only in the US senate can a bill FAIL with a 57-43 vote. maybe one day we will live in an enlightened society, it's certainly not going to happen any time soon at this rate. better to support criminals and wife beaters over the citizens who end up dead by them...
60 votes are needed to add an amendment to an existing bill, not to pass a bill. Passage requires only a simple majority (51 votes, the reason the Vice-President is there). The bill would then be sent to the house, where it has about zero chance of being passed. Thus, this was all a pathetic political stunt instead of an actual attempt to do something useful.
60 votes are needed to pass anything in the senate that the republicans do not want to pass. this goes from judicial appointments, to cabinet members, to legislation and everything in between. stop pretending that the republicans aren't obstructing the vast majority of the senate's business because we both know that they are.
"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman