The Senate has voted to reject the Republican budget plan approved by the House last month. Drafted by Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, the bill calls for gutting Medicare and Medicaid programs serving the elderly and the poor, while granting tax cuts to top-earning individuals and corporations. Five Republicans joined with Democrats for a vote of 57 to 40. The vote comes a day after Republicans lost a special congressional election in a traditionally right-leaning New York district in what many called a referendum on the budget proposal.