Cheney Casts Winning Vote in Senate for Deficit Cuts

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WASHINGTON (AP) – The Republican-controlled Senate passed legislation to cut federal deficits by $39.7 billion on Wednesday by the narrowest of margins, 51-50, with Vice President Dick Cheney casting the deciding vote.


The measure, the product of a year’s labors by the White House and the GOP in Congress, imposes the first restraints in nearly a decade in federal benefit programs such as Medicaid, Medicare and student loans.


“This is the one vote you’ll have this year to reduce the rate of growth of the federal government,” said Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, in a final plea for passage.


But Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada countered that the GOP was advancing “an ideologically driven, extreme, radical budget. It caters to lobbyists and an elite group of ultraconservative ideologues here in Washington, all at the expense of middle class Americans,” he said.


The roll call delivered less than the final victory Republicans had hoped for.


In maneuvering in advance of the final vote, Democrats succeeded in forcing minor changes.


That requires the House to vote on the bill before it can be sent to President Bush for his signature. Passage is all but certain, but the timing remains in question, since most House members have returned home for the holidays.


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