Is it all about getting reelected? I can see absolutely no reason for any Senator, let alone a Democrat, to vote for the recently enacted Military Commission Act. My post yesterday was all about this dangerous legislation. Today I am writing a follow-up with criticism of all Democratic Senators who voted for the bill.
Regarding the Military Commission Act of 2006 - If all Democratic Senators had voted against the bill it would not have passed so handily. The vote would have been 53 for and 47 against. Therefore, it looks like 7 of the 12 senators saw the bill would pass anyway and voted in the interest of reelection as "tough on terrorists." Bad, bad! Quoting from the LA Times,
Both chambers of Congress approved the legislation last month in votes largely along party lines.Democratic Senators voting for the bill, according to Kathy Gill at About.com include:
In the House, 34 Democrats joined 219 Republicans in voting for the bill; 160 Democrats, seven Republicans and one independent voted against it.
In the Senate, 12 Democrats joined 53 Republicans in voting for it; one independent and one Republican joined 32 Democrats in voting against it.
Senate Vote - 28 SeptemberThe 7 dwarfs - tough or merely pragmatic? Senators elected in 2000 are up for reelection this November. This includes over half of the above list: Joe Lieberman, Tom Carper, Bill Nelson, Frank Lautenberg, Ben Nelson, Robert Menendez, and Debbie Stabenow. I wonder what excuse Johnson, Landrieu, Pryor, Rockefeller and Salazar have for their support of this bill.
On a 65-34 vote, with 12 Democrats joining, the Senate passed S 3930 Thursday night after 10 hours of debate. The bill is identical to the House version passed earlier, meaning no conference committee parley will be needed.
Democrats in favor (12) - Carper (DE), Johnson (SD), Landrieu (LA), Lautenberg (NJ), Lieberman (CT), Menendez (NJ), Nelson (FK), Nelson (NE), Pryor (AR), Rockefeller (WV), Salazar (CO), Stabenow (MI).
Other senators up for reelection did not vote for this terrible bill. Are they all in safe seats? I am not sure, but "Kudos" to them anyway! They include: Dianne Feinstein, Daniel Akaka, Ted Kennedy, Jeff Bingaman, Kent Conrad, Robert Byrd, Herb Kohl, Hillary Clinton, and Maria Cantwell.
Tags: bush war 2006 news and politics politics senate democrats election civil liberties
My "creative post" today at Southwest Blogger is about zoos .
2 comments:
liebermanesque democrats i call dinos- democrats in name only. not original to me- i think i picked it up at huffpo- or somewhere like that. these folks do not realize that we are not playing politics as usual here. there is no compromise with authoritarians. they will chew you up and spit you out as soon as look at you. these morons apparently don't realize this. if they think that they are going to get re-elected in their home states based on siding with republicans on anything- they should get new campaign managers. ridiculous and shameful. the house i can see. that legislative body needs a major ethics overhaul from the top down. the senate is usually a bit more pragmatic. disgusts me is what it does. the supremes are not a sure bet- so i have anxious? hope that this crime against america and humanity will be overturned.
"B," your comments always start me to thinking new thoughts. (I am finally getting back to this one to respond, btw. Sorry for the tardiness).
My thought is that I will write a post soon on "Congress-watching." It is the least favored by the public of our national institutions, and perhaps I can set out some ideas for seeing any positives there.
Take heart, 11/7 is coming.
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