The Vote Has Started Concluded
The vote on the "Bridges" amendment by Senator Coburn (that's the big one we've been waiting for) has started. I'll post the roll call tally as soon as I get it. UPDATE (6:16pm): I'm getting word that the amendment was modified somehow. Still, the voting is breaking along the expected lines. Here are the YES votes so far (as far as I can tell): bq. Tom Coburn (R-OK) Russ Feingold (D-WI) Jon Kyl (R-AZ) Jim DeMint (R-SC) David Vitter (R-LA) Mary Landrieu (D-LA) John Sununu (R-NH) Lindsey Graham (R-SC) Richard Burr (R-NC) Wayne Allard (R-CO) Jeff Sessions (R-AL) Evan Bayh (D-IN) Mike DeWine (R-OH) Kent Conrad (D-ND) George Allen (R-VA) UPDATE (6:37pm): It's official. The amendment has failed 15 to 82, but according to Ted Stevens (who isn't going to resign now), some people voted for it because of its modifications. UPDATE (6:52pm): I'm going to wrap up this long day with a mighty Thank You to Dr. Coburn for offering these amendments today. When you stand for something, when you have the courage to hold true to your principles, a defeat like this is still rewarding. At the end of the day, you know you were right. You know what you did was for the best. And Coburn did that. As for the future, Club members throughout the country will know which senators voted YES and which ones voted NO on these amendments. The Daily Kos blog was an unusual, but welcomed, ally today and they said it best when they called this vote "[s]imply unconscionable. Those who voted against these amendments have zero credibility on issues of fiscal responsibility. Zero."
