Yeah, holding a vote in the middle of the night is crazy! And it makes no sense! And it's anti-American! And … and … and it's exactly what Republicans did when they were in charge.
Medicare Part D anyone?
[W]hen the legislation came up for its final vote on Nov. 22, 2003, it was failing by 216 to 218 when the standard 15-minute time allowed for voting came to an end.
What followed was one of the most extraordinary events in congressional history. The vote was kept open for almost three hours while the House Republican leadership brought massive pressure to bear on the handful of principled Republicans who had the nerve to put country ahead of party. The leadership even froze the C-SPAN cameras so that no one outside the House chamber could see what was going on.
As The Hill's Bob Cusack reported:
Never before had a roll call been left open so long. When Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) announced the 15-minute vote (the normal length of time provided for most House votes), at 3 a.m., yawning lawmakers were hoping to be in bed within the hour.
A vote announced at 3 AM? Why, that's crazy!
But it got crazier still:
Democrats were up between 15 to 20 votes in the first 10 minutes. At the 15-minute mark, the tally was 194 for, 209 against.
With most eyes focused on the changing vote count, some Republicans were looking to get out of sight. GOP leaders had set up “door men” around the exits of the floor to make sure that Republican no votes would be around until the end...
Between 3:15 and 3:27 a.m., a handful of reluctant Republicans voted yes, as did some Democrats who had been asked to register their support late. The margin narrowed considerably...
The vote stood at 216-218 at 4 a.m. It would stay that way for the next 111 minutes...
In other words, the vote failed. So Republicans blocked the doors and kept the vote open for almost another two hours, giving themselves enough time to strong-arm fellow Republicans (plus a few Democrats) into passing the bill, a bill that ultimately cost $1 trillion. In other words, that would be a part of the debt we've accumulated, thanks to Republicans and their late-night vote, that they now refuse to pay for, because Republicans are, after all, the dine-and-dash party.
Just to be clear, the Medicare drug benefit was a pure giveaway with a gross cost greater than either the House or Senate health reform bills how being considered. Together the new bills would cost roughly $900 billion over the next 10 years, while Medicare Part D will cost $1 trillion.
And in case you were wondering, why yes, Sen. Cornyn, who is now clutching his pearls about a Senate vote at 1 AM, did in fact vote for Medicare Part D. Because of course he did.