Senators explain their “yes” and “no” votes

South Carolina’s U-S senators are explaining their votes in the process to re-open the government and avoid a financial default. Senator Lindsey Graham says he voted to support the Senate agreement, considering it as a stop to the bleeding and a chance to re-group. “To say we as Republicans left a lot on the table would be one of the biggest understatements in American political history. We could have done much, much better,” Graham said in a statement from Washington. Graham’s counterpart, Republican Tim Scott, voted no on the bill to raise the debt ceiling. Scott said, “Ending the government shutdown is a good thing; however, raising the debt ceiling with absolutely zero offsetting reductions in spending is the poster child for the lack of fiscal foresight that is common place in Washington. There is a process in place for establishing a budget and appropriating dollars each year, and unfortunately that framework has simply been ignored for years now,” he said.