Senator Mitch McConnell: "I Propped My Feet Up On My Desk And Watched The House Pass Our Agenda." That's NO Joke.

The WSJ has a piece about our Senator Mitch McConnell. Here's an excerpt:

"When I woke up after the election in November 2006," Mr. McConnell says, "I realized I was going to be the Republican leader and not the majority leader. That was the bad news." The one-time county judge continues: "The good news is that 49 is not a bad number in a body that requires 60. The United States Senate is the only legislative body in the world where a majority is not enough."

Though he has used a variety of political and parliamentary tactics to steer bad ideas off the rails, Mr. McConnell simply credits the Senate's cloture rules, which require 60 votes to force consideration of any bill. "My goal from the very beginning, which my Republican colleagues have supported without exception, basically, is to use the power of 41 – or more – to do one of two things: either to stop things that are totally awful . . . or more frequently, to use the power of 41 to shape." He adds, "Really bad ideas die in the Senate, and in that sense it has protected America from extremes throughout our history."