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by mikeyouse 4229 days ago
The threat of filibuster is implicit in the "60 votes needed" language. At 60 votes, the majority side can invoke 'cloture' which moves the bill to an actual vote, after which you only need 50 votes to pass. Prior to 60 votes, the minority side can pretty much endlessly delay the actual vote on the bill through filibusters and other parliamentary tactics.

A good history of how we got to where we are:

http://www.brookings.edu/research/testimony/2010/04/22-filib...

And the more encyclopedic answer:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloture#United_States