Stimulus passes cloture in the Senate, 61-36

[MiniMe]

Snow, Collins, Lieberman, Specter vote Yes

[graywarrior]

1. Lieberman will want us to thank him

[mdmc]

5. God Bless Joementum!

:)

[graywarrior]

7. See? Whores are useful!

[Ian David]

22. Before LIEberman went completely darksided, he still had a more liberal voting record than ne Repuke

That is, IIRC.

In fact, the Democrat with the lowest ACLU scorecard (last time I checked) was higher than that of the Repuke with the highest ACLU scorecard-- including LIEbermann.

[Bolo Boffin]

6. According to Think Progress, he was advocating that the other 3 get Congressional Medals of Honor

So thanking Lieberman is the least we can do...

:sarcasm:

[graywarrior]

16. I'll erect a shrine for him

[Oak2004]

31. Okay, if you really want to call it a shrine

but I'd suggest you just flush it.

[graywarrior]

34. My shrine to Lieberman

[mdmc]

20. nothing more useful

:)

[Donnachaidh]

10. can I do it with a 2 x 4 upside the head?

It's truly the sort of thanks he DESERVES.

[graywarrior]

14. A chunk of cheese with his whine would be nice

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

18. Here's a tip:

Soak that 2x4 in used motor oil for no less than 3 weeks, so it doesn't bend, break or splinter.

I learned that from "Sanford & Son". ;-)

[Donnachaidh]

37. o-kaaaaayyy

Had to wipe the :spray: from my keyboard :rofl:

Writing that in my notes, for future use. :evilgrin:

[Last Stand]

2. What does Specter get out of this?

We know what Joe got. Snow/Collins could be good wild cards for us if we play them right.

[MrModerate]

11. I think 1) they have principles and sometimes live up to them . . .

and 2) they realize that the pendulum is swinging leftward, away from the rightwing whackos who hijacked their party over the last 10-20 years.

[Bluebear]

3. Snowe, Collins, Specter: THOSE are MAVERICKS!

[jsamuel]

4. now the question is will they add the school stuff and other stuff back after they talk to the house

and will it be able to get 60 votes in the senate again after that compromise

[Ocracoker16]

8. Oh that is great

[IntravenousDemilo]

9. What an interesting spelling of "closure"!

(We spell it with an "s" up here.)

[Hamlette]

12. the word isn't closure, its cloture. Term specific (as far as I know) to congressional debate

[IntravenousDemilo]

23. In Parliament, voting to cut off debate is called "closure". Different spellings of the same thing.

I first heard of parliamentary closure some decades ago, and being in Canada, I only saw it referred to with that spelling for many years, until I came upon "cloture" one day and thought it was a misprint, or at least a very quaint Americanism.

[Hamlette]

26. odd you didn't go with cloture

as it's from the french

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloture

[IntravenousDemilo]

28. Ah, but so is closure, I found. It's just from an earlier form of French. n/m

[ogneopasno]

15. Unless, of course, one speaks of cloture:

cloture - The only procedure by which the Senate can vote to place a time limit on consideration of a bill or other matter, and thereby overcome a filibuster. Under the cloture rule (Rule XXII), the Senate may limit consideration of a pending matter to 30 additional hours, but only by vote of three-fifths of the full Senate, normally 60 votes.

http://www.senate.gov/reference/glossary_term/cloture.htm

[IntravenousDemilo]

25. The concept is not unique to the US, of course. In the UK...

"A closure motion is one that seeks to bring a debate to an end.
It is a device used both by supporters and occasionally opponents of a bill.
An MP can rise at any time during a debate and propose: "That the question be now put", that is put to a vote.
It is within the Speaker's discretion to accept this motion.
If the Speaker rules that there has been enough debate on the business before the House, then a vote will take place.
For a closure motion to succeed at least 100 MPs must vote in favour.
If the motion to close the debate is carried, the House then votes on the original matter which it was debating.
Closure motions are often used during debates on private members' bills on Fridays in order to stop filibustering by opponents of a particular piece of legislation."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/81962.stm

[MrModerate]

17. So do we. "Cloture" is a unique term for this type of vote.

From the French.

[IntravenousDemilo]

21. No, I meant for this type of vote, too. In parliamentary practice, it's "closure".

You use a form of the word taken from more modern French (clôture), while we use one deriving from an older form of French (closure).

[MrModerate]

30. You guys up north have an entirely different relationship with French . . .

-- or even "The French" -- than we do down here.

[derby378]

13. Can we watch the House pick the Senate version apart in conference?

Please?

[Bucky]

19. In a sane world, we wouldn't be relieved to find out

that only 37% of United States senators have a rudimentary understanding of economics. I'm glad they mustered a cloture vote of course, but the Republican caucus continue to set the bar low for what constitutes "responsible behavior by public officials."

Government by ideology failed in Russia, failed in Italy, failed in South Africa, and continues to fail in Cuba, North Korea, and Iran. Why oh why do these boneheads continue to think it can somehow happen here?

[Ichingcarpenter]

24. Besides Al Franken who else didn't vote?

I know Teddy voted yes but still the numbers don't add up.

Wasn't McCain out of the country today?

[spanone]

27. i was curious about the numbers too

[Ichingcarpenter]

35. Franken, Dudd and Cornyn

Didn't vote on it.

I wish Franken had been seated for this vote.

[MiniMe]

36. And Judd Greg

He recused himself

[Bonn1997]

29. We got ALL independents and three Republicans

I'd like to stop hearing the media and especially Dem strategists stop saying "all 58 Dems" and only "3 Reps" supported the bill.
Start saying, "All 56 Democrats, BOTH INDEPENDENTS, and three Republicans." (Or say "all independents" instead of "both independents" if you want to be a little sneaky.) My version singles out the Republicans for being partisan.

[mikeargo]

32. So Judd Gregg voted against it?

Or did he recuse himself?

[Bonn1997]

33. I think the latter but I'm not sure