President Bush chided Democrats for premature victory dances in the end zone prior to the 2006 mid-term election results. Even after the Democrats won in November and were sworn in on January 4, 2007, spiking the ball was out of the question.

Soon after the November 7, 2006 election results came in, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who was in line to become (and became) the Senate Minority Leader said:

“The minority [the Republican Party], as long as it has more than 41 people together, can have a great deal of impact on whether something passes at all, or, if it passes, what form it takes.”

Whether called a filibuster or cloture vote, without a “yea” vote of at least 60 members of the Senate on a specific issue, nothing can be accomplished legislatively. What was once called a filibuster is now called the procedure for invoking cloture. In Republican “spin-speak” it’s been Democrats who filibuster and Republicans who deny cloture. The negative connotation of the word “filibuster” has not been lost on the GOP.

No matter what the name, the procedure is the same. Under Senate Rule XXII, paragraph 2 sixteen Senators must sign a motion for cloture that proposes the end of debate on a pending question. Once a quorum of Senators is established (a simple majority or 51% of Senators being present), a vote is taken to cut off debate. Before 1975, all cloture motions required a two-thirds vote in favor of cutting off debate. Staring in 1975, aside from votes to change Senate rules, a two-fifths vote is necessary. Therefore, to end debate and bring a bill to a vote, 60 votes in favor of cloture are required. Forty-one votes by the opponents of a particular bill are enough to ensure that a proposition never even gets to a vote, much less gets passed by the Senate.

As we have all learned in civics or social studies class, if the Senate stops a bill, that’s it. It matters not if the “Peoples’ House,” the House of Representatives passes a bill. Bi-cameral approval is required. Then an even higher hurdle for legislation must be cleared – a Presidential signature. A veto then requires a super-majority of 2/3rds approval in both houses of Congress to override a presidential veto.

Since attaining the majority in Congress, many Democratic initiatives have been doomed by the Republican 41% Solution. Of the pillars of the Democratic initiatives for election in 2006, the “Six for ’06,” only one has been enacted – and then only by funding a war the majority of Americans want ended.

Republicans now refer to the Democrats’ plan of “Six for ’06” as “Zero for ’07” like a spontaneous quip from the late Johnnie Cochran. However, its spontaneity is belied by its repeated, verbatim utterance by the Right.

During the 2008 election season, be wary of Republican mantras that Democrats have failed to pass any laws that help the American public. With the 41% Solution – essentially pure political stonewalling, Democratic accomplishments are uniformly and consistently thwarted. Try as one might, a dance in the end zone isn’t timely without points on the board – true legislative, enacted progress. Scoring’s tough to do with a hand in your face, not enough players on the field and a corrupt commissioner.