Update [2005-7-28 17:58:7 by pontificator]: Note: You have to read all the way to the end to understand why Republican Representative Charles Taylor is singled out in the diary title.
Somebody tell me if I have this wrong (I'm at work and haven't been able to focus on this -- If I have it wrong, I'll delete).
If I understand JMM's post, the two absentee Republicans in the CAFTA vote actually voted "no," but their votes weren't counted by the clerk for some reason. Had their votes been counted properly, the vote would have tied 217-217, and CAFTA would have been defeated.
If this is true, this is one of the strangest things I have ever heard in my life, and could be a
MAJOR MAJOR scandal, especially considering the unprecedented level of arm-twisting performed by the Republican leadership.
Anyway, please tell me in comments if I have this right. If I'm wrong, I'll delete this diary.
Update [2005-7-28 17:20:12 by pontificator]: All right, the comments have persuaded me that only one anti-CAFTA vote was not counted, which means that the final vote should have been 217-216. The other Republican who didn't vote apparently has not been heard from. Also, If you read this discussion thread on TPM Cafe, it appears that the Repub leadership arm twisting was outrageously over-the-top, perhaps as bad as it was with the Medicaid Bill, if not worse. This is looking like it could be another major scandal.
Update [2005-7-28 17:48:28 by pontificator]: I'm a little slow sometimes, but now I figured out what happened. Repub Rep. Charles Taylor had his arm twisted by Hastert so that he wouldn't vote against CAFTA. Once Taylor saw, however, that CAFTA passed by two votes, not one, he decided to lie and say he really voted against it after all, since it wouldn't affect the outcome. What a disgusting, pathetic lying, weasel rat-bastard that guy must be to pull that shtick. If I lived in Taylor's district, I would be ashamed that I had such a cowardly pathetic little shrew for a representative.