After days of digging in their heels against the tax-compromise agreement between Republican leaders and the White House, the vast majority of Democrats in the Senate voted to pass it today. The vote for the $858 billion bill passed 81 in favor to 19 against, with thirteen Democrats holding their ground against it, as well as five Republicans, and Independent Bernie Sanders. It will continue the Bush-era tax cuts for another two years, as well as extend unemployment benefits for the longtime jobless, and provide a one-year payroll tax holiday. The entire cost will be added to the federal deficit. The bill will next go to the House, where it’s expected to be addressed tomorrow and passed by the end of the week. “Whether you agree with all the contents of the bill or not, everyone should understand this is one of the major accomplishments of any Congress where two parties, ideologically divided, have agreed on a major issue for the American people,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who called it a “tremendous accomplishment.” The Times perhaps put it better in the lede of their straight news story, in which they couldn’t resist calling the vote an “acid compromise.”
