Does this mean that currently no legislature is being passed at all? That the US government is completely neutured, or am I missing something?

yep, that's what is mostly going on right now.

he mentions 60 a lot but doesn't point out the significance - that is the # of votes needed to overrule a filibuster. a.k.a with a supermajority (60 votes) you could pass anything. Which is also where the Massachusetts election becomes important, cause the dems have 59 instead of 60 (or is it 58 now?).

So now health care and most other bills will just be filibustered by the republicans, essentially halting any new proposals from passing. hooray for senators getting paid a lot to do nothing.

And it won't end anytime soon, either. One of the biggest talking points the conservatives are using, and reasons for doing what they've been doing even if they have to flipflop on their own positions, is that Obama has failed as a president because he can't get anything passed. As though the self-same people purposely obstructing him has nothing to do with that. As Maddow had stated on one of her last shows, nearly any pretense of doing what was good for America has gone out the window in favor of political expedience, all in favor of giving them their best chance in 2012 by replacing a "Do-nothing president", as the conservative talk shows have taken to labeling him.

this is one of those times where you want to just stand in front of the senate and just shout "what is your job and why are all of you so opposed to doing it?"

If Obama wants to coerce some senators to pull their heads out of their asses, he can just threaten to veto any budget that contains one penny of funding for their state.

To simplify:

Republicans = dicks
Democrats = pussies

Seriously, a filibuster is a threat that you have to stay in one room without taking a potty break. That's it. The Dems are effectively saying that they don't think they can sit out a slumber party longer than the GOP. Pussies. Challenge the dicks to their bluff. Do it. Grow a pair!

The unfortunate thing in regards to financial reform, healthcare, foreign policy, etc. etc, is that people who want progressive change still believe that the president and the democratic party as a whole want progressive change. The truth is they want to continue and carry out agendas that the majority of people disagree with while pretending that there's nothing they can do about it. It's actually a brilliant and successful strategy in that it made most progressive movements impotent by putting faith and energy into the single hollow propaganda slogan called "change". The Obama administration is like a matador as progressive movements are like a bull.