There's been all this talk of needing 60 votes to pass health care reform in the Senate, but that isn't necessarily the case, as Byron Tau points out: 
 
"Senate Democratic leaders cleared a big hurdle Saturday in their effort to pass a health-care overhaul when they overcame the threat of a filibuster to begin debate on the bill. Now they need to get 60 votes to end debate on the bill. Republicans have vowed to filibuster the final bill, and some moderate Democrats are wavering and threatening to join the opposition. Still, there are a few scenarios where Democratic leaders could try to break the 60-vote threshold. Some are purely theoretical, while others have been attempted in the past to varying degrees of success."
 
Tau gives a good run down of the four options (reconciliation, the "nuclear option," locking the doors, and throwing out the rule book) potentially available to Democratic leaders, but they all seem like rather unsavory scenarios if you're the majority leader. Though stranger things have happened in the Senate . . .
 
Follow Matt Laslo’s blog and coverage of Congress at http://twitter.com/MattLaslo
 
If you have a comment or suggestion, please e-mail Matt at mlaslo@cncnews.org.