The vote on cloture was not close. The motion passed by a vote of 69-31, meaning the end of debate on substantive amendments. There will be 30 more hours of debate, then a final vote in two days or so.

Make no mistake about it, today's vote was a cynical surrender to monied interests, and those who voted “Yea” hope nobody will remember come election time. If this bill ultimately passes--and it probably will--sick people will be squeezed, elderly people will lose their homes and military members will go from fighting in Iraq to fighting creditors at home. Oh, and violent anti-abortion protesters will be able to declare bankruptcy to avoid paying fines.

But campaign coffers will swell.

Speaking of which, the Credit Card Corps certainly earned their money today: Senators Tom Carper (D-Delaware), Joe Biden (D-Delaware), Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska) and Tim Johnson (D-South Dakota) all voted for cloture. Long-time fence-sitters Senators Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana) and Blanche Lincoln (D-Arkansas) also got in the act, as did someone we thought was a Consumer Champion: Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL).

Not a single Republican voted against cloture.

None of this means we're done fighting. Stay tuned.