A Christian Liberal is NOT an oxymoron.

Posted by XT on August 23rd, 2009 in General

Gail Collins, one of my favorite columnists, is pointing out that Senate Republicans want 80 votes on any healthcare proposal. 80. That’s a lot.

So I looked at GovTrack’s database of roll-call votes to see how often the Senate hits that number. So far this year, there have been 270 roll call votes. The following were decided by at least 80 votes on one side:
#261 On Passage – Senate – H.R. 2997 As Amended
#255 Motion to Invoke cloture on the Kohl Amdt. No. 1908
#248 On Passage – Senate – H.R. 3183 as Amended
#242 On Passage – Senate – S.1390 As Amended
#236 Lieberman Amdt. No. 1528
#234 Sessions Amdt. No. 1616
#229 On Passage – Senate – H.R. 2892 As Amended
#210 On the Conference Report – Senate – Conference Report to Accompany H.R. 2346
#208 Motion to Invoke Cloture on Motion to Proceed to S.1023
#203 Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Motion to Proceed to H.R. 1256
#202 On Passage – Senate – HR 2346 As Amended
#200 Motion to Invoke Cloture on H.R. 2346
#199 Brownback Amdt. No. 1140 As Modified
#198 McConnell Amdt. No. 1136 As Modified
#197 On the Conference Report – Senate – Conference Report to Accompany S. 454
#196 Inouye Amdt. No. 1133
#195 Confirmation of of Gary Gensler, of Maryland, to be Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission
#194 On Passage – Senate – H.R. 627 As Amended
#193 Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Dodd Amdt. No. 1058
#187 Confirmation of R. Gil Kerlikowske, of Washington to be Director of National Drug Control Policy
#186 On Passage – Senate – S. 454 As Amended
#185 On Passage – Senate – S. 896 As Amended
#184 Grassley Amdt. No. 1021 As Modified
#180 Ensign Amdt. NO. 1043
#175 Confirmation of Thomas L. Strickland, of Colorado, to be Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife
#171 On Passage – Senate – S. 386 as Amended
#170 Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Committee Substitute to S. 386
#167 Cornyn Motion to Instruct Conferees Re: S. Con. Res. 13
#161 Isakson Amdt. No. 995
#160 Kyl Amdt. No. 985
#157 On the Nomination (Nomination of Christine Anne Varney, of the District of Columbia, to be an Assistant Attorney General )
#156 On the Nomination (Nomination of Lanny A. Breuer to be an Assistant Attorney General )
#155 On the Nomination (Nomination of Tony West, of California, to be an Assistant Attorney General )
#137 Boxer Amdt. No. 953, as Modified
#138 Thune Amdt. No. 803
#130 Dodd Amdt. No. 913
#122 Cornyn Amdt. No. 806
#121 Ensign Amdt. No. 804
#117 Thune Amdt. No. 731
#109 Confirmation of David S. Kris, of Maryland, to be Assistant Attorney General
#100 Confirmation of Ronald Kirk, of Texas, to be U.S. Trade Representative
#71 DeMint Amdt. No. 573
#68 Coburn Amdt. No. 581
#66 Confirmation of Hilda L. Solis of California, to be Secretary of Labor
#62 Confirmation of William J. Lynn, III, of Virginia, to the Deputy Secretary of Defense
#55 Motion to Waive CBA Re: Cantwell Amdt. No. 274
#52 Coburn Amdt. No. 176
#50 Motion to Table Coburn Amdt. No. 176
#17 Confirmation of Daniel K. Tarullo, to be a Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
#6 Confirmation of Hillary Rodham Clinton, of New York, to be Secretary of State

By my count, that’s fifty out of two hundred seventy that had at least eighty votes on one side or the other. Twelve of them were votes on the nomination of a person to an office. Eight were procedural votes. Eighteen were on amendments. Three more were either conference reports or instructions to those going to conference. That means that forty-one out of fifty were not a vote on an actual bill. Only nine bills passed the Senate by a vote count of eighty or more.

What were those bills?
S. 386 (vote #171) – Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009
S. 896 (vote #185) – Helping Families Save their Homes Act of 2009
S. 454 (vote #186) – Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009
HR 627 (vote #194) – Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act of 2009
HR 2346 (vote #202) – Supplemental Appropriations Act
H.R. 2892 (vote #229) – Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act
S. 1390 (vote #242) – National Defense Authorization Act
H.R. 3183 (vote #248) – Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010
H.R. 2997 (vote #261) – Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations

So…five of them are appropriations bills. Fraud enforcement, mortgages, credit cards, and weapons systems reform were the others. The real surprise there is that weapons systems acquisitions even passed, much less by such a margin. But the appropriations acts? Loaded with pork. And that’s the only way that a healthcare plan could get eighty votes.

And Grassley knows it. He’s just being an ass.

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