A republican senator (Nighthorse) changed his vote to create this situation, but Kerry should have been there to prevent this from happening. "They are going into bankruptcy, defaulting on their mortgages, they aren't able to afford health insurance," said Cantwell. "Where are the priorities of my colleagues?" Jobless bill fails by 1 vote By Les Blumenthal Herald Washington, D.C., bureau WASHINGTON -- The Senate on Tuesday rejected by a single vote Sen. Maria Cantwell's amendment to provide extended federal unemployment benefits to 47,000 Washington workers and more than 1 million others nationwide. The vote came as the chamber moved toward passage of a $170 billion corporate tax bill that would benefit Boeing, Microsoft and other U.S. exporters and help defuse a mounting trade dispute with the European Union. Cantwell, D-Wash., sought to attach her amendment to the tax bill, but the Republican-controlled Senate rejected it on a 59-40 vote. The amendment required 60 votes to overcome objections it violated budget guidelines. "It's really disappointing," said Cantwell, who has repeatedly over the past several months sought to convince the Senate to extend the benefits. Cantwell said she ran into a Republican leadership that was determined to defeat her amendment. She said she hadn't decided what comes next. "It took a lot to get this vote, to get the momentum," she said. The only senator who missed the vote was Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, who was campaigning in Kentucky. But the decisive vote against the amendment was apparently cast by Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., who had earlier told Cantwell he supported extending federal unemployment benefits for an additional 13 weeks. During debate, Republicans insisted the additional benefits weren't needed because the economy was recovering, unemployment was down and 900,000 new jobs had been created since the first of the year. "The economy is strong, the recovery is real and no amount of political rhetoric can change that," said Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah. But Cantwell scolded her colleagues for backing corporate tax cuts while forgetting about American workers who have lost their jobs. Cantwell said the tax bill would provide $3 billion in tax credits for the oil and gas industry, $2.3 billion for the coal industry, $451 for bourbon distillers, $233 for cruise ship companies and $4 million for archery manufacturers. Nationwide, Cantwell said, more than 1.5 million workers had exhausted their unemployment benefits since December. "They are going into bankruptcy, defaulting on their mortgages, they aren't able to afford health insurance," said Cantwell. "Where are the priorities of my colleagues?" Link
It's not Kerry's fault the bill didn't pass, but that's a vote you gotta be there for. No excuse. I understand his campaign comes first, but you gotta do your job.
Since at least some Republicans had to have voted for the amendment, I don't understand the need to paint the entire delegation as monolithic.
No, but the entire opposition was composed of Republicans, and it was opposed by the Republican leadership, and it was Republicans doing the debating......etc.
You know these things to be true? Are there more Republicans in the Senate than I thought? Because according to Congressional Quarterly, there were 12 Republicans voting for the measure. If the opposition was all Republicans, that would make for 52 Republicans in the Senate. Since there are 48 Democrats and 1 Independent, I guess we added a Senator at some point. I haven't seen anything to say for certain that no Republicans spoke in favor of the measure.
OK, you got me. So what if Zell Miller ("Democrats for Bush") or some other senator voted against it? Everybody but him of those opposing the extension were Republican. Why didn't you just look up who voted for what in CQ and tell me who it was? Edit: it was Zell Miller after all...what a guy. You're splitting hairs here and trying to manufacture charge of media bias for some unknown reason. "During debate, Republicans.." is in no way an inaccurate statement, unless only one Republican spoke on this issue and opposed it, or unless Zell Miller did the talking. By your logic, the phrase "Democrats...." can almost never be used without a qualification either, as Zell Miller routinely crosses the fence. So, when it says "Senate Democrats condemn Rumsfield" would you understand if I whipped myself up into a frenzy and pointed out that it wasn't true because of Miller The fact remains that 40 out of 52 Republicans opposed the amendment, and the Republican leadership actively campaigned against it, and 46 Democrats out of 47 voted for it. (with the outlier being Mr. Miller) You don't have much to whine about here and seeem to be tilting at windmills; I don't think the RNC or Rush Limbaugh is going to go after the Tri-City herald for this one. .
Actually this might not have been a mistake by the Kerry campaign at all. Kerry might've knowingly stayed away because since the vote was likely to be defeated with overwhelming Republican support it bolsters his argument that the Admin. isn't doing much to help the unemployed. If it wins the Admin., even though initially opposing it could take credit for extending benefits. Unfortunately these type of cynical tactics aren't uncommon in an election year.
I don't think Kerry intentionally would have stayed away to hurt the Republicans, because it also hurts him. He was probably told that they had the votes, then NightHorsesArse (R) changed his vote at the last moment, prob. to harm Kerry... ... oh yeah, and a bunch of unemployed folks who simply got caught between Republicans and their hard spot.
What's funny is how people call Republicans "warmongers." Every war, declared or not, up until 1990 was all headed by a Democrat. I won't include senseless military commitments to the Balkans. WW I: Woody Wilson WW II: FDR Korea: Harry Truman Vietnam: LBJ Four extremely costly wars. Four democrats. Hmm.....darn that Bush; that self righteous Bible thumping war monger.
I don't care what previous republicans did. Bush is the f**k-up I'm talking about. He is a warmonger. For the safety of this world, Bush needs to go quickly.
Well it was the GOP president Ike, who actually sent the first troops into Viet Nam, but the rest are correct.
Come on folks... The reason the vote was close is because the Republicans wanted it to be. I guarantee that if Kerry had shown, a Republican vote would have switched to counter Kerry's vote. The vote count was aimed at Kerry only. Kerry was smart by staying away because by showing up he would set a precedent that would allow the GOP to screw with him during the whole time Congress is in session. Again, this was not a critical vote because even if you assume the Earth is flat and all the GOP votes were honest and arrived at from a careful consideration of the issue, there's no way this thing is passing Delay's House. If there's an issue that is critical and legitimately close, Kerry will be there for the vote, but the GOP will fight so that doesn't happen because they are not going to pursue anything that might backfire on them leading up to the election. This is Junior High politics at it's most banal.
I'm assuming you are advocating the election of Ralph Nader, if you are not, then let me remind you that John Forbes Kerry voted *FOR* the war in Iraq. GOOD DAY MATE
It just occured to me that some of you really think Kerry is going to win the election. I don't see it.
It just occured to me that some of you really think Bush is going to win the election. I don't see it.
