The more things change, the more they stay the same. Is there any end to this debauchery?
By now, we all know President Obama has received a bill that raises the debt ceiling through the mid-term elections. After all, we can’t have another fight like this when our politicians have better things to worry about. Such as winning another term. The House Republican leadership (I refuse to say House Republicans because some of them stayed the course and voted against this nonsense) capitulated earlier, voting to raise the debt ceiling and sending the bill to the Senate for approval. As seems to be the case much of the time, Senator Ted Cruz tried to stop the bill with a filibuster, but the Republican leadership in the Senate made sure that didn’t pan out. They needed five Republicans to vote to shut down the filibuster. In the end, 12 Republicans voted to end the debate and advance the bill. Rather than rehash it all myself, here is how it went down.
The Hill – Sixty votes were needed to overcome a filibuster by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who complained that Congress was raising the debt ceiling without demanding any curbs on Washington’s spending.
With the upper chamber’s Democrats and Independents all voting yes, Senate Republicans needed to muster five votes to overcome Cruz.
Yet during an hour of tense floor conversations, it appeared they might fail.
The vote started late, as Senate Republicans huddled behind closed doors. After meeting for roughly an hour in private, the conference still did not know whether it could conjure up the needed votes.
On the floor, the procedural vote ran on for another hour, with Republicans slow to offer support.
Cornyn and McConnell, who is the most vulnerable Senate Republican up for reelection in 2014, then voted to end the debate, making it clear the procedural motion would be approved.
After their dramatic votes, another group of Republicans met in a room off the Senate floor. They returned, and several switched their votes from no to yes.
Some members said they switched their votes to give cover to McConnell and Cornyn.
“I didn’t want this to come down to just be a criticized vote for just a few of our people. It just wasn’t right,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who fought off a primary challenger in 2012 and is serving his last term.
In the end, 12 Republicans voted to end debate in the 67-31 vote.
On final passage, the bill suspending the debt ceiling until March 15, 2015, was approved in a 55-43 vote, with every Republican voting no.
I guess we are supposed to be thankful to the Republicans who voted to end debate, but voted against passage of the final bill? Should we be glad we have them to stand in the gap in Washington? If they expect us to buy this nonsense, then they must believe we are more naive than I first believed. To prove my point, let me go back to what Senator Orrin Hatch had to say. He, along with several other Republicans who originally voted against advancing the bill, switched their votes at the last minute. His stated reason was to give political cover to Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn. Just out of curiosity, what is their real priority in Washington? Are they there to watch out for the interests of the people and the states, or did they win their seats in that esteemed body to provide political cover for their friends? That’s a question I would love to hear the answer to.
What does this debt ceiling increase do? It adds hundreds of billions of surplus spending to the already staggering debt of $17.2 trillion. It raises the debt ceiling until March of 2015, well past the mid-term elections. The Republicans who are soon to be embroiled in their elections to win another term can do so, without worrying about something as trivial as fighting with the liberal Democrats over raising the debt ceiling or out of control spending. All of this, with no strings attached. No spending cuts, no limits, no tax cuts, no sequester, nothing.
Makes me wonder why we even bother having these debates in the first place.
