From TALKING POINTS MEMO:
By a vote of 71-26 this afternoon, the Senate ratified the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), exceeding the two-thirds majority required for passage.
The vote brings to an end a long, winding and at times hostile debate over the arms agreement, which enjoyed broad support among one-time GOP influence peddlers, but was held up for much of the lame-duck session by several Republican senators who raised a series of procedural and policy objections to the treaty.
Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl led the opposition, and at times appeared to have rounded up the 34 votes he would have needed to block START. Kyl made a name for himself in the GOP in 1999 when he shocked American and international diplomats and handily blocked President Clinton’s Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
This time, his efforts fell well short.
The New START continues the reduction of U.S. and Russian strategic arms and extends verification protocols, which have lapsed in recent months.
…snip…
[Kyl and other GOP Senators complained that START] shouldn’t be addressed by a lame duck Senate, when new (mostly Republican) members will be serving in the 112th Congress in a matter of days.
They also wanted to deny President Obama another in a series of unexpected lame-duck victories.
“When it’s all going to be said and done, Harry Reid has eaten our lunch,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Fox News Radio yesterday.
But over the course of the week — facing pressure from a slew of Republican former diplomats, national security leaders, and Sen. Dick Lugar (R-IN) — a slow, steady drip of GOP senators announced their commitment to supporting START.
…snip…
Yesterday, with the support of 67 members — enough to pass the treaty — the Senate broke Kyl’s filibuster, a clear sign that his efforts had failed.
And because Raisinettes love lists, here’s how the voting went (thanks C-SPAN!):
| YEAs —71 | ||
| Akaka (D-HI) Alexander (R-TN) Baucus (D-MT) Bayh (D-IN) Begich (D-AK) Bennet (D-CO) Bennett (R-UT) Bingaman (D-NM) Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH) Brown (R-MA) Cantwell (D-WA) Cardin (D-MD) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Cochran (R-MS) Collins (R-ME) Conrad (D-ND) Coons (D-DE) Corker (R-TN) Dodd (D-CT) Dorgan (D-ND) Durbin (D-IL) Feingold (D-WI) |
Feinstein (D-CA) Franken (D-MN) Gillibrand (D-NY) Gregg (R-NH) Hagan (D-NC) Harkin (D-IA) Inouye (D-HI) Isakson (R-GA) Johanns (R-NE) Johnson (D-SD) Kerry (D-MA) Klobuchar (D-MN) Kohl (D-WI) Landrieu (D-LA) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) Lieberman (ID-CT) Lincoln (D-AR) Lugar (R-IN) Manchin (D-WV) McCaskill (D-MO) Menendez (D-NJ) Merkley (D-OR) |
Mikulski (D-MD) Murkowski (R-AK) Murray (D-WA) Nelson (D-FL) Nelson (D-NE) Pryor (D-AR) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Rockefeller (D-WV) Sanders (I-VT) Schumer (D-NY) Shaheen (D-NH) Snowe (R-ME) Specter (D-PA) Stabenow (D-MI) Tester (D-MT) Udall (D-CO) Udall (D-NM) Voinovich (R-OH) Warner (D-VA) Webb (D-VA) Whitehouse (D-RI) Wyden (D-OR) |
| NAYs —26 | ||
| Barrasso (R-WY) Burr (R-NC) Chambliss (R-GA) Coburn (R-OK) Cornyn (R-TX) Crapo (R-ID) DeMint (R-SC) Ensign (R-NV) Enzi (R-WY) |
Graham (R-SC) Grassley (R-IA) Hatch (R-UT) Hutchison (R-TX) Inhofe (R-OK) Kirk (R-IL) Kyl (R-AZ) LeMieux (R-FL) McCain (R-AZ) |
McConnell (R-KY) Risch (R-ID) Roberts (R-KS) Sessions (R-AL) Shelby (R-AL) Thune (R-SD) Vitter (R-LA) Wicker (R-MS) |
| Not Voting – 3 | ||
| Bond (R-MO) | Brownback (R-KS) | Bunning (R-KY) |
HYSTERICAL RAISINS 
Eh, I just found 26 volunteers to go restore the Chernobyl installations.
*sigh* why did I check McCain…
OK, Nonnie, here I’m with you: no excuse for the 3 guys undecided about nuclear holocaust. I mean, if you can’t vote on that, maybe you shouldn’t leave your home.
brownback is whining that obama didn’t call him personally to get his support, but he would probably have voted against it anyway. i don’t know if he’s in d.c. or in kansas, preparing to be the new governor. as for beanball bunning, he’s just a mean old insane sonuvabitch. i don’t know what kit (what a girly name!) bond’s problem is, but he was never going to support the treaty. all three are retiring from the senate, so maybe they just doesn’t give a shit anymore. good riddance to all three.
AMEN.
hi sara! 🙂
“Brownback is whining that Obama didn’t call him personally to get his support”
I’m on my way to go slap him until both my arms fall on the ground.
i’ll pick up your arms when you’re done, dust them off, and put them back on. 🙂
Thanks for the list. Bennett & Alexander symbolize “the gone.” Snowe, Collins, & Lugar symbolize who the TP’ers want out. Oh I wonder what awaits in January.
I don’t give Brownback any of my time, so he can join Kyl the jackwagon in a joint cry.
you’re welcome, afa. i really wouldn’t be too surprised if some of the rethugs jump ship and become independents (if not democrats). maybe harry reid should send chuck schumer to schmooze them and see if they’d like to be in the majority, or at least become independents and be treated very well by the majority. it really wouldn’t surprise me very much. yertle mcconnell doesn’t seem to have things in control like he used to, so what does he have to offer the moderates, especially with the teabaggers coming in? it’s going to be interesting.
Agree … Mitch seems to be on a constant waffle in search of himself. Meanwhile, Bronzo is unexpectedly quiet … perhaps simply surveying the rough waters ahead within his own camp. A liberal friend of mine who lives in Boehner’s district thinks that pleasant surprises lie ahead. Oh yes … time will tell.
on a constant waffle with a constant wattle! 😆 sorry, i can’t help myself. i hadn’t thought of it before you said so, afa, but bronzo (thanks for calling him that, i’m still hoping it catches on) had been uncharacteristically quiet lately. maybe he’s playing golf while he can still locate his balls.
Hee, hee, hee. You made a pun. 😀
did you think it was punny? 🙂
Bronzo trying to find his own balls. Very easy to imagine, not especially pretty….but easy. 😆
he has a caddy for the right one–widdle ewic cantaw, and one for the left one–paul ryan. if either of them is busy, then kevin mccarthy fills in.
You and Jean-Philippe are killing me with mind scarring images of icky, old Republicans. I guess I started it this time. 😕
i sowwy. 😦
😀 It’s funny, even at my own expense. 😀
expense? the jokes are free! 😀
Hahahahahahahahaha! Kyl with the tiny name.
Where did you that pic of Kyl? Great work!
i looked at so many pics, and when i saw that one, i knew it was the one. it’s from 2007 (not that i’ve been waiting for 3 years, i just found it today).
Wow. I wondered if you’d photoshopped hands on his face. Picture perfect.
every once in a while the photoshop deities smile on me and give me a pic that’s already perfect.
I love it when Lindsey-poo whines.
Oh, and does he whine! He’s such a ninny.
ninny the poo! lindseypoo!!
I wish I’d thought of that. 🙂
i wish i hadn’t. i sprained my shoulder patting myself on the back after i thought of it. 😐
the rethugs are so out of touch with the average joe (plumber and non-plumber) that they don’t realize how out of touch they sound. lately, lindseypoo has been whining about everything, and he’s not doing himself any favors. i think he’ll be in real trouble when he’s up for reelection next time. i wonder if he’ll decide not to run.
Unless some think tank or foundation hands him a great big golden parachute, he’s going to run again. He probably believes his own press clippings and thinks the Tea Party will be less of a force in 2012.
if he thinks he’s in danger of being officially outed, he might want to just disappear from the public eye. i think he’s correct that the tea party will be less of a force, but not in iowa or south carolina or new hampshire. i think they’ll concentrate their resources there, and unfortunately for lindseypoo, he has to run in south carolina. the fundie force is strong there.
Well Kyl did just get the prestigious “Douchebag of the Year” award from DCap… so he continues to earn it.
They kept trying to call this a “lame duck session”…. it seem like the most productive time we’ve had w important legislation in the last 2 years. I don;t know if the Dems finally figured out they could work together, or they just wore down the party of no till they voted yes just do they could get outta there for X mas ?
Maybe we need more pre holiday pressure on things that should be obvious YEA votes… like taking care of 9-11 responders, civil rights, & putting the kabosh on nuclear arms proliferation.
This was a great set up… Hey party of NO how are you going to vote on supporting the 9-11 Heros?
Nukes?
Discrimination?
I got a kick out of them whining about having to work.
Awwwwwwwwwwww poor things!
when i have to go to the dmv or any other government agency, i always try to get there about 15 minutes before i know they close. during the day, you can stand on line for hours, but when it’s close to 5:00, they all want to go home, so they suddenly go into high gear.
i think jon stewart and some of the newscasters (even on faux! 😯 ) embarrassed the rethugs into voting for the 9/11 bill. i hope yertle mcconnell, jon kyl, and the rest of the shitheads who voted against dadt, the 9/11 bill, and START all have the xmas they deserve.–not coal in their stockings, but getting pelted with coal. they should all be required to work in soup kitchens.
A most interesting day. You could see the cracks begining big time yesterday when the fox underling called the shit on the responder issue and wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Then the 9/11 responders jamming Coburns office this morning. This stubborn tough guy doing gods work crap is going to bite them in the ass big time with the 112th in the sense of-what are you going to DO? The well to do have been accomidated (Harry Winston sales are up 42% this year) and now it’s time to do what you were elected to do: govern. Will they start that I don’t believe in government crap again? Will they drown it in the bathtub with a number of important issues that could cause serious harm to the country just left hanging and twisting in the wind. Want to offer some real economy for the fed budget, might try bringing the Army home. Declare victory and leave. Take a look at why we have US forces in 120 different countries. And consider laying up 2/3 of the carriers for a very obvious change that has recently come to pass (see article in recent “Proceedings”). I have known rational republicans in my lifetime and have worked with many on jobsites, but they ain’t the self serving right wing clowns running this show. DADT passes. START passes. 9/11 responder bill passes. Better call ’em in for lunch now, this crow is getting cold. What, no potato salad? (it’s stuck in commitee)
i’ll chip in for the potato salad. in fact, i’ll even bake them a humble pie for dessert!