89-8!
It is sad that it took this long to avert what would be a slight inconvenience for some and a catastrophe for many others but tonight the Senate passed by an overwhelming majority a compromise made possible by our Vice President, Joe Biden:
(CNN) -- Senate leaders and the White House struck a last-minute deal to avert the feared fiscal cliff Monday night, with Vice President Joe Biden headed to the Capitol Hill to pitch the plan to fellow Democrats.
"Happy New Year," Biden, who became the Democratic point man in the talks, told reporters. "Did you think we would be here New Year's Eve?"
I know that many here are disappointed in this compromise but I wanted to recognize the great job done by our Vice President in reaching a compromise that seemed impossible for pretty much the last 4 years. In a body where there are extreme differences of opinion and political philosophy, achieving such an overwhelming consensus is quite an
accomplishment.
In the end, it came down to two 70-year-old men, talking on the phone.
They are not the most powerful men in Washington: Each, in his own way, is a second fiddle. Joseph R. Biden Jr. is vice president. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is the Senate minority leader, in charge only of the senators who are not in charge. But these two men — rivals, colleagues and wary friends for almost 28 years — were the ones who finally struck a deal to end the "fiscal cliff" crisis.
The New Year's Eve agreement between Biden and McConnell provided a glimpse at the ways that personality quirks and one-to-one relationships can still change the course of Washington politics. On the Hill's most dramatic night in 16 months, these things seemed to matter far more than raw power.
As one of the many citizen's who would have lost a lot of sleep had nothing been passed, myself and many others owe Vice President Biden an sincere thank you for making 2013 a lot better than it seemed it would be 24 hours ago