Thanks Dick

The Republican-controlled Senate passed legislation to cut federal deficits by $39.7 billion on Wednesday by the narrowest of margins, 51-50, with Vice President Dick Cheney casting the deciding vote. The measure imposes the first restraints in nearly a decade in federal benefit programs such as Medicaid, Medicare and student loans. On a separate, second vote Republicans maneuvered to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.