The stimulus bill passed the House today with all Republicans voting against it, and 11 Democrats joining them. My first thought was "Wow! The Republicans really plan to sink together. Good!"
My second thought was, "Uh-oh, 11 Democrats. Better check to see if Carney was one." But he wasn't! Good for you, Carney, and good for us!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
Here's the list (thanks to ThinkProgress):
Allan Boyd (D-FL)
Bobby Bright (D-AL)
Jim Cooper (D-TN)
Brad Ellsworth (D-IN)
Parker Griffith (D-AL)
Paul Kanjorski (D-PA)
Frank Kratovil (D-MD)
Walt Minnick (D-ID)
Collin Peterson (D-MN)
Heath Shuler (D-NC)
Gene Taylor (D-MS)
The analysis I saw suggested that they are all Dems from conservative districts. Several are Blue Dog Dems.
A follow up: Collin Peterson was my rep when I lived in western Minnesota and he is very much a Blue Dog Dem (lots of emphasis on law and order and public safety issues). I'm sure the deficit spending did not sit well with him. I think Carney made the right call because we will see a lot more budget pain if the economy continues to tank.
If you look deeper into the bill, a lot of the spending happens in 2010--and Republicans are obviously not eager to have Dems get the credit for turning things around before the mid-term elections. There's some risk here, but there's a lot more risk in holding up the bill.
Post a Comment