frist says he needs 51 votes to change the filibuster rule, and there are 55 Republicans in the Senate. One of those votes can come from the vice president, who as president of the Senate can vote to break a 50-50 tie. That means that in order to win the fight, Frist can change the rules if he loses five senators; Democrats will win if he loses six.

Two Republicans - John McCain of Arizona and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island - have said they would vote with the Democrats against the rule change. Four other senators have said they have concerns about changing the rules and are considering voting against it. They are Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, John Warner of Virginia and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska. More are rumored to be privately opposed, but fear voting against their leaders....


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-filibuster13apr13,0,6204451.story?coll=la-home-nation