Krugman is getting close to the edge

[happyslug]

103. Remember LBJ needed 67 Votes not 60 to overcome the Filibuster on the Civil Rights Bill

In the early 1970s the Senate changed its rules on Filibusters, dropped the number of votes needed to end a Filibuster to 60 from the previous 2/3rd rule (i.e. 67 votes) AND permitted Filibusters on subjects to continue, while the Senate went on to other business.

In 1964, to get the Civil Rights Act passed, LBJ, and his allies, shut down the Government for 57 days, while the Senate did NOTHING but debate the Civil Rights Act. No confirmations, no budget, no other acts of Congress passed the Senate. That is what a Filibuster meant in 1964 and LBJ and his allies, proceeded to fight the Filibuster for the entire 57 days. It meant anything that needed action by the Senate had to wait till the bill was withdrawn OR 67 or more Senators voted to end debate on the Bill (To end debate on any bill on the Senate and to proceed with the actual vote on the bill, you needed 67 votes in 1964, 60 votes today, the inability to get that number of votes to end the debate is what defines a Filibuster).

Today, the Senate rules permit the Senate to go on to other actions it needs to do, but no vote on the item being filibustered unless 60 Senators decides to vote to end debate on that item. These refusal to vote to end debate on bills (and other actions such as confirmations) is what a Filibuster is today. The Senate can and does do other work, unlike the Filibuster of 1964 when NOTHING else was able to get done.

The old rule still stands, but the rule adopted in the 1970s is what most Senators do when their Filibuster today. Obama could have insisted on a vote and force the Senate to undergo an old fashioned Filibuster by the simple means of having NOTHING else on the agenda of the Senate. This is what LBJ and his allies did in 1964. Thus the Senate leadership could and did force vote after vote on ending the Filibuster. The GOP opposition could scream and yell about Obama playing Politics (and he would have been, just like LBJ was doing so in 1964) but that is what you have to do to get bills passed.

More on the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964#Johnson_and_passage