6 Democrats, 1 Republican, 1 Independent voted "no." Everyone else bent over for the HaveMores©

[Amerigo Vespucci]

WASHINGTON -- The Senate on Monday voted to move forward on a a two-year extension of the Bush tax cuts as well as a package of tax cuts and credits for the middle class, ethanol subsidies and a 13 month reauthorization of unemployment insurance. The vote follows months of insistent bipartisan concern about the size of the federal deficit.

The vote is being held open to accommodate senators arriving in town, but the package already had 66 votes in favor of moving forward shortly after 4:15. Eight senators stood against the deal: Republican John Ensign (R-Nev.); Democrats Jeff Bingaman (N.M.), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Russ Feingold (Wisc.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Pat Leahy (Vt.) and Mark Udall (Colo.); and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who spoke for hours against the bill on Friday.

The bill, with the unusual name of Reid-McConnell, originated in negotiations between President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans. House Democrats last week resolved to urge their leadership not to bring the bill to the floor, but lower-chamber leaders have been signaling that the House will consider the Senate product -- though there will be attempts to amend it.

"It's clear it's the right thing to do for middle-income Americans," said Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the chamber's finance committee. Baucus said he was confident the bill would make its way through the House. "It will pass," he said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/13/senate-tax-cuts-for-rich-move-forward_n_796108.html

[EndElectoral]

1. Did Mary Landrieu vote for this fiasco>

[chatnoir]

2. Apparently

From further down at the link:

"On Monday, though, Landrieu said she would "reluctantly" vote to support cloture and move forward with the bill. "I'll be voting yes today, but I'm hoping there will be some amendments," she said before the vote. Landrieu was the 66th "aye."

[L. Coyote]

3. They are voting on closing debate!

***** Official LIVE BLOG Senate = Tax Cuts Debate II *****
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9765534

[DebJ]

4. Love Russ!

[bigtree]

5. bent over? hardly. They're still hiding behind the President, acting as if he made them do it

. . . when they intended to compromise all along. Now they can go out and claim that they were boxed in . . . boxed in, all right, by their own negligence and incompetency in bringing the debate to a month before the expiration deadline. They'd better hope the President keeps taking the heat and no one out there remembers that THEY write the bills and pass them.

[mdmc]

6. ..