The vote was 49/47. They wanted no debate when they were in control, and they still want no debate, and are managing to control the Senate.

Not Voting - 4
Johnson (D-SD)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)

A long-awaited Senate showdown on the war in Iraq was slammed shut before it even started last night when a nearly united Republican front voted to stop the Senate from debating a resolution opposing President Bush’s plan to send 21,500 additional combat troops into battle.

A day of posturing, finger pointing and backroom wrangling came to nothing when Democratic and Republican leaders failed to reach agreement on which resolutions would come to a vote and which would be subject to a filibuster. Republicans insisted that the impasse soon would be broken, but after Democrats came up 11 votes short of the 60 needed to break the filibuster, a solution was nowhere in evidence.

“It is clear their actions are not driven by getting votes on Republican proposals. They are driven by a desire to provide political cover for President Bush,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said. “They can’t rubber’stamp the president’s policies in Iraq any more, so they’ve decided to stamp out debate and let the president’s escalation plan proceed unchecked.”

Read more at the Washington Post