Good old fashioned vote-a-rama as senators work on FY 2009 budget resolution

Vote-a-rama: A day of roll call votes on end

[22:46]
Senators are still churning through a seemingly endless supply of roll call votes on amendments impacting the Senate's FY 2009 budget. Many votes have addressed tax policy, such as the current vote on a Landrieu estate tax amendment.

Although the Senate's budget resolution is not binding on eventual appropriations bills, it sets out a blueprint that the senators try to follow as they decide how to spend in the upcoming fiscal year.

Moments ago, a DeMint amendment imposing a 1-year moratorium on earmarks fell 29-71, losing senators on both sides of the aisle. Interestingly, the presidential candidates all supported the measure. Clinton, McCain, and Obama have all been in the chamber for today's marathon vote-a-rama.

Senators vote on oil drilling amendment

[15:14]
Lamar Alexander (TN) has introduced an amendment that would alter the nation's energy policy in a couple of ways. One, it would lift a moratorium on oil drilling in the continental shelf off the coast of Virginia. Currently, the moratorium bans oil drilling on the continental shelves off of both the east and west coasts. Bill Nelson (FL) opposed the amendment on this basis alone, saying it was like the camel sticking his nose under the tent. Nelson does not want more drilling closer to the coast of Florida and says that Virginia would be just the first step.

Second, the amendment lifts a moratorium on proceeding with efforts to reap oil from the oil shales in Utah and Colorado. Apparently, there is a moratorium on such work as of this past winter, when the ban was slipped into a new appropriations bill. Pete Domenici (NM) said that the ban was slipped in under the cover of darkness (in the conference report?) and that it was unfair to ban efforts to get oil out of the oil shales in these states. He supports the amendment.

Votes seem to be along party lines, a simple majority needed for passage. The Dems should be able to block it. It falls 47 to 51.

Cheney, present earlier, is not around to break 50/50 tie on Kyl estate tax amendment

[13:36]
First a Salazar amendment that would have lowered the estate tax but paid for itself. Now a great deal of confusion as senators vote on a Kyl amendment that sets the max estate tax rate at 35%. The vote on the Salazar amendment got 38 votes in favor.

Several senators voted late, after time had expired, after the president pro temp asked for the votes to be tallied. But then a Dodd no, a Biden no. Kyl quite peeved because his amendment falls 50, 50. Where was Cheney to break this tie? Cheney was in the house earlier.

Reid rises to say that on close votes it is Senate practice to allow everyone to vote, even if the senator is running late. So Kyl comes back and says, Well Cornyn wasn't allowed to vote earlier and the vote turned out to be a tied vote so let's have a re-vote on that amendment.

Reid isn't biting, though. He says, No one said that Cornyn was running late. No one asked us to wait for him. He was late and that's too bad.

Oh, man. This is something else. Definitely some late votes came in on this Kyl estate tax amendment that fell 50 to 50 (and Cheney missed the tiebreaker). The late votes changed the outcome of the vote, e.g. 50 ayes to 49 nays is enough to pass an amendment. Striking the late Dodd and Biden votes would have resulted in passage of the amendment, 50 to 48.

Passage would have added to the Senate's non-binding FY 2009 budget blueprint provisions capping the estate tax at 35% and setting at $5m the exemption for estates left to spouses.

Senators fail to take step toward repealing the AMT permanently

[13:04]
Vice-president a.k.a. president of the Senate Dick Cheney just read the result of a 49 to 51 vote narrowly defeating a Specter amendment to the Senate's FY 2009 budget resolution that would have made permanent a repeal of the alternative minimum tax. That's right, 49 to 51, all senators voting including McCain (aye), Obama (nay), and Clinton (nay). A very close vote, all senators voting, Cheney there in the event of a tie. But the amendment falls, almost along party lines except that George Voinovich (OH) voting nay with the Dems and Indiana's Even Bayh voting aye with Republicans.

This is what Judd Gregg (NH) had to say about the amendment on March 12:

"Essentially, this amendment would repeal the AMT permanently, as it relates to middle-income Americans. It is currently wrong that we have this tax. It was never intended to be a tax that would cover 20 million Americans. It was supposed to hit high-income individuals who were avoiding taxes, using legal tax vehicles but basically avoiding paying any income tax. It has turned into a monster where literally 20 million Americans would be subject to the tax unless it is adjusted.

This budget presumes that it will be abated for this year. There is no reason to keep these revenues in the baseline because we know we will do this again next year and the year after that. It is time to correct this permanently and stop having these illusory revenues, which we turn around and spend, and it creates inappropriate expectations and leads to less fiscal discipline here.

This is an attempt to address the issue by essentially repealing the AMT and addressing the fact that if we don't do this, 20 million Americans will be hit with this tax, and that was never the intention of the Federal Government, to get revenues from them. It is wrong to have it on the books."

This budget resolution is non-binding but it nonetheless lays out an important budget framework for the senators to follow as they put together a federal budget.