By now, we all know the Senate passed, by means of a voice-vote to invoke cloture, the $410 billion spending bill which increases government funding for the remainder of FY`09 (until September 30, 2009) – it seems Harry Reid (D-NV), the Senate majority leader, got what he wanted after all.

Not surprisingly, President Obama is expected to sign the bill later on today.

Other than the enormous amount of this bill, what is startling is the manner which this bill was passed in the Senate: by a vote of 62 – 39, the Senate voted to invoke cloture on H.R. 1105. What does this mean? Cloture is a parliamentary procedure used to prevent the filibustering of a piece of legislation – effectively de-arming what was once referred to as the “nuclear option” in the Senate.

Why is this so important?

By invoking cloture, Senate Democrats (with the help of eight Republican Senators) prevented the bill from being debated on the floor. Is this a tell-tale sign of how future legislation is going to handled by the Senate?

Once again, the will of the people was completely ignored by those whom we elected to represent us – it’s making “We, The People” sound a bit trite. One wonders when—if ever at all—will Congress ever get the message: Stop spending money you do not have!

Much has been said and written about the lack of leadership within the Republican Party. If one needs further proof of this lack in leadership, one only need to look at how eight Republican Senators voted in favor of cloture: Alexander (TN); Bond (MO); Cochran (MS); Murkowski (AK); Shelby (AL); Snowe (ME); Specter (PA); and Wicker (MS).

With true leadership within the GOP and in Congress, it could be argued that the number of Republican Senators voting in favor of cloture could have been reduced, if not completely eliminated. Why did these eight Senators feel it absolutely necessary to table debate on such an important piece of legislation?

Conversely, two Democratic Senators –Evan Bayh (IN) and Russ Feingold (WI) – broke ranks with their party leadership by voting against the motion and should be commended for doing the right thing.

It used to be taught that it is the duty and responsibility of one generation to leave this country better for the next generation than it was received. Now the lesson is how we can bankrupt the country for generations to come.

Source:   http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00096#position