"But he does it every time Clinton needs his vote."
A vote would have been needed to make the purchase.
These are the people whose votes would be needed to make the idea a reality.
So to get a working majority you would need 323 votes.
He needed 290 votes to force the primary, or 20 percent of the total.
You still need 60 votes to get something big done in the Senate.
They need 218 votes, or a simple majority of the House, to win.
A bill needs 218 votes to pass the House if all members vote.
But another vote is needed this year because a number of important improvements have been made in the program.
In 1975 the rules were changed; now only 60 votes are needed.