The Senate dealt a devastating blow to President George W. Bush's tax cut package yesterday. In a vote of 53 to 47, the Senate approved a Democratic amendment that would trim $448 billion from Bush's proposed $1.6 trillion tax cut, redirecting the funds toward education spending and debt reduction.
This latest development comes on the heels of Tuesday's landmark tie-breaking vote by Vice President Dick Cheney which helped fellow Senate Republicans block another Democratic proposal geared toward watering down the controversial tax plan.
The defeated bill aimed to reduce the tax cut by $158 billion over the next 10 years. The money saved would have gone toward Medicare, serving as an addition to the $153 billion prescription drug package outlined in the President's budget proposal.
Cheney's vote may prove an ominous indicator of future votes in the Senate. With the chamber split evenly between Democrats and Republicans, Cheney may be forced to exercise his responsibility of breaking Senate deadlocks more than any other Vice President in history, further heightening tensions amongst partisans.
On Monday, however, the Senate did manage to pass a long-debated resolution without Cheney's help. The McCain-Feingold bill -- legislation designed to overhaul current campaign finance law -- received the support of 59 Senators, including 47 Democrats and 12 Republicans.
The bill strives to reform and "clean up" the way candidates raise campaign funds by banning large, unrestricted contributions to political parties -- known as soft money -- while raising caps on individual donations.
The bill's passage comes as a particular triumph for Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., who -- along with Senator Russell Feingold, D-Wisc. -- began the crusade for campaign finance reform six years ago and focused heavily on the issue during his failed bid for the presidency last year.
A recent review of over 64,000 so-called "undercounted" Florida ballots by two newspapers may add legitimacy to the presidency of McCain's former rival. The Miami Herald and USA Today reported yesterday that Bush's minuscule margin of 537 votes would have increased to 1,655 had the counting standards advocated by former Vice President Al Gore's campaign been implemented.
