The Washington Post reports here:
Five Senate Republicans also rejected the measure, including tea party favorites Rand Paul (Ky.), Mike Lee (Utah) and Marco Rubio (Fla.), a potential contender for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. But 40 others voted for it, including such GOP leaders on tax-and-spending policy as Sen. Patrick J. Toomey (Pa.) and Ronald H. Johnson (Wis.), a tea party star who frequently consults with conservatives in the House.
Key features of the legislation are attractive to conservatives, as noted in the story:
- The payroll tax cut expires, a recklessly irresponsible diminution of Social Security to welfare.
- Obama's pay raise for federal workers is eliminated.
- Estate tax exemption limits remain as they were and get indexed to inflation.
- The Bush tax rates, except for the top 0.3%, are made permanent for everyone.
- It's a Pyrrhic victory for Obama because instead of $4.5 trillion in new revenue, he gets $0.6 trillion.
