Turn 'em all out

Glenn Reynolds reports that the Coburn Amendments, which would have required disclosure of any "pork" spending tucked away inside a bill, have just been resoundingly rejected by the Senate.

Once again I find myself scrambling for G-rated words to describe my rage.  And ironically, both of my own senators, Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham, two of only thirteen to do so, voted against the majority and in favor of both fiscal sanity and truth in legislation, so while I'm glad of that, there's little I can do about those who rejected same.  You can see how your own senators voted here, courtesy of Mark Tapscott.

I suggest you do so, and if they voted "yea" (to kill the amendments), let them know what you intend to do about it when they come up for reelection.  And I suggest you remind them frequently, between now and election day, that you haven't forgotten—with their comfortably long six-year terms, senators tend to rely on voters' short memories, with frequent success.

After his obligatory "indeed," Glenn appropriately asks, "so what's a Republican Senate for, exactly?"  All evidence points to there being no use at all for one.

Mark Tapscott adds:

Sen. Patty Murray is issuing thinly-veiled threats to colleagues who might be inclined to support Coburnite movements. Getting that defensive this quick is probably an indication of just how scared the Big Spenders in both political parties are that the Coburnites will succeed.

And Glenn Reynolds hits the nail on the head: "I predict a revival of interest in term limits and a balanced budget amendment. But at least we've got their attention."

Hey, folks, don't be discouraged, this is just the opening round of what promises to be a long and probably bitter battle.

I certainly hope there's a battle, because I'm looking forward to the defeat of every single so-called "public servant" who thought he or she could get away scot-free with this blatantly self-serving piece of legislative fecal material.

Don't let these SOPs get away with this.

UPDATE:  Bill Quick adds:

I have tended to oppose term limits on libertarian grounds - I prefer to be able to vote into, and out of, office whomever I want - but it is becoming more and more clear that it may be the only solution to a gerrymandered voting system that gives us less representative turnover than the Soviets used to see in their old form of government.

However, I have considerably less objection to adding a balanced budget amendment to the United States Constitution. The Senate, the House, and the President will never give us one, but the option of a Constititional Convention remains viable. In fact, most of the work has already been done. Depending on whether the recissions of three states will withstand legal challenge, either two, or five more calls for a convention from state legislatures would meet the constitutional requirement and force the convening of such a convention, "for the purpose of proposing amendments to the constitution."

UPDATE:  John Stossel is as disgusted as I am.

UPDATE AGAIN:  Sammler over at The Stone City is more concerned about the House in '06.

VERY IMPORTANT UPDATE:  Here's a list of all Senate seats up for re-election in 2006.  It includes Hillary Clinton (defeat would certainly derail her aspirations for the White House in 2008!) and the King of Pork himself, Robert C. "Exalted Cyclops" Byrd.

We've got to get to the point where we're no longer intimidated by a Senator's being called "safe" because his or her district has, historically, reliably voted for his/her party.  Anyone can be vulnerable if their constituency can be made to see what they've been voting for.  The only Senators up for re-election who voted for the Coburn Amendments are: potential presidential candidate George Allen (R-VA), John Ensign (R-NV), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), and Jim Talent (R-MO).  In general these are the good guys, although local voters may have other issues with them.  For example, SC Senator Lindsey Graham voted for Coburn, but he was also a member of McCain's "Gang of 14," and many of us "Sandlappers" will remember that during the Republican primaries.

(I just scanned the list manually, so I may have inadvertently missed someone.  You can re-check the list of who-voted-how on the Coburn amendments here.)

Comments

[rob]

I wish I could say I remember America back in it's glory days, but I'm only 38. Washington DC has pretty much been a cespool of money-grabbers my whole life. Fortunately, America as an ideal isn't defined by DC. Defiled maybe but defined no. American is still great in spite of our government due to the fact that Americans as a whole still believe in what we stand for. And funding a project in Alaska to try to tap electricity from the Arora Borialis isn't one of them.