Here's the amendment mentioned in the title (kudos to Kirsten Gillibrand for pushing it):
Amendment Number: S.Amdt. 2156 to S. 3240 (Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2012)Here's the vote (note that it failed):
Statement of Purpose: To strike a reduction in the supplemental nutrition assistance program and increase funding for the fresh fruit and vegetable program, with an offset that limits crop insurance reimbursements to providers.
Vote Counts:And here are the Senate Democrats voting NO (I've bolded the "special" ones):
YEAs 33
NAYs 66
Not Voting 1
I count 23 Democrats in that list. Let's see, 23 + 33 (carry the 0) ... golly. That's enough Democrats to pass the thing.
NAYs ---66 Alexander (R-TN)
Ayotte (R-NH)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bennet (D-CO)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Blunt (R-MO)
Boozman (R-AR)
Burr (R-NC)
Carper (D-DE)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coats (R-IN)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Durbin (D-IL)
Enzi (R-WY)Franken (D-MN) [!!]
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Hagan (D-NC)
Harkin (D-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hoeven (R-ND)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Inouye (D-HI)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Johnson (D-SD)
Johnson (R-WI)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Kohl (D-WI)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lee (R-UT)
Lugar (R-IN)
Manchin (D-WV)
McCain (R-AZ)McCaskill (D-MO)
McConnell (R-KY)
Moran (R-KS)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Paul (R-KY)
Portman (R-OH)
Pryor (D-AR)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rubio (R-FL)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Thune (R-SD)
Toomey (R-PA)
Udall (D-CO)
Vitter (R-LA)
Warner (D-VA)
Webb (D-VA)
Wicker (R-MS)
Some pure speculation:
■ Why did it fail? Maybe because of the offset?
... with an offset that limits crop insurance reimbursements to providers.High-dollar agribusiness farms can't eat on no money. Can't have that.
■ Why did so many Midwest "progressive" senators vote No?
Let's imagine, you and I. We're in the Senate, we're voting on a bill no one is watching, so it's a freebie.
It's going to lose anyway (that's why the Party has Ben Nelson & Ilk in it — to do the dirty work), so why not just suck up to our past and future campaign contributors and vote No? After all, we can't keep on doing this great work of conscience without them.
But you and I, we're not pure of heart like our "progressive" senators. They're like the falling snow. White. Opaque. Cold. With their hands out. That's why we vote for them.
Food stamps. Children. Conscienceless, say I. Your "progressive" Democratic senators at work.
UPDATE: More here. And here.
GP
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