House Vote 690 - Sixty-Six Votes Too Little Too Late

As you know, yesterday 174 RINOs and their enablers joined with 95 Democrats to pass the "Keep Borrowing and Spending Bill of 2011" (aka: "The Budget Control Act of 2011") which basically locks in the massive government growth of the Pelosi/Reid/Obama years.

My own member of Congress, Dr. Nan Hayworth (R-NY-19), voted with the Congressional majority for deficits and debt as far as the eye can see.

I'll save the detailed critique of the bill for today's and no doubt future newsbites, but you do deserve a stand-alone post naming those Republicans who stood against business as usual and voted "nay" yesterday. (Along with 95 Democrats - though they voted "nay" for far different reasons.)

The same 22 Real Republicans who denied Boehner and the GOP "leadership" their votes this past Friday were back again yesterday voting "nay" once again:

Justin Amash (R-MI-3)
Michele Bachmann (R-MN-6)
Paul Broun (R-GA-10)
Jason Chaffetz (R-UT-3)
Chip Cravaack (R-MN-8)
Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-4)
Jeffrey Duncan (R-SC-3)
Trey Gowdy (R-SC-4)
Tom Graves (R-GA-9)
Tim Huelskamp (R-KS-1)
Timothy V. Johnson (R-IL-15)
Jim Jordan (R-OH-4)
Steve King (R-IA-5)
Tom Latham (R-IA-4)
Connie Mack (R-FL-14)
Tom McClintock (R-CA-4)
Mick Mulvaney (R-SC-5)
Ron Paul (R-TX-14)
Tim Scott (R-SC-1)
Steve Southerland (R-FL-2)
Joe Walsh (R-IL-8)
Joe Wilson (R-SC-2)

This time, however... of course after it was too late to make a difference... 44 other Republicans cast "nay" votes:

Todd Akin (R-MO-2)
Rob Bishop (R-UT-1)
Mo Brooks (R-AL-5)
Ann Marie Buerkle (R-NY-25)
Dan Burton (R-IN-5)
Geoff Davis (R-KY-4)
Jeff Flake (R-AZ-6)
Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN-3)
John Fleming (R-LA-4)
J. Randy Forbes (R-VA-4)
Trent Franks (R-AZ-2)
Scott Garrett (R-NJ-5)
Phil Gingrey (R-GA-11)
Louie Gohmert (R-TX-1)
Morgan Griffith (R-VA-9)
Ralph M. Hall (R-TX-4)
Andy Harris (R-MD-1)
Vicky Hartzler (R-MO-4)
Randy Hultgren (R-IL-14)
Duncan D. Hunter (R-CA-52)
Walter B. Jones (R-NC-3)
Jack Kingston (R-GA-1)
Raul Labrador (R-ID-1)
Doug Lamborn (R-CO-5)
Jeff Landry (R-LA-3)
Randy Neugebauer (R-TX-19)
Devin Nunes (R-CA-21)
Steve Pearce (R-NM-2)
Ted Poe (R-TX-2)
Bill Posey (R-FL-15)
Ben Quayle (R-AZ-3)
Denny Rehberg (R-MT-1)
Martha Roby (R-AL-2)
Todd Rokita (R-IN-4)
Dennis Ross (R-FL-12
Steve Scalise (R-LA-1)
David Schweikert (R-AZ-5)
Austin Scott (R-GA-8)
Cliff Stearns (R-FL-6)
Marlin Stutzman (R-IN-3)
Scott Tipton (R-CO-3)
Michael R. Turner (R-OH-3)
Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA-3)
Kevin Yoder (R-KS-3)

While of course all "nay" votes are to be appreciated in a sense, there's far less than meets the eye here.

Remember, folks, Congress is largely a pro forma Kabuki dance where once a party leader (in this case John Boehner as Speaker of the House and head of the GOP caucus) knows he has the votes necessary for passage of a bill, he "allows" public defections taking into account which of his caucus member most "need" to appear to be standing up for their constituents, their own ideals, and what's best for the country.

Heck, folks... had push come to shove in the Friday vote, I can't say with certainty that all 22 would have stuck to their guns - that's how dirty politics is.

Oh... and then there are the 174 Republicans who voted "aye" to support the Dempublican/Republicrat deal that kicks the can down the road past the 2012 elections.

Sickening.

Is each and every one of those 174 a scumbag? No. Some actually believe that a "deal" was necessary, that a "deal" was in the best interests of not only themselves in terms of re-election but also in the best interests of their constituents and the country as a whole.

Of course they're wrong... but being wrong doesn't automatically make someone a scumbag.

Again, folks... I've been outlining the "meat" of the Boehner-McConnell betrayal within each day's newsbites for... forever it seems.

In the days, weeks, months and years to come I'll continue to catalog the disastrous policies and decisions that are slowly but sure destroying our once great nation and which will leave most of our children and grandchildren - our posterity - living not in the United States that we, our parents, and our grandparents grew up in, but rather, a pale shadow of what "we" used to be.