That theory has been debunked elsewhere. The Senate requirement for cloture is 60% of active members. There were 99 active members (since the contested Minnesota is still vacant), so that means 60 votes were needed. But if Burris had resigned or never been appointed, and the Illinois seat was also vacant, then 60% of 98 active members is 58.8.
In other words, with Burris in the Senate, his vote helped reach the 60 mark needed for cloture. Without Burris in the Senate the Democrats would have had one less vote but they'd only have needed 59 votes for cloture. So Burris' presence or absence as a member of the Senate was irrelevant to the passage of the Stimulus bill.
Do you have evidence for that? Everything I’ve read says you need 60 members. I just did a google search for “senate cloture 60% of active members” and came up with this:
All the articles appear to call for 60 votes.
In the past, they have wheeled people in for the vote, and there was talk of bringing Teddy in from the hospital to vote.
Of course, all these people could be wrong, but I’d like to see the evidence.
Even so, 59 is not 60% of 99.