Kevin ponders a thought I’ve been thinking about for a while.

I wonder how many Americans understand that you can’t pass legislation in America with 50% of the votes in Congress? How many of them understand that, outside of budget resolutions, you need 60 votes in the Senate? That a filibuster isn’t a matter of Jimmy Stewart talking himself ragged for hours on end, but of merely declaring an intention to filibuster? And that this is done for all but the most routine matters? With the result that the 60-vote minimum is no longer reserved for occasional high-profile issues, but has been institutionalized for virtually all legislation of any consequence?

I figure maybe 2%.

It’s why I think Dems really need to focus on exposing the Republicans’ drive to block everything that moves. Voters hear Dems vow to tackle various legislative proposals, and then they hear that the bill failed. As far as Americans know, there’s a Democratic House and a Democratic Congress — why couldn’t they pass the legislation they said they’d pass?

Senate Republicans, in the most cynical part of all of this, are basing their strategy on the notion that voters won’t know better. They’re counting on public ignorance and confusion to conceal their tactics.

The GOP has created a mess in the Senate. Dems need to make an effort to help expose those responsible.