60 Democrats in the Senate Means Very Little

People have become fixated on the supposedly magical '60' number in the United States Senate now that Al Franken has been seated from Minnesota.

It's a silly thing to focus on and pretty much meaningless--other than the obvious fact that the Republican party continues to atrophy and wither on the vine.

As this page has mentioned several times, it will soon be extinct in its present form--meaning the weird longstanding marriage of bible thumping social conservatives and more mainstream fiscal conservatives.

Alas, I digress...

The magical number of 60 in the eyes of many means that the Democrats now have a filibuster-proof majority and can pass whatever the legislation they want. This simply is not the case.

In reality, there are Republicans who often vote with Democrats, and conservative Democrats who often vote with Republicans.

Indeed on upcoming controversial legislation like health care reform and union card check, we can expect plenty of crossover voting which will make the supposed filibuster proof majority moot.

Practically, though, Al Franken's victory is a very important development, as it signifies yet another nail in the coffin of today's GOP.