"At issue was a move by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and meant to put Democrats in a tough spot, that backfired. McConnell pushed for a vote on an idea he first proposed last year as part of the debt ceiling standoff. But in the back-and-forth legislative chess match that often plays out on the Senate floor, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid instead moved to pass the measure with a 51-vote threshold, confident that he had at least that many votes to give Democrats a victory. Recognizing that, McConnell objected to voting at the lower threshold, meaning he was filibustering the bill he had just pushed for a vote." http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/07/politics/fiscal-cliff-senate-maneuvering/index.html?hpt=hp_t2