Jeff Fink wrote:
The dems control the house and senate. They don't need a single republican
vote to get anything they want!
That is not true. They have a small majority, and not much party
unity. There are many conservative Democrats who will vote with
Republicans on many issues. Many of them sided with the Republicans
today, against the bill.
If they had an overwhelming majority you would be correct.
If the bill went down in flames it is because some of their own
people thought it stank.
Obviously many Democrats thought it stank, but that is not the reason
it failed to pass. It is more because many Republicans thought it
stank. The vote was:
Democrats 140 Yea, 95 Nay
Republicans 65 Yea, 133 Nay
More to the point, this was Bush's initiative and his cabinet members
urging passage. Without the majority of his party supporting the
bill, there is no way it could pass. A controversial bill introduced
by a president must first gain his own party's support before the
opposition will join in. I have never heard of a bill passing with
only opposition support, and 2/3rds of the President's party in
opposition. That's dead on arrival -- no point in even voting.
The only reason they want republican votes is so they can pass some
of the blame when it doesn't work.
That stands to reason, doesn't it? Why on earth would the Democrats
risk losing the election to help Bush, in a bill that Republicans do
not support?!? They would have to be crazy to support this. I am
surprised 140 of them went for it.
- Jed
