Senate Approves Debt Limit Increase With Drama-Filled Vote

[ProSense]

Senate Approves Debt Limit Increase With Drama-Filled Vote

By Arlette Saenz

In a high drama vote Wednesday, the Senate approved a bill to extend the government’s borrowing authority until March 2015.

The Senate voted along party lines – 55-43 – to increase the debt limit. That result followed another vote to clear a procedural hurdle that resulted in some dramatic arm twisting between Republican senators after Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, required a 60-vote threshold in order to advance the bill.

What was supposed to be a 15-minute procedural vote lasted an hour, with Republican senators deliberating over who would vote to advance the bill. A large group of Republican senators, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, was seen huddling on the Senate floor before deciding their votes.

In a move that could be used against them by their primary opponents in the 2014 campaign, McConnell and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, voted in favor of advancing the bill, opening the floodgates for other Republican senators who were wary of voting aye to join them.

- more -

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/02/senate-approves-debt-limit-increase-with-drama-filled-vote/

This Is What Happens When Mitch McConnell Gets Nervous

By Charles P. Pierce

So the Republicans in the Senate decided to let Ted Cruz once again romp in the fields of the stupid for a while, before voting him back into four-point restraints so the Senate could pass the increase in the debt limit. This is in large part because Mitch McConnell who, in matters of principle, is often struck with sudden attacks of invisibility, has a Tea Party challenger in his primary and a well-financed, popular Democratic opponent waiting for him in the general election, if he survives. So Mitch has to keep everybody happy.

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, and Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the Republican whip, waited nearly a half-hour as their Republican colleagues refused to vote to end debate on the bill. When it was clear that the debt ceiling increase would fail, they stepped forward in tandem to deliver the deciding votes. Other Republicans followed by changing their votes... The 55-to-43 vote, largely along party lines, ended three years of fiscal brinkmanship in which the threat of a default hung over acrimonious debt ceiling negotiations, and came a day after the Republican-controlled House passed the same legislation by relying almost entirely on Democratic votes.

So Mitch lets Cruz fume, and he throws the votes in there to end debate, and then he lets the actual debt ceiling pass as a strictly party-line measure, so he can go back to Kaintuck and blame the Democrats for everything. Leadership! Ron Fournier must be sparkling from every orifice.

Senate Republicans - unwilling to default on the nation's debt but hoping to avoid voting for any debt ceiling increase - seethed at Mr. Cruz's move, which many said was purely political and which forced them to scramble to produce at least five votes to end debate and move on to a final vote. Senator John Hoeven, Republican of North Dakota, simply smiled when asked if he was annoyed with Mr. Cruz's filibuster threat. "We're working to see what we can put together, but I don't know yet how it's going to go," he said.

Seething, I tell you. This is getting to be like listening to Dr. Jekyll turn state's evidence against Mr. Hyde.

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http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/mitch-mcconnell-debt-ceiling-increase-021214

[ProSense]

1. Roll calls:

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=2&vote=00033

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=2&vote=00034