Despite
the fact that the Ryan-Murray budget deal passed the House with overwhelming
support, it was not a slam dunk in the Senate as of late last week. Without
Paul Ryan’s strong influence, individual GOP senators were leery of the deal.
Even the defense hawks view this deal as ‘too little too late.’
The Senate
whip count began with only one Republican – John McCain – vocally supporting
the deal. Moreover, it’s not a sure thing that there won’t be any Democrat
defections either. On Sunday, Senator Dick Durbin was worried he wouldn’t get
60 votes for the deal. He candidly noted that “a handful
of members of the Senate are vying for the presidency in years to come and are
thinking about this vote in that context and others are, frankly, afraid of
this new force, the Tea Party force, the Heritage Foundation force, that is
threatening seven out of the 12 senators running for reelection.”
Senator Durbin
is absolutely correct. Primary challenges matter, and that is why McConnell and
Cornyn were forced to step away from this bad deal. But there is a huge
difference between opposing the deal out of principle and quietly voting no to
save their hinds back home……To Read More….
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