Not even close to being dead. If the 12 abstainers had not abstained this probably would have passed.
Good to see that at least half of Congress aren't always mindless party drones.
I kept seeing that, "If the 12 abstainers had voted". So I decided to take a look. First off, they are not abstainers, they are No Votes. Different. That includes "Busy", "Sick", and "Didn't bother showing up that day" as reasons. Abstention can be a reason, or it could equally be they fell asleep somewhere (Congress is pretty old).
So, I broke down the 12. 6 Democrats, and 6 Republicans. The Democrats are Beatty, Bustos, Horsford, McCarthy (NY), Negrete McLeod, and Pallone, while the republicans are Barletta, Campbell, Coble, Herrera Buetler, Rokita, and Schock. Not exactly big names.
Name | Affliation | Opinion of NSA |
Barletta | Republican | Supports |
Beatty | Democrat | Against |
Bustos | Democrat | Supports |
Campbell | Republican | Against |
Coble | Republican | Middling |
Herrera Buetler | Republican | Supports |
Horsford | Democrat | Against |
McCarthy (NY) | Democrat | Unknown/Doesn't care |
Negrete McLead | Democrat | Unknown/Doesn't care |
Pallone | Democrat | Against |
Rokita | Republican | Against |
Schock | Republican | Supports |
Notably, twodon't even vote on this sorta thing ever. Just simply have better things to do. In addition, this was a House vote, and the House has shown very little restraint on voting however they want, ignoring their leadership it's curious to see how the Senate, which obeys their leadership more but also is more liberal, might have acted. If Obama Veto'd it, it would have zero chance.
If they went out of their way to make a nuanced version that could draw the support of people in the middle of the issue and weaken Obama's argument that the current amendment was "A blunt tool" It might have passed. As it was it went the way of Gun Control, no patience for a solution leads to no solution at all.
Anyway, can I talk about Weiner now? I've been seeing the funniest posters people have made.