(Cartoon image is by Dwayne Booth.)Last Friday, I was proud of Senate Democrats. They demanded that Dreamers be protected, and the Senate include legalizing DACA as part of the continuing resolution to fund the government. When Republicans wouldn't do that, they voted to uphold a filibuster against the continuing resolution. That effectively shut down the federal government.
It looked like the Democrats had grown a spine, and were actually willing to engage in some hardball politics (like the GOP has been doing for years). It also looked like Schumer might also be a stronger and more effective Minority Leader than I had thought. It was exhilarating!
Sadly, it was just an illusion. After standing erect for a couple of days (as though they had a backbone), a majority of the Senate Democrats turned back into spineless jellyfish. 32 of the 47 Democrats caved-in to Republican demands, and voted to reopen the government. Trying to save face, they claimed they had negotiated a compromise with the Republicans. Unfortunately, the "compromise" consisted of giving the Republicans what they wanted in exchange for an empty promise from Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (a man known for leaving a trail of broken promises).
What was the promise that Democrats caved to? McConnell said that if no action on DACA and immigration had been done by February 8th (the end of this continuing resolution, and if the Democrats voted for a new continuing resolution in February, then he would allow an immigration bill (that includes DACA) to be debated on the Senate floor.
Note that McConnell didn't promise a vote on a clean DACA bill, or even a vote on a mutually-acceptable negotiated immigration bill with DACA. He just said he would allow an immigration bill to be debated on the Senate floor. Since Republicans have the majority, they can load that bill with all kinds of odious things (ending family-based immigration, ending a fair immigration lottery from all countries, building an $18-$20 billion wall, building in a preference for immigration of whites, etc.). Then they'll toss in a bit allowing Dreamers to stay in the U.S. (but probably without a path to citizenship).
The final product is likely to be so xenophobic and bigoted that a real Democrat would have to hold their nose to vote on it (if they could vote for it at all). And in the chance that a miracle happened, and the bill coming out of the Senate was bipartisan and acceptable to both parties, the Democrats have no assurance that the House wouldn't butcher it or refuse to pass it. And there is no assurance that Donald Trump would help to pass it or sign it.
Here's the blunt truth about this "compromise" -- the Republicans got everything they wanted, the Democrats got nothing, and the Dreamers are now in very serious trouble.
There were a few Democrats who stood by their promise to the Dreamers and refused to cave-in to the Republicans. Here are those 15 brave souls:
- Blumenthal D-CT, Nay
- Booker D-NJ, Nay
- Cortez Masto D-NV, Nay
- Feinstein D-CA, Nay
- Gillibrand D-NY, Nay
- Harris D-CA, Nay
- Hirono D-HI, Nay
- Leahy D-VT, Nay
- Markey D-MA, Nay
- Menendez D-NJ, Nay
- Merkley D-OR, Nay
- Murphy D-CT, Nay
- Tester D-MT, Nay
- Warren D-MA, Nay
- Wyden D-OR, Nay
And here is the list of spineless Dems who caved-in to the Republicans:
- Baldwin D-WI, Yea
- Bennet D-CO, Yea
- Brown D-OH, Yea
- Cantwell D-WA, Yea
- Cardin D-MD, Yea
- Carper D-DE, Yea
- Casey D-PA, Yea
- Coons D-DE, Yea
- Donnelly D-IN, Yea
- Duckworth D-IL, Yea
- Durbin D-IL, Yea
- Hassan D-NH, Yea
- Heinrich D-NM, Yea
- Heitkamp D-ND, Yea
- Jones D-AL, Yea
- Kaine D-VA, Yea
- Klobuchar D-MN, Yea
- Manchin D-WV, Yea
- McCaskill D-MO, Yea
- Murray D-WA, Yea
- Nelson D-FL, Yea
- Peters D-MI, Yea
- Reed D-RI, Yea
- Schatz D-HI, Yea
- Schumer D-NY, Yea
- Shaheen D-NH, Yea
- Smith D-MN, Yea
- Stabenow D-MI, Yea
- Udall D-NM, Yea
- Van Hollen D-MD, Yea
- Warner D-VA, Yea
- Whitehouse D-RI, Yea
