Cramdown Crammed Down Big — By Democrats
If there was ever a question of who controls the Senate, it was answered this afternoon when Democratic leaders fell a whopping 15 votes shy of moving legislation to empower bankruptcy judges to alter mortgages for the protection of homeowners.
The finance industry had fought fiercely to kill the proposal, and kill it they did. Supporters needed 60 votes to defeat what was expected to be a largely Republican filibuster. Instead they got 45.
Going into the vote, there was talk that a handful of big-bank-state Democrats would join all Republicans in opposing the bill. Instead, that handful became a dozen. They were: Sens. Max Baucus (Mont.), Jon Tester (Mont.), Tom Carper (Del.), Michael Bennet (Colo.), Robert Byrd (W.Va.), Byron Dorgan (N.D.), Tim Johnson (S.D.), Mary Landrieu (La.), Ben Nelson, (Neb.), Mark Pryor (Ark.), Blanche Lincoln (Ark.) and Arlen Specter (Pa.).
Quite a difference Specter’s defection made.
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