Confronted with towering deficits in the wake of the Bush administration's profligate spending practices, Congressional Republicans are now claiming they are fiscal conservatives. This, of course, is contradicted by their committment to create tax cuts for the wealthy by borrowing from foreign governments and Caribbean banks. But here is more evidence of the Republican party's spendthrift practices. The Republican party is not interested in decreasing the federal deficit; they are interested in decreasing funding to social programs, and they are committed to creating impediments to the reconstruction of New Orleans and its environs. Evidence on the obverse side of the fold.
Today on the Senate floor, the Senate voted on Sen. Kent Conrad's (D-ND) admentment, which would reinstate the "pay as you go" rule. This is a very important peice of legislation, as the Senate is currently consdering a Deficit Reduction Omnibus Reconciliation that ostensibly corrects Bush's failed Budget proposed earlier this year. Cosponsors of Conrad's "pay as you go" amendment are:
Sen Nelson, Bill [FL] - 11/1/2005
Sen Feingold, Russell D. [WI] - 11/1/2005
Sen Obama, Barack [IL] - 11/1/2005
Sen Feinstein, Dianne [CA] - 11/1/2005
Sen Salazar, Ken [CO] - 11/1/2005
Sen Harkin, Tom [IA] - 11/1/2005
Sen Mikulski, Barbara A. [MD] - 11/2/2005
Sen Clinton, Hillary Rodham [NY] - 11/2/2005
Sen Biden, Joseph R., Jr. [DE] - 11/2/2005
Here we have a representative sample of the entire Demoratic party, everyone from moderate to progressive. The vote, however, failed on the Senate floor. Because Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), the Republican hawk who has made it nearly impossible for any Democrat to add an amendment to any bill due to "budgetary concerns," raised a Budgetary point of order, Conrad required 60 votes in order to pass this very simple and exigent peice of legislation. I have written on the exploitation of Budgetary point by Republicans in the past, calling it the New Republican filibuster. But for now I will provide the roll call on the "pay as you go" amendment. Notice only six Republicans voted in favor to waive the budgetary concern. And only one of these six are one of these new "fiscal conservatives;" the others are the regular moderates in the Republican party. Here is the roll call:
YEAs ---50
Akaka (D-HI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Carper (D-DE)
Chafee (R-RI)
Clinton (D-NY)
Coburn (R-OK)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Dayton (D-MN)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
McCain (R-AZ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Obama (D-IL)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)
Snowe (R-ME)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Wyden (D-OR)
NAYs ---49
Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Allen (R-VA)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burns (R-MT)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Cochran (R-MS)
Coleman (R-MN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
DeWine (R-OH)
Dole (R-NC)
Domenici (R-NM)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Frist (R-TN)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lott (R-MS)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
McConnell (R-KY)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Roberts (R-KS)
Santorum (R-PA)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Smith (R-OR)
Specter (R-PA)
Stevens (R-AK)
Sununu (R-NH)
Talent (R-MO)
Thomas (R-WY)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Warner (R-VA)
Not Voting - 1
Corzine (D-NJ)
True fiscal conservatism, it seems, is practiced by the Democratic party, not the Republican party who has created the largest federal deficit in United States history.