Pete Bungum's BLOG - Day 26,067 in my journey through life.

Today is Wednesday, May 9, 2012 - a sunny, breezy and chilly day with temps in the 60s. Again, I'm grateful for another day of  "I,m HIV."

Today I did yoga, lifted weights and walked for 54 minutes = 3.0 miles for a May total of 21 miles. My weight was 162.8 pounds.

MY THOUGHTS TODAY.
I'm grateful Ruth Ann had a good report from Dr. Shah (her eye doctor) yesterday. Her visual fields test was good which checks her peripheral vision and her cataract has not grown significantly so he told her that if she can live with it as is there is no need to do surgery. She goes back in one year.

The morning paper had some news that UPSET ME A LOT. Yesterday, the Republicans in the U.S. Senate blocked a Democratic bill to preserve low interest rates for millions of college students' loans. The vote was 52-45 in favor of the bill. Common sense would tell you that when over 50% of the Senators are in favor it should become a law. But NOT in the U.S. Senate. This 52-45 vote was to give approval to begin debating the legislation on the floor of the Senate - it was not to pass the bill. In the U.S. Senate it takes 60 votes to make a bill eligible to be debated on the Senate floor. This is true even if the bill had 100% approval in the committee where it originated. So a 59 % approval vote will not be enough to get it on the floor to be debated. This is one of main reasons the Senate gets nothing done. It only takes 41 Senators of the minority party to block whatever the other 59 Senators of the majority party try to do. 

I find the whole idea of the 60 vote rule very upsetting and it is simply stupid. To me this is not democracy in action.

I do not know where the 60 vote rule came from. But I want to find out. I'm going to see if I can find the origin of the 60 vote rule.