Here are the Republicans that voted for cloture on the Lilly Ledbetter Act, which protects women against discrimination in pay.
Alexander (R-TN), Bennett (R-UT), Bond (R-MO), Burr (R-NC), Collins (R-ME), Corker (R-TN), Grassley (R-IA), Gregg (R-NH), Hutchison (R-TX), Martinez (R-FL), McCain (R-AZ), McConnell (R-KY), Murkowski (R-AK), Snowe (R-ME), Specter (R-PA), Voinovich (R-OH), Wicker (R-MS)
Even though Roland Burris, Sherrod Brown, Teddy Kennedy, and Al Franken didn’t vote, cloture passed 72-23. Earlier in the day, the Senate passed the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 by a similar 73-21 vote. Here are the Republicans that crossed the aisle to vote for that bill.
Alexander (R-TN), Barrasso (R-WY), Bennett (R-UT), Bond (R-MO), Cochran (R-MS),
Collins (R-ME), Corker (R-TN), Crapo (R-ID), Enzi (R-WY), Gregg (R-NH), Hatch (R-UT), Lugar (R-IN), Martinez (R-FL), Murkowski (R-AK), Risch (R-ID), Snowe (R-ME), Specter (R-PA), Voinovich (R-OH), Wicker (R-MS)
As I predicted, opposition in the Senate is not effective. The Republicans are discovering that their back is broken. Mitch McConnell will only be able to sustain filibusters on legislation that the Republicans see as a real threat to their ability to win elections. I suspect that they will try to filibuster the Employee Free Choice Act, for example, because they do not want to see millions of new union members. The vote on that act will be extremely close and will depend on how Arlen Specter and Blanche Lincoln ultimately vote. But I do not think the Republicans will be able to filibuster much in this Congress. Even the appointment of judges is unlikely to result in successful filibusters.
This is not the result of the Democrats doing things more effectively nor of the Republicans learning anything. It’s simply the predictable outcome of the Democrats having 59 seats. If the Republicans cannot stop legislation, they must try to shape it. And the price for getting a chance to shape legislation is actually going ahead and voting for it. So…Republicans working on education in committee, for example, are going to vote for that legislation. If they don’t, their input will not be sought on the next bill.
As you can see from the two votes (above), different coalitions of Republicans can be brought across the aisle depending on the issue. Only the most obscenely conservative Republicans opposed fair pay for women. Meanwhile, the
Public Lands bill has lots of goodies for western senators, so opposition was limited to the South.
We’ll see these patterns repeat time and time again. On some bills, the moderates will cross over. On other bills, regional concerns will prevail. Washington DC is no longer deadlocked. This is not a red/blue country anymore. The GOP’s run is over.
