Senate Jackasses?
On March 3, 2011, we growled about a GAO report documenting the large number of duplicate federal government programs. We noted that after releasing the report, Senator Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma), who added legislation requiring the GAO report, quipped that the report “will make us look like jackasses.”
Fast forward to last Thursday, June 29, 2011. According to the Swine Line blog at Citizens Against Government Waste (also reported by the Floor Action blog of The Hill newspaper on June 29, 2011):
“Yesterday, the Senate threw logic to the wind and voted down Senator Tom Coburn’s (R-Okla.) amendment, which would have prevented the creation of duplicative and overlapping federal programs. Senators voted 63 – 34 in favor of the amendment, but Senator Coburn still failed to gain the necessary 67 votes to secure passage.”
Swine Line explains the importance of Sen. Coburn’s amendment:
“While it is gratifying to have a nonpartisan government oversight entity endorse so many of the cuts and consolidations that Citizens Against Government Waste has long supported, Congress can no longer claim ignorance of these duplicative, bloated programs. Senator Coburn’s amendment would have required an independent review by the Congressional Research Service of every bill to determine if it creates new programs that duplicate existing programs before the legislation can be considered by the Senate. It would have also required an explanation as to why the creation of each new program, office or initiative is necessary if a similar program, office or initiative already exists. Such a commonsense solution would help protect taxpayers from unnecessary and wasteful expansions of government.
“Senator Coburn’s amendment would have helped prevent the creation of any new duplicative programs and provided a new level of transparency for lawmakers and taxpayers. It is baffling to think that any lawmaker could oppose such a sensible and rational solution to a major problem. And yet, 34 of them did. I knew Washington was a “logic-free zone,” but this takes it to a whole new level…”
Now let’s take a look at how senators voted, including how Virginia’s two senators voted. As noted above, the Senate voted 63-34, according to Roll Call Vote 102 of Congress’ Thomas system:
- Yeas: 46 Republicans, 17 Democrats.
- Nays: 34 Democrats.
- Not Voting: 3, including 2 Democrats and 1 Republican.
Senators of 16 states voted “differently," i.e., one voting yea, the other voting nay. In seven of the 16 states, both senators were Democrats (or Independents who caucus with the Democrats). In the remaining nine states, one senator is a Democrat and the other a Republican.
We regret to report that both of Virginia’s senators -- Jim Webb and Mark Warner -- voted against Sen. Coburn’s amendment. Perhaps they enjoy, to use Sen. Coburn’s words, “looking like jackasses." Or perhaps they see nothing wrong with duplicate programs? Or maybe they just enjoy wasting taxpayers’ money? As Fox News says, we report, you decide. You can contact them on Capitol Hill by using the following information:
- Senator Jim Webb - phone (202) 224-4024 or use his web contact form
- Senator Mark Warner - phone (202) 224-2023 or use his web contact form