Autos. I wasn't able to follow the Senate - I read the threads - I don't understand what's going on

Dems missing, Repugs voted lock-step against Unions - so what is the filibuster about? What is final and what isn't? Help, please - a synopsis?

Which means we could have had the votes if all of our members were there. And it may have only been 59 needed since there are only 99 senators. I know Kennedy is ill and Kerry is overseas, so that means 3 Dems voted against it and I want to know who they are.

He probably meant the 46 who were there. Kennedy is ill and Kerry's overseas, and Obama's not a senator anymore, so if he was not counting the 2 independents there are 48 Democratic senators total, so that would leave the count at 46 Democratic senators present and voting tonight. So 3 Democrats are unaccounted for.

I'm not sure about the others. Was Lieberman there? I cought it at the very end. With the total of Senators there, they only needed a 3/5th majority, and they failed.

I wasn't home all evening, so I didn't even see it.

But I recall that the Majority Leader has to do some weird vote in the end when cloture does not pass on a bill. Or something. Don't ask me, I was out having cocktails. But there is always some strange counterintuitive vote by the m. l.

Durbin made that clear in his remarks. Reid switched his vote at the end to leave open the possibility to reconsider. It is common for the majority leader to do that when a cloture motion fails.

As I figured he would. He's usually good on labor issues.

christ on a crutch, don't they realize what they have done.

:argh:

Asian markets tanking already, Dow futures down 350... nice fucking work Rethugs.

I mean, they all should have gotten careers as Wall Street financial executives. Then Congress would be begging them to take billions of dollars of taxpayer money.

:crazy: :crazy: :crazy:

Here's why:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3642003

There's too much money at stake in GM. Bush doesn't want to see it rescued. GMAC could not qualify for the status of a bank and therefore could not get TARP money even though they are a huge home mortgage holder. Democrats wanted to use the TARP money to bail out the auto companies. Remember? Now, Bush signed off on a deal to use other money for the auto companies, but his buddies in the GOP Senate are holding the deal up. This is in-fighting amongst conservatives in my view. John Snow and Dan Quayle are associated with Cerberus Management which owns 51% of GM and 80% of Chrysler. This deal will go through. The union busting is the goal, and the unions should strike until the Democrats have more clout in the Senate and can push it through. This is going to be a bleak Christmas no matter how you look at things.