In their haste to ram through a ridiculous tax cut that benefits the rich, the Republican senate majority presented for debate the wrong bill.
What’s interesting is this: the bill they brought to the floor was an earlier version which would have allowed filibusters – the revised bill carries special language that would prevent such a thing, making it much easier for the Republicans to pass the bill.
Democrats, with glee, are forcing the Republicans to go though the whole process again to bring the correct bill to the floor, thus delaying the debate and pre-empting some of Bush’s tax-cut stumping around the country. It also brings to light the fact that they are preparing to increase the maximum debt ceiling of the federal government:
From Yahoo! News:
Republican aides lamented that the snag will make a long week even longer. They said lawmakers weren’t going to get much done Tuesday, anyway, since many senators plan to take time to attend the funeral of former Sen. Russell B. Long, D-La., once chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
Other Democrats said the confusion, though funny, unmasked the Republicans for taking advantage of Senate procedures to push through a large tax cut on a party-line vote the same week they plan to increase the nation’s debt limit by $1 trillion.
The special bill procedures protecting the tax cut from delay were invented to prevent lawmakers from passing bills that increased the federal deficit.
