Scott Brown was in and out of the Senate chamber and had voted against his party before most of his colleagues had even arrived.
"It's a small step, but it's still a step," Brown told reporters after casting a procedural vote in favor of the Democratic jobs bill, bucking his party leaders and the strategy of opposition they have carried out since President Obama took office.
For Senate Democrats, it was much bigger step. Four Republicans followed Brown's lead, giving the jobs legislation 62 votes, two more than needed to cut off a GOP filibuster.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) thanked the newly-elected Republican from Massachusetts:
"I hope this is the beginning of a new day here in the Senate. Whether this new day was created by the new Senator from Massachusetts or some other reason, I'm very, very happy that we were able to get this done. But there are some winners. Not any individual Senator, not Democrats or Republicans. The winners are small business people throughout this country."
Brown was followed by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who was followed by her home state GOP colleague Olympia Snowe.
Sens. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) and Kit Bond (R-Mo.), who are retiring, also backed the bill.
Voinovich's vote came after he was given an assurance from Reid that the surface transportation reauthorization bill that Voinovich prizes will be given high priority.
"I think he and I are going to do a lot of music together," said Voinovich. "My vote was reflective of what I thought made sense."
Voinovich didn't stick around for any loyalty lectures after his vote. "I have no idea," said Voinovich when asked what leadership thought of his vote. "I voted and took off."
Brown also said that he had "no idea" how the rest of his colleagues would vote. But it was good enough for him. "It's not a perfect bill. I would have liked broader and deeper tax cuts, but I was comfortable with that first vote," said Brown.
Twenty nine Republicans opposed the measure, while six skipped the vote. More Republicans skipped the vote than voted in favor.
Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), meanwhile, muddled the message of Democratic unity behind the jobs bill. He voted against it.
See the rest of the story at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/22/jobs-bill-vote-senate_n_472172.html
Subscribe to the Rightardia feed: feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/IGiu
No comments:
Post a Comment