Another shitty cabinet nominee squeaks by in the Senate

[Teo Torriatte]

And this was the worst one yet, imo.

Even the two supposed dissenters on the republican side was more of a sham. It seems pretty obvious that Collins and Mercowski got special permission to vote against DeVos, on the express condition that no other republicans break ranks.

Trump continues to act as if he has some kind of majority mandate to do whatever he wants. 2018 can't get here soon enough.

[Mithlomwen]

2018 can't get here soon enough.

If the country survives that long. 

/sarcasm...mostly

[Valerian]

A Handy List

These are all the senators who voted to confirm DeVos.  If you're one of their constituents, give them a call (contact info here) and let them know that they've lost your vote forever.

And remember this at your next local election.  There are primaries and other local / state elections that will be held before 2018, and those are more important than ever.  Democrats traditionally don't vote in off-year elections and the GOP is counting on that to carry them through.  But we can still give them a nasty shock if more people get out and vote.   >:)

[Iniquitous]

Wanna know how she got the position?  Here's your answer:  She bought the position.  Have enough money and you get whatever job you want, even if you are wholly and utterly unqualified for it.

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/marco-rubio-took-almost-100-000-from-betsy-devos-family-before-confirming-her-today-9123691

and then this showed up on my facebook

[Mithlomwen]

Apparently the senator from my state said that all of the people calling his office to urge him not to vote in favor of her were, 'paid protesters'.  :/ 

I visited his site, and hohboy.....the backlash he is facing in response to that, and his vote in favor of Betsy will cost him the re-election in 2020.  People are PISSED.  He was basically bought for around 46,000 bucks. 

[Ryven]

Both senators from my state were paid by and voted for her.  One is retiring anyway after this term, so I guess he really had nothing to lose.  The other, however, needs to gtfo next election.

[Blythe]

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/marco-rubio-took-almost-100-000-from-betsy-devos-family-before-confirming-her-today-9123691

“I have decided, however, to stop taking offense at the suggestion that we are buying influence,” DeVos told the New Yorker in November. “Now I simply concede the point. They are right... We expect a return on our investment.”

Wow. Just...wow. At least she's pretty much admitting she's buying influence and not only that, fully expects it to be effective. DeVos's a real piece of work. :/

Well, Inhofe was cheap. Ridiculously cheap. Then again, he probably would have voted to confirm DeVos regardless; he's not got a good track record on education. I'm sure he's quite the fan of DeVos and didn't need any encouraging.

Then again, I probably shouldn't be surprised that Inhofe dislikes education, given he wrote this little dreadful gem. Given Trump's interest in Oklahoman Scott Pruitt as head of the EPA, who is also a climate change denier, I'm starting to wonder why my state seems to be running so rampant with anti-intellectualism.  -_-

[MiraMirror]

This feels more like a horror movie with every passing day.  The fact that someone like that still got confirmed with the blatant idiocy on her, just...saddens me.

[Oniya]

Toomey has a bit of a reputation for how he deals with his constituents concerns.  To put it succinctly, he doesn't.

[elone]

I am not sure why anyone would be surprised that money buys votes over the wishes of constituents. It happens time and time again.

It appears that the right wing nuts and Christian coalition are aligning to destroy all government programs on the belief that privatization is a more effective method of operation in the belief the the Feds can do nothing right. Except defense of course.

What amazes me (it shouldn't) is that all those who opposed Trump, most notably Lindsey Graham, who said the party who supported Trump were "batshit crazy"

Maybe the Republicans are right, government does little right, and that starts in Congress.

[Pumpkin Seeds]

I don’t think there is a belief that these areas of the government can be run well privately but a simple greed for tax money.  Banks, corporations and financial institutions are looking at all the money coming into the Department of Education and the Department of Health while licking their chops.  They want to “invest” this money and profit tremendously from it while having little regulation or rather control over the regulations that would govern their returns.  Devos has openly stated she doesn’t even know what criteria private and charter schools uses to gauge their success or that those standards should be shared with public schools.  Same with social security, medicare, research and so forth.  Even defense is being contracted out more and more.  Eventually the government will simply be our taxes going to various companies with no control over what we get in return. 

[Lilias]

This feels more like a horror movie with every passing day.  The fact that someone like that still got confirmed with the blatant idiocy on her, just...saddens me.

[Cassandra LeMay]

Even the two supposed dissenters on the republican side was more of a sham. It seems pretty obvious that Collins and Mercowski got special permission to vote against DeVos, on the express condition that no other republicans break ranks.

As much as I follow the developments in the US, I may very well have missed some things. Could you tell me why you think that is "pretty obvious"?

That aside, I actually hope that more nominations will go like this, no matter if it was enigneered that way or not. These candidates were nominated by the administration, so let the White House carry the burden for them getting their jobs. The more tie-breakers by Pence there are, the more candidates might eventually be labeled as "who was confirmed only by the vote of the vice president". The prospect of someone's eventual unpopularity falling back on the White House is something I find somewhat satisfying.

[Teo Torriatte]

As much as I follow the developments in the US, I may very well have missed some things. Could you tell me why you think that is "pretty obvious"?

Because whatever else anyone might say about Mitch McConnel, he is a master at counting and whipping votes. He also knows when he can allow very vulnerable republicans to appear to be bucking their own party for the sake of their own re-elections. He wouldn't have been pushing for a vote on Devos if he thought they couldn't get to at least 50, and he wouldn't have allowed Collins and Mercowski to break ranks without knowing he had all the others in line. This isn't the first time those two senators have been given political cover to appear a little more moderate, but whenever their votes are needed you will see them fall in line like every other republican.

[Valerian]

Because whatever else anyone might say about Mitch McConnel, he is a master at counting and whipping votes. He also knows when he can allow very vulnerable republicans to appear to be bucking their own party for the sake of their own re-elections. He wouldn't have been pushing for a vote on Devos if he thought they couldn't get to at least 50, and he wouldn't have allowed Collins and Mercowski to break ranks without knowing he had all the others in line. This isn't the first time those two senators have been given political cover to appear a little more moderate, but whenever their votes are needed you will see them fall in line like every other republican.

They both seem to have very safe seats, actually, judging by the voting results for their last elections.  Do you think they're vulnerable in some other way?

If they were trying to let a couple of Republicans look better, they should have let Ron Johnson be one of them.  He didn't win by much last time and he certainly isn't making any friends by turning into the invisible man every time a constituent wants to talk to him.  :P

[Teo Torriatte]

They both seem to have very safe seats, actually, judging by the voting results for their last elections.  Do you think they're vulnerable in some other way?

If they were trying to let a couple of Republicans look better, they should have let Ron Johnson be one of them.  He didn't win by much last time and he certainly isn't making any friends by turning into the invisible man every time a constituent wants to talk to him.  :P

From my understanding that is pretty much why their seats are so safe, because they have the tendency to break ranks almost every time their constituents don't want them to vote on something. Kind of like it used to be with the "Blue Dog" democrats... but they have all since retired, or finally got primaried, because apparently the democratic party has a bit less tolerance for that kind of thing.

Edit- or I could just be extrapolating and maybe things aren't that clear. But I have always assumed that when a few people from either party dissent like that, there has at least been some discussion and some measure of permission given by the leadership.

[Trigon]

Just an FYI, another shitty nominee has gotten through i.e. Jeff Sessions: http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_589b8c9de4b0c1284f2a7051?

[Pumpkin Seeds]

They are pretty much all going to get through.  The Senate as pretty much decided to bend over backwards to make Trump happy so they can get their legislation passed.

[Samael]

Even Democrats broke rank and voted for this guy.
Someone really need to share some spines.

[Trigon]

Even Democrats broke rank and voted for this guy.
Someone really need to share some spines.

Yes indeed. At least in the case of Sessions, only a single Dem vote went to him though. The full list of who voted for whom right here: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/01/31/us/politics/trump-cabinet-confirmation-votes.html?_r=0

[Teo Torriatte]

Unfortunately there wasn't really a question as to whether or not Sessions was going to get confirmed.

Fucking politics... republicans complained about the Dems holding things up, then intentionally pushed back Sessions' nomination because they needed his Senate vote for DeVos.

[Cassandra LeMay]

From my understanding that is pretty much why their seats are so safe, because they have the tendency to break ranks almost every time their constituents don't want them to vote on something. Kind of like it used to be with the "Blue Dog" democrats... but they have all since retired, or finally got primaried, because apparently the democratic party has a bit less tolerance for that kind of thing.

Edit- or I could just be extrapolating and maybe things aren't that clear. But I have always assumed that when a few people from either party dissent like that, there has at least been some discussion and some measure of permission given by the leadership.

I am not sure if things are that clear. Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Dean Heller (R-NV) are from areas Clinton carried in the election. Their seats might be vulnerable, yet they voted pro-Trump 100%, so far. When it comes to the voting landscape they are in about the same boat as Collins, from what I can tell, but they didn't break rank even once.

[Teo Torriatte]

I am not sure if things are that clear. Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Dean Heller (R-NV) are from areas Clinton carried in the election. Their seats might be vulnerable, yet they voted pro-Trump 100%, so far. When it comes to the voting landscape they are in about the same boat as Collins, from what I can tell, but they didn't break rank even once.

Its true. And neither have John McCain or Lindsey Graham, even though they have talked tough against Trump on occasion. They have yet to back any of that talk with an actual vote against anything he has tried to do. I'm not sure why its always Collins and Mercowski that seem to be the ones who break if anyone is going to.

[Valerian]

Its true. And neither have John McCain or Lindsey Graham, even though they have talked tough against Trump on occasion. They have yet to back any of that talk with an actual vote against anything he has tried to do. I'm not sure why its always Collins and Mercowski that seem to be the ones who break if anyone is going to.

It's possible they're just those uncommon politicians (and extremely rare Republicans) who actually do listen to their constituents, at least once in a while.  They do still exist here and there.  Sometimes there will be a great deal of party pressure to vote a certain way regardless pf public outcry, and sometimes even those politicians will just give in and follow party lines to make their lives easier.