So I took it upon myself to go through all 42 votes over the last few days in the Republicans last ditch effort to kill the HCR bill and see how Blanche Lincoln voted. What I found was not really much of a surprise. She was among the few Democrats that voted with the obstructionists the most. No Democrat came within a candle of Senator Nelson voting with the Republicans but she was up there.
While I do not have full numbers of all the Democrats that voted with the Republicans I was watching the other night and the two senators that seemed to vote the most with the obstructionists were Lincoln of Arkansas and Nelson of Nebraska.
Most appalling out of all this for this Arkansas Democrat is that out of the three Democrats that voted against HCR TWO were from Arkansas (the other is Mark Pryor (son of David Pryor, I will now be supporting someone else for his seat when his election comes up, unless he changes course and actually acts on behalf of Arkansans from this point out).
This is why it is so important to not only vote for Bill Halter but donate to his campaign.
While watching the coverage of every amendment the other night I could not help but notice that on almost single vote Senator Lincoln would wait until close to the end of the voting then slowly make her way to the floor stand at the front for a few minutes and then finally vote. I really could not tell you if she was trying to be dramatic about the whole thing or if that is how she does it. I do not know, and I really do not care to find out either.
The bottom line is that even though she did vote with the Democrats on 67% in tabling the bills, that still leaves 33% of the time that she voted with the Republicans. The number climbs to 40% when the attempt was to wave. I could not figure out how to get my table from excel to load up or even look good on here so the basic numbers are that out of the 42 total bills (amendments and the final bill) she voted 28 times with Democrats and 14 with Republicans. On the 10 motions to wave she voted 6 times with Democrats and 4 with Republicans.
One little note on Ben Nelson. I lived in Nebraska for about eight years before returning to Arkansas. I met him as I lived in his home town of McCook. I even worked for him (sort of) when I worked at the Nelson Institute. I voted for him and I have regretted that vote ever since. He mostly voted with Republicans and George W. Bush and has kept that up since Obama took office. I met with him one time after taking the job at the Nelson Institute and was struck how in the hour we spent with him that day he talked for 30 minutes about hunting prairie dogs. I have stated for most of his term that he needs to switch parties. I do not ever see him doing that as he is actually the most liberal politician in the state, and that is saying something.
In the end she voted against the HCR bill. Bill Halter has said that he would have voted for HCR and I am more than willing to give him that chance to prove that he will vote in the best interests of Arkansans and not on behalf of the insurance lobby as Senator Lincoln continues to do.
She continues to throw Arkansas Democrats under the bus with every single action she does or votes on. She is even running as an "independent voice for Arkansas". This comes from her own website. Of course I have one major question as she PROUDLY states that she voted against the Public Option because "It would have exposed taxpayers to all the risk", what risk is she even referring to with that quote. She naturally does not state that she FOR the public option before she was against it (all on the same day mind you.
I also have to wonder how long the Arkansas State Democrats will continue to take her abuse as she is now claiming to be an independent before they finally throw their support for the true Arkansas Democrat running in this race, Bill Halter.
The only truly strong Republican in this race is current District 3 Representative John Boozman (unfortunately he represents my district), the rest are all well for this Arkansan, oddballs and nutcases, including Curtis Coleman who is still demanding that President Obama provide his birth certificate (despite the fact he has). I should also note that a quick view of his website shows that the only polls he even mention is Rasmussen, for some reason not a single DailyKos poll is listed, strange huh?
Halter is gaining on Lincoln, thanks to the DailyKos society and other websites around the country. Keep the support up and help us let Senator Lincoln that voting the way the insurance companies want you to vote is not acceptable to not only Arkansas Democrats but to all Democrats.
This year is an important election for this country. Let the Republicans run on their Repeal, Replace rhetoric. Come November let us let Republicans know that all of us support the President and the Democrats in their efforts to make our lives just a little bit simpler.