The Senate is voting on moving forward on HR 2847, which is the shell for the Senate’s jobs bill. Without Sen. Lautenberg, who is ill, on the floor today, Democrats would need at least two GOP votes to move forward to consideration of the $15 billion dollar jobs bill, which right now includes four provisions that Republicans either wrote, co-wrote, or co-sponsored in the recent past. In his speech before the vote, Harry Reid insisted that there would be other job creation bills in the future as part of the “jobs agenda” throughout the year in the Senate. He invited Republicans to join in the business of governing, saying, “My friends on the other side of the aisle share this responsibility. When I had 60 votes, all the responsibility was mine. It’s no longer that way. We’re down to 59.”

It’s geniunely unclear whether or not this cloture vote will pass. We’ll keep you posted.

…Scott Brown just voted yes on advancing the jobs bill. So far he’s the only Republican to flip. Can’t wait for the Tea Party blast faxes of betrayal.

…Susan Collins just voted aye, and she wrote that letter urging Reid to reconsider taking away all the tax breaks in the Baucus-Grassley bill. Provided no Democratic defections, this will pass today.

…Snowe and Voinovich just voted aye as well. In the end this will pass with a little breathing room.

…Here’s Scott Brown’s statement on voting yes on his first mildly significant piece of legislation in the Senate:

I came to Washington to be an independent voice, to put politics aside, and to do everything in my power to help create jobs for Massachusetts families. This Senate jobs bill is not perfect. I wish the tax cuts were deeper and broader, but I voted for it because it contains measures that will help put people back to work.

I was disappointed with the continuation of politics-as-usual in the drafting of this bill, as it was crafted behind closed doors, without transparency and accountability. I hope for improvements in that process going forward. All of us, Republicans and Democrats, have to work together to get our economy back on track. I hope my vote today is a strong step toward restoring bipartisanship in Washington.

Clearly, the tea party patriots supported his run in Massachusetts to restore bipartisanship in Washington.

…Ben Nelson votes no, he’s the only Dem defection at this point. He showed that whippersnapper Scott Brown a thing or two about bipartisanship!

…Today’s vote shows that even the most inconsequential of bills – say, $15 billion dollars to fill a $1 trillion dollar demand shortfall – can find 60 votes. Therefore, the lesson learned is that the Senate must do as little as humanly possible to be productive and vital now and forever. The Cuteness of Puppies Act should definitely hit the floor next.

…Some fun facts while we wait for the final tally: Orrin Hatch co-authored the centerpiece of this micro-bill, the job creation tax credit. He voted against bringing it to the floor. Chuck Grassley co-authored all the pieces in the bill and has expressed in particular support for the provision allowing small businesses to write off capital expenditures. He voted against cloture. Roger Wicker (R-MS) co-sponsored the Build America Bonds Act that this legislation extends. He voted no. John Thune and David Vitter also co-sponsored that in the past. No and no. Sens. Alexander, Crapo, Barrasso, Inhofe, Bond and Vitter all supported extending the Highway Trust Fund, the fourth element of the bill, in committee. They all voted no.

…OK, this was hilarious. There was a long, long wait on this bill, with just a few Senators who were capable to vote left: Blanche Lincoln, Kit Bond and Mark Pryor. Obviously Bond was waiting forever to force Lincoln and Pryor into carrying the vote. Pryor wasn’t around initially, so it looked like Lincoln was the only one left to be the deciding 60th vote. She clearly didn’t want to vote for it and was trying to wait it out until Pryor got there. But she couldn’t any longer, and finally signaled an Aye vote. At that moment, Kit Bond immediately added an Aye vote, and Pryor showed up a couple minutes later to vote Aye. The final vote was 62-30. It looked like Lincoln shot a look to her colleagues after voting.