Four of New Mexico's Delegation of Five Have Voted NO on Every Proposal This Year



John Boehner

John Boehner seemed to run out of options in the U.S. House of Representatives today. Desperately trying to send a third bill to the Senate this year from his chamber, a bill that would keep the government running, he was unable to garner the necessary votes. GOP members in the House seemed to finally draw the line short of what many say would have amounted to a sham spending reform bill.

Sadly, the U.S. Senate has already had THREE chances to keep the government running, not two. First, Senators had the Obama budget that was submitted this spring. That piece of legislation went down to a historic defeat. The final count was 97-0. Not a single Senator, Democrat or Republican voted for the Obama administration's budget.

Paul Ryan



Next came the Paul Ryan budget plan which contained true reform in ways that Washington has not seen in decades. Like President Obama's budget, the Ryan budget plan did not receive a single vote by a Democrat in the Senate though it did receive broad support by Republicans.

Next came yet another bill from the U.S. House of Representatives, this one widely referred to as the Cut, Cap, and Balance plan. Once again this was a piece of legislation that would have kept the government running and reigned in what everyone "says" they agree is out of control spending. The bill also contained a built in structure of discipline.....a balanced budget amendment. Again not a single Democrat in the U.S. Senate voted for the legislation.

Today's activity in Washington capped yet another week of the Democrat controlled Senate's intransigence.

Once again we saw all Democrats in the upper house come together. Unfortunately, they united behind the signing of a letter that was then sent to Speaker Boehner telling him that "IF" he were able to garner the votes that he later failed to secure today, it would not matter. Each and every Democrat in the Senate committed in writing to voting against the bill anyway.

Amazingly, all of America have watched Democrats in the Senate reject four separate proposals this year, including the unanimous repudiation of their own party leader's budget. At the end of the day predictably all Democrats in Washington D.C. blamed Republicans for not being willing to make a deal. Observers believe radical changes in the Senate will be needed in the way Washington functions if the U.S. is to draw on its inherent strengths as a nation. New Mexico Senators Tom Udall and Jeff Bingaman were right in the thick of the derilection of duty in the Senate. House members Ben Ray Lujan and Martin Heinrich have also yet to vote for or propose a plan to solve the nation's problems. Most of the people New Mexico has sent to Washington have been part of the problem instead of the solution. Only Congressman Steve Pearce has actually cast votes for two bills that would keep the government functioning. Every other elected official has voted NO on every proposal put before them.

Four of New Mexico's Delegation of Five Have Voted NO on Every Proposal This Year