What Reid is doing would only apply post-cloture - meaning you already got 60 votes to get this far.

[Pirate Smile]

According to The Plum Line - who got from a Senate Dem aide:

Harry Reid triggers a procedural “nuclear option,” one that Dems had previously condemned, to change the rules and (it seems) to prevent filibusters. Implications aren’t fully clear yet, but it seems to be a big deal.

Update: This might not be quite right. It seems to be more focused on amendments, not filibusters. A Dem aide emails:

The Senate voted to make post-cloture motions to suspend the rules out of order. This was done because the minority has used this tactic to derail even bills with broad bipartisan agreement that successfully gain cloture, such as the China currency bill which received 79 votes on the motion to proceed and 62 votes to cut off debate. The Senate must have the ability to move forward with bills that have broad bipartisan support.

Note that this only applies to motions to suspend the rules post-cloture.

Motions to suspend the rules after cloture are not a tactic that is central to minority rights in the Senate.

A motion to suspend the rules has not succeeded since 1941, according to the Senate Historian’s office. This is simply a delay tactic the minority has used to derail even bills with broad, bipartisan agreement.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/happy-hour-roundup/2011/10/06/gIQA1RSBRL_blog.html

[gateley]

1. Ezra Klein covered this (he filled in for Rachel). Said it hadn't

been used since 1941 (as it states above) and initially the parliamentarian said 'no', but Reed pushed it and succeeded. The downside is that now the Repubs may be more inclined to use it against us on REAL bills. But really, they'd use it if it suited them whether or not Reed did it this time.

[Pirate Smile]

3. Huff Po has a good article that spells out what exactly happened:

Harry Reid Busts Up Senate Precedent

WASHINGTON --

-snip-
McConnell moved to suspend the rules and shift debate over to the American Jobs Act. Reid argued that doing so amounted to another filibuster, because it required 60 votes to move back to the original bill, and so therefore was out of order. Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska), who happened to be the presiding officer at the time, asked the Senate parliamentarian what he thought. The parliamentarian advised Begich that McConnell's motion was in order.
Reid then appealed the ruling, following a script that advocates of ending the filibuster wrote long ago. What some senators call the "constitutional option," and what others call the "nuclear option," involves as a first step appealing a ruling that a filibuster is in order. The second step is to defeat a motion to table that appeal, which is exactly what happened next, with all but one Democrat sticking with Reid. (Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) voted against Reid; Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) didn't vote.)

With the chair overruled, McConnell's motion was declared out of order, setting a narrow precedent that motions to suspend the rules are out of order during a post-cloture period.
But it also set a more important precedent. The advice of the parliamentarian is considered sacrosanct in the Senate. Reid's decision to overrule him opens a gate to similar efforts that could also be done by majority vote. Republicans were quickly threatening to use the new power once they return to the majority. (Reid was a proponent of filibuster reform in 2010, but didn't pursue an effort earlier this year to reduce the number of votes needed in the Senate to move legislation forward.)
"McConnell likes to think of himself as a parliamentary wizard, but he had his lunch eaten twice today by Harry Reid," said a Senate Democratic aide.

-snip-
McConnell initially wanted 10 votes, and Democrats were willing to give him five. They ultimately settled on seven, a Democratic source said, and they told McConnell which ones they would accept.
That left the Democratic leaders in a sour mood to begin with, but then McConnell tried to insist on the farm dust measure offered by Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.).
"We accepted the embarrassing vote on the president's jobs bill," a Democratic leadership source said. "Then he tried to jam the farm dust bill up our ass."

-snip-
Reid's move Thursday, in that context, is less abusive of Senate precedent than it first appears. The current rules create a situation in which two 60-vote thresholds must be met before a bill can pass, the first to end debate and the second to move to final passage. McConnell's move to suspend the rules could have created additional 60-vote hurdles, clearly in violation of the spirit of the post-cloture period, which is intended to be a short stretch until moving to final passage.
"What just took place here is an effort to expedite what goes on around here," Reid said, although he admitted he could be wrong.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/06/harry-reid-senate-precedent_n_999291.html?ref=tw

[gateley]

4. Thank you! DU (meaning you!) is the greatest resource in the world!! nt

[Dragonfli]

2. Reid still supports the idea of the virtual filibuster that requires 60 votes

That is unlikely to change as it provides great cover for those in the ruling party that have the same financial masters as the "opposition".

It enables lobbyists to get what they want while allowing those in the so called progressive party to pretend they are not in agreement.