Right now, there are only 50 working Democratic Senators (Tim Johnson D, S.D. hasn't cast a vote yet this year), and there are only 49 if you don't include Joe Lieberman.
....You need 51 senators for a quorum, in the event that someone makes a quorum call — which any senator can make at any time. So all it takes is one Republican to stay in the chamber, object to anything the Democrats try to do, and then note the absence of a quorum. When the quorum is called, and only 50 senators are present, the Senate adjourns (or at least it can't come out of the quorum call without unanimous consent), and the whole stupid stunt is over before Senator Byrd can even begin his outraged four-hour speech.
All the Republicans need to do is enforce a complete boycott of the session except for one Senator to oppose the 49 Dems. Who thinks Joe Lieberman might be the man for the job?
What it boils down to is this: Will the handful of Republicans that voted for this already stand by their positions and stay with the Dems giving them over 50 or will they succumb to their party's pressure? We'll find out, but I'm not hopeful. It also now occurs to me that Reid has certainly known this all along...
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