GOP senators concede arms treaty will secure enough votes to pass

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: The Hill

Republican senators say privately they expect the Senate to ratify the New START treaty this week, which would hand President Obama his third major victory of the lame-duck session.

GOP senators — including those who plan to vote for the treaty and those who say they’ll oppose it — have told The Hill they expect it to pass easily.

At least seven Republican senators have announced they either will vote to ratify the treaty or are leaning strongly toward doing so. That means Democrats are only two GOP votes shy of ratification.

Two-thirds of the senators present in the chamber, assuming there is a quorum, must vote “aye” to ratify.

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/134551-gop-senators-concede-start-will-win-enough-votes-to-pass-handing-victory-to-obama

[jefferson_dem]

1. Terrific news.

Hoping so. Politics aside (which ain't bad) ratification is the right thing policy-wise.

[AldebTX]

2. But Will It Hurt Their Holiday Vacation Plans

I would hate to keep them from celebrating Christmas as it was intended with several days off.......

[savalez]

5. That was absurd...

to complain about their vacation while so many Americans don't even have a job to vacation from! A-holes.

[karynnj]

6. I hope Kyl, Inhoffe and McCain and a few others feel the need to fly immediately

to their homes. Note that they need 2/3rds of the Senators IN THE CHAMBER. (This also means that if Wyden is unavoidably absent - in makes no difference. If he and everyone else is there, we need 67; if not we need 66.) Someone just pointed this out to me on Daily Kos - so I figured others may have missed that as I did.

[SpiralHawk]

3. "Our patented republicon FAIL is destined to FAIL." - RepubliCorp CongressCronies (R)

"As usual."

- RepubliCorp CongressCronies (R)

[NeoConsSuck]

4. "which would hand President Obama his third major victory of the lame-duck session"

are one of his other 'victories' the tax cuts for the rich?

[SkyDaddy7]

7. Others look at it as tax cuts for the middle class & UI.

So, to answer your question...YES.

[Freddie Stubbs]

8. Repeal of DADT, extension of middle-class tax cuts, and extension of unemployment benefits