The Senate Bails In

Here is an analysis of the U.S. Senate's roll call vote last night on a version of the financial bailout bill, that was somewhat different from the bill that was rejected by the U.S. House earlier this week.

The breakdown by party is as follows:

Democrats: Yes 39, No 9, Not Voting 1 (Kennedy)
Republicans: Yes 34, No 15
Independents: Yes 1, No 1

This is obviously different from the House vote, on which the majority of Republicans voted "no". But it's similar in the sense that the "no" votes were fairly evenly distributed between the parties (however, as in the House, there were more Republicans in opposition than Democrats).

The regional breakdown is:

Midwest: Yes 18, No 6
Northeast: Yes 16, No 1, Not Voting 1
South: Yes 21, No 11
West: Yes 19, No 7

The only "no" vote in the Northeast is Sen. Bernie Sanders, Independent of Vermont, the self-proclaimed socialist who caucuses with the Democrats. (So, I suppose the whole thing can't be socialist after all, huh?)

As I wrote about the House vote in an earlier post, regional interests largely trump party affiliation on an issue such as this, that affects the Northeast more directly than it affects other regions.

In each region, a majority voted in favor, although the South was the least enthusiastic part of the country. Most of the southern opposition was from Republicans.

There's no gender gap on this issue. 25% of the male senators voted "no", and 25% of the female senators did likewise.

Presidential candidates were 2-0 in favor. Among vice-presidential candidates, there was one "yes" vote, and governors have no vote in the Senate.

But, as with the House vote, there are serious differences among astrological signs. Aries and Gemini senators were unanimously in favor. Only among the Taurus caucus was there majority opposition.

And, in case you're extremely curious about this, and I certainly hope you're not, Obama is a Leo, McCain is a Virgo, and Biden is a Scorpio.