Does anyone else see the problem with Dana Milbank’s critique of the Democratic senators who stayed up all night yesterday and this morning talking about climate change?
Seeking action on global warming is a worthy endeavor, and the night owls deserve praise for the enthusiasm. But burning the midnight oil in this manner is peculiar. Usually, when a lawmaker talks all night, he’s trying to stop the majority from passing something. But these guys are trying to persuade the majority — themselves — to pass something.
Joining the late-night guerilla action was Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who as the Senate majority leader is usually a target of filibusters, not a sponsor. If he and his colleagues really want action, they don’t have to lose sleep. All they have to do is bring a climate-change bill to the floor.
The problem is that Reid doesn’t have the votes in his caucus to pass such a measure.
As Mr. Milbank surely knows, even if every Democrat supported a climate change bill, Sen. Reid still wouldn’t have the votes to pass it. That’s because there are only 55 Democrats and he needs 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. And there are Republican senators who are not embarrassed to act like this:
Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) crashed the Democrats’ party, needling his colleagues for more than half an hour. “All night long? That’s going to be fun,” said Inhofe, who calls global warming a “hoax” and frequently cites cold snaps as confirmation. “They’ll have an audience of themselves and I hope that they enjoy it.”
How much media attention did these Democratic senators get compared to the attention that Rand Paul and Ted Cruz received when they took over the Senate floor for all-night speeches?
Why is that?
