Fifty-One Percent is a Majority

My friend, Sammy Mahon, from Baytown, Texas, drives a jet-black Peterbilt tractor all over America, and he asked this logical question: Why does it take 60 votes for the Senate to make a decision? He said: Well, the rule—I can’t really say what he said; I’ll just use the word ‘‘nutty.’’ 

Why have this rule? We all learned in elementary school that 51 percent is a majority.

By requiring 60 votes to make a decision, government is ruled by the few, not the majority; thus, a handful of Senators can block progress. The result?

The government is shut down. The military is not paid. 

Lovely. The Senate inconsistently allows the majority rule in some votes but, on others, 60 percent.

The Senate should strongly consider what Sammy thinks about this archaic rule: make a decision with 50 percent, regardless of what party is in charge. Sammy is right.

This undemocratic rule is nutty. The sky will not fall if the Senate makes decisions by majority rule.

And that is just the way it is.