It needed 60 votes to defeat the filibuster. Only needed 51 votes to pass, but there was no way to get to a vote on the actual legislation without the 60 votes

It needed 60 votes to defeat the filibuster. Only needed 51 votes to pass, but there was no way to get to a vote on the actual legislation without the 60 votes needed to defeat the filibuster. More here: http://m.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/04/for-the-love-of-god-just-call-it-a-filibuster/275087/ http://m.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/04/for-the-lo...