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by Elizabeth Meinecke
Human Events

Want to know if Obamacare will be defeated in the Senate?  Thanks to a Senate process known as cloture, you’ll be able to make a pretty educated guess before the first senator votes for or against Obamacare on the Senate floor.

As some of us may have learned all the way back in a high school government class, the Senate can spend nine lives debating something -- a bill, a motion to start discussing the bill, etc. A cloture vote is a way to stop the talking. If the Senate votes for cloture, you impose a time limit of up to 30 hours after cloture on that debate. After that, you’re guaranteed a final vote on whatever you’re doing, whether it be a bill or just talking about considering a bill.  So a vote for cloture is essentially permission to move on to the next step.

What makes cloture so important is that you need 60 votes to get it, while to actually pass a bill, you only need 51.

Cloture may come up twice in the health care process.  The Senate first has to talk about whether they want to debate Obamacare, formally called a “motion to proceed.” If they talk too long, you may see a cloture vote. Then, if and when the Senate does actually discuss Obamacare on the floor, you may see another cloture vote telling them to be quiet and vote on the bill.  Read more...