As expected, and after a delay necessitated by the late arrival of Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, the Senate granted final approval to President Obama’s “stimulus” bill late last night:
WASHINGTON — Congress on Friday approved a $787 billion economic stimulus measure, meeting the crushing mid-February deadline that Democrats had set for adopting the centerpiece of President Obama’s early agenda but without quelling partisan divisions in Washington. Not a single House Republican voted for the bill.
The House vote was 246 to 183, with just 7 Democrats joining all 176 Republicans in opposition. In the Senate, the vote, 60 to 38, was similarly partisan. Only 3 centrist Republicans joined 55 Democrats and 2 independents in favor.
The Senate finally adopted the bill at 10:47 p.m. after what appeared to be the longest Congressional vote in history. The peculiar 5-hour 17-minute process was required because Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, had to return to Washington from his home state after attending a funeral home visitation for his mother, who died Feb. 2.
Under a procedural deal between the parties, the bill needed 60 votes to pass. The vote began at 5:30 p.m., but from 7:07 p.m., when Senator Evan Bayh, Democrat of Indiana, cast his “aye,” the tally hung at 59 to 38, until Mr. Brown arrived.
Mr. Obama is expected to sign the bill on Monday.
And so, that is that.
Now, the economic crisis belongs entirely to Barack Obama and the Democrats.
Let’s see what they make of it.
[...] the $ 8 trillion that had been spent and/or “created” from September through December, Obama’s $ 787 “stimulus” bill, and the $ 410 billion omnibus budget, and we’re talking about $ 11 trillion of money/debt [...]