Senate poised to pass debt deal despite criticism from lef

Senate poised to pass debt deal despite criticism from left, right


By Alexander Bolton - 08/02/11 11:41 AM ET

The Senate will vote at noon Tuesday to approve a bipartisan deal to raise the debt limit by at least $2.1 trillion and send it President Obama before the 11:59 p.m. deadline.

The deal is expected to attract strong support from mainstream senators on both sides of the aisle while the chamber's most liberal and conservative members will vote no.

It passed the House easily Monday evening by a vote of 269 to 161.

Wall Street, however, did not seem impressed by the deficit-reduction package as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by three-quarters of a percent and the S & P 500 fell by a percent on Tuesday morning.

Senators from both parties lined up to praise and criticize the agreement.

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) said the agreement would pass in an overwhelming vote and allow Congress to “turn our attention back to the economy and creating jobs which we so desperately need to bring us out of this recession that has been lingering too long.â€