WASHINGTON -- The vote was held open for an hour before the flood came, a series of Senate Republicans to push through a procedural vote on suspending the debt ceiling for a year without preconditions.
The 67-31 tally this afternoon included 12 Republicans in favor, none of whom were from Georgia. Johnny Isakson voted "no," while Saxby Chambliss had already hopped on a plane home before all the flights got canceled due to a winter storm you may have heard something about. They needed to break a 60-vote threshold because Ted Cruz objected, naturally.
Chambliss intended to vote "no" on the so-called "clean" debt ceiling, according to a spokeswoman, but likely so did many of the dozen Republicans who ended up at yes. Chambliss' impending retirement would have made him a prime candidate for cloakroom arm-twisting. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Whip John Cornyn of Texas, both of whom face primary challengers this year, walked the plank first, and several more followed.
Here's what Isakson had to say about the affair:
"If we are going to raise the debt ceiling, it should only be done in tandem with structural entitlement reforms such as with Medicare and Social Security. Today's vote was a missed opportunity to try to secure some real reforms."
The procedural vote was followed by quick passage (55 Democrats only) of the final bill. President Obama will sign it soon and you won't hear much about the debt ceiling again until early 2015.
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