On January 4th, the Senate introduced S. 10, the Restoring Fiscal Discipline Act of 2007. The act lets any Senator raise a point of order in the Senate that, much like the new House rule, bars consideration of deficit-increasing tax and mandatory spending legislation. The point of order could be overruled by a 3/5th majority, or 60 votes. S. 10 would also lets Senators raise a point or order that would bar consideration of reconciliation directives and bills that increase the deficit. The reconciliation process, which protects bills concerning mandatory spending and taxes from a Senate filibuster, has been used to pass regressive tax cuts that account for about half of the debt added by new policies under the Bush administration. The point of order could also be overturned by a 3/5ths majority. Though the bill has not been debated or amended yet, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called it one of his top 10 legislative priorities. Both points of order in S. 10 would expire in 2012. Oddly, the bill takes a different form than the House rule. S. 10 is a statute requiring the approval of the House, the Senate and the President. Yet it would only affect legislation in the Senate, and it seems like it could have been introduced as a Senate resolution, which only requires Senate approval. Why it was not introduced as such is a mystery.