In an interview by supply-side warhorse Larry Kudlow that aired on CNBC last night, Mitt Romney had this to say about the disposal of the Buffett Rule by the U.S. Senate:
Well, you know, these kind of gimmicks that they’ve talked about, the so-called Buffett Rule, if they want to change the name [to the Romney Rule], that’s fine, too, they couldn’t get it through their own Democratic Senate. And I think the reason is, people recognize that these gimmicks are not going to get America strong again, they’re not going to create jobs.
Um, sorry, Mr. Romney, “they couldn’t get it through their own Democratic Senate” for one and one reason only: the filibuster. Otherwise it would have been been passed on a 51-45 vote. Since your party has turned the filibuster into a de facto super-majority requirement for passage of legislation in the Senate, you probably should familiarize yourself with the term and its implications, if that’s not too much to ask of a non-Washington “outsider” like you.
