North Carolina Republican Sen. Richard Burr was one of 10 Republican senators who cast no vote on in the two Bush tax cut extension votes Saturday. Democrats failed to get the needed 60 votes on either measure to break the Republican filibuster, and maybe these Republican knew it and flew home early, but nothing was guaranteed:
The final results for the two votes — one to extend the Bush tax cuts for all but individuals making more than $200,000 per year and couples making more than $250,000, and the other to extend the cuts to everyone making less than $1,000,000 — were 53 to 36 and 53 to 37, respectively.
In each case, every Democratic senator voted, including the five, and then six, who voted with Republicans. But in one case, ten Republicans didn’t bother to vote, and in the other 11 Republicans didn’t vote. Here are the 11: Bunning, Burr, Chambliss, Cornyn, Gregg, Hutchison, Inhofe, Isakson, Sessions, Vitter, and Voinovich.
All the Democrats, even the ones voting with Republicans, managed to vote on each measure.
