Following the passage of the Crominbus on Thursday night in a last minute "nailbiter" when the Federal spending bill got just one vote more than the required majority, it was off to the Senate. And late last night, proving that the Senate can work on weekends when a piece of Citigroup-penned legislation is on the table, in a 56-40 vote (21 democrats, 18 republicans, 1 independent voting No), the Senate joined the House in voting itself $1.1 trillion for the next 9 months, with the bill now heading for the final signature: Obama's. There is some argument whether the executive will join the legislative in confirming the US government is now (and always has been) merely a pupet of Wall Street, although we expect all it will take Jamie Dimon is just one more phone call [10]of "encouragement" to Obama to make sure Wall Street's will is done in the White House.
Regardless, here is a roll coll of those 40 Senators who voted "No" - as CBS' Mark Knoller points out [11]: "interesting combination of Dems and GOPs voting against the bill. Franken, Warren, McCain, Cruz, Klobuchar et al." As we showed yesterday when it became clear that Republicans and especially Democrats voting for the Crominibus and its swaps pushout provision had received far greater bribes money from Wall Street [12]than their "No" voting peers, one can predict with laser-like accuracy that the same story will hold in the Senate, and that Senators voting for the Cromnibus will have received substantially greater "lobby" funds from Wall Street than "Nay"-sayers.
Senators voting No on final passage: 40
21 Democrats and 1 Independent voted against the Omnibus.
18 Republicans voted against the Omnibus.
Voting No: (40)
BLUMENTHAL, D-CT
BOOKER, D-NJ
BOXER, D-CA
BROWN, D-OH
CANTWELL, D-WA
CORKER, R-TN
CRAPO, R-ID
CRUZ, R-TX
FLAKE, R-AZ
FRANKEN, D-MN
GILLIBRAND, D-NY
GRASSLEY, R-IA
HARKIN, D-IA
HELLER, R-NV
HIRONO, D-HI
RON JOHNSON, R-WI
KLOBUCHAR, D-MN
LEE, R-UT
LEVIN, D-MI
MANCHIN, D-WVA
MARKEY, D-MA
MCCAIN, R-AZ
MCCASKILL, D-MO
MENENDEZ, D-NJ
MERKLEY, D-OR
MORAN, R-KS
PAUL, R-KY
PORTMAN, R-OH
REED, D-RI
RISCH, R-ID
RUBIO, R-FL
SANDERS, I-VT
SCOTT, R-SC
SESSIONS, R-AL
SHELBY, R-AL
TESTER, D-MT
VITTER, R-LA
WARREN, D-MA
WHITEHOUSE, D-RI
WYDEN, D-OR
Not Voting: (4)
Chambliss, R-GA
Coburn, R-OK
Feinstein, D-CA
Inhofe, R-OK
* * *
So, in addition to the now infamous Derivatives provision, what else does the Spending Bill contain? Here courtesy of The Hill [13]is a breakdown of its main spending components:
The bill includes language repealing part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law that will allow banks covered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to directly engage in derivatives trading. This set off the biggest political storm for the legislation, as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) led a liberal insurrection against the White House, which decided not to fight Republicans over the measure.
Wall Street lobbied for the change, and the bill will be sent to Obama with the language in it.
Campaign finance
The bill also raises the limits on what people can give to political committees each year, greatly increasing the money wealthy people can donate. The provision would allow a wealthy donor to contribute a total of more than $1.55 million to a national party.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) lambasted the change in a floor speech in which she broke with the White House over the bill.
DC marijuana
The bill prevents Washington, D.C., from implementing a new referendum that legalizes recreational use of marijuana.
D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton complained that it was another example of Congress stepping on local rule, but she won few allies for her position in Congress.
Sage grouse
The bill would prevent the government for one year from listing the sage grouse as an endangered species in an effort to protect oil-drilling projects.
School lunches
The legislation relaxes school nutrition standards championed by first lady Michelle Obama.
One change would allow schools the flexibility to implement whole grain nutrition standards, while another prevents new standards to reduce sodium from taking effect until additional scientific studies are conducted.
The White House said it could live with the changes.
Pensions
The bill permits trustees of underfunded pension plans to adjust benefits, saving troubled plans without a federal bailout.
But the language crafted by House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-Minn.) and ranking member George Miller (D-Calif.) could lead to cuts in the pensions of people covered by the plans.
ISIS
In a victory for the White House, the bill contains $64 billion for the Pentagon to use for its overseas contingy operations, including the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
It allocates $5 billion from that fund for the administration to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria — slightly less than what the White House had requested.
Ebola
The bill meets another administration demand by including $5.4 billion in emergency funding to fight Ebola. While that’s not as much as the $6.2 billion requested by the White House, the inclusion of the funds bolstered Obama’s support for the measure.
Body cameras
The bill doesn’t contain funding for body cameras for police, which Obama had requested after the outcry over police killings of two black men, and grand jury decisions not to indict the officers involved. The spending package does provide funding for other related community policing programs.
The bill also doesn’t include funding for high-speed rail, for the Obama administration’s “Race to the Top” education program and for the International Monetary Fund.
