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The 26 Senators Who Voted No

By on 8.2.11 @ 3:53PM

The 26 no votes came mostly from conservative Republicans, though six liberal Democrats (counting independent socialist Bernie Sanders, who caucuses with the Dems) and nominally conservative Democrat Ben Nelson also voted no. In alphabetical order:

Kelly Ayotte (R-NH)
Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
Dan Coats (R-IN)
Tom Coburn (R-OK)
Jim DeMint (R-SC)
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
Dean Heller (R-NV)
Jim Inhofe (R-OK)
Ron Johnson (R-WI)
Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Mike Lee (R-UT)
Bob Menendez (D-NJ)
Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
Jerry Moran (R-KS)
Ben Nelson (D-NE)
Rand Paul (R-KY)
Marco Rubio (R-FL)
Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
Richard Shelby (R-AL)
Pat Toomey (R-PA)
David Vitter (R-LA)

View all comments (47) |

PolishKnight| 8.2.11 @ 4:08PM

Good for them! Gee, it's strange that for a deal the Dems claimed the Republicans managed to get so much out of, most of the no voters are Republicans!

SpiralArchitect| 8.2.11 @ 4:09PM

+1

- not really strange but typical.

Oldefarte| 8.2.11 @ 4:30PM

If it wasn't for the liberalism of the Democratic Party and their historical desire to spend the hard earned money of taxpayers, ALL REPUBLICAN SENATORS [or most] would have voted NO for this stinko legislation. If up to some of us [ie me], the governmental spending could be cut by 50% and still be excessive!!!!!

T. Bowgen| 8.2.11 @ 4:46PM

Nonsense. The liberal Dems forced the Republicans to vote in favor of it? How silly.

Here's what happened. The tea party toddlers threatened to stick a fork in the nearest electrical outlet if the rest of Congress didn't want to play by tea party toddler rules.

The adults in the room took the fork away from them and put them down for a nap.

The tea party toddlers were ready to force us to default on debt, force a downgrade on our credit rating, make unemployment and foreclosures go up, etc. etc. All of this at a time when Americans are suffering.

Worse than all of that, they didn't care if the GOP took control of Congress and the White House in 2012. They only cared about being able to cast symbolic votes and make whiny speeches.

In the end only a handful of the tea party toddlers were so immature that they had to prove it by making a symbolic protest vote, like a stubborn child who can't resist throwing one more Lego block at their kid brother after they've been told to stop. This vote in favor of defaulting on our debts and causing interest rates to spike won't be forgotten in the next election cycle. The tea party toddlers need a time out.

Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 8.2.11 @ 6:11PM

You're not of Middle Earth are you?

Warrior | 8.2.11 @ 6:12PM

He's guarding Mordor against the Hobbits.

Warrior | 8.2.11 @ 6:11PM

Are you deranged? Tea party members listened to their constituents and followed their campaign promises. There are no savings in this bill and there is no deficit reduction beyond fuzzy accounting and promises that will never be kept. So now that this great bill has passed, are the American people suffering less? Other than the least productive of society, ruling class elites and hand picked industrial winners, who benefits from from all this borrowed money? The only thing that is "whiny" seems to be the bullshit comment you posted above. What are you going to do in 18 months when the new debt ceiling has been reached, the economy stays in the tank, taxes have been raised through non-renewal of the "Bush" tax cuts and the looming atomic blast of Obamacare?

Liberalism is most definitely a terminal mental disorder.

ChuckBartok | 8.2.11 @ 6:52PM

Thank you Warrior for reminding the undereducated, knee-jerk reacting commenters, who still do not understand Economics 101 or what the meaning of an Oath of office really means.
This group will be very disappointed when the Belly of Sow of Government will no longer be proffering her Teats to all of the sycophants.
That time is not to far in the future.

Occam's Tool| 8.2.11 @ 9:00PM

I DID NOT vote for Franken. I do believe I did get a chance to vote for Shelby when I lived in AL. I did vote for Cravaack, who also is doing wonders with Sharia stuff. I have always had good Conservatives to vote for.

USSAlabama| 8.3.11 @ 9:17AM

Shelby barely votes conservatively enough to stay in office. Loves pork.

Oldefarte| 8.3.11 @ 11:54AM

I'll take Shelby [and pork] anyday over a Cynthia McKinney type Democrat!!!!

Oldefarte| 8.2.11 @ 7:05PM

How can they force a default on debt, when same only represent 6% of total expendatures [unless the domestic terrorists running the government purposely don't pay the debt interest payments and prefer naturally to fund their Democrat welfare payments instead? How can they force a downgrade of credit rating when the private industry rating agencies make that decision based on the stupidity of the excessive welfare payments that Democrats waste on their indigent constituents? How does the tea party force unemployment or foreclosures to go up when it is the Democratic Party's welfare expendatures that has caused same? Americans are suffering because of Democrats funding welfare to their indigent constituents instead of facilitating provate economic business expansions! The only 'toddlers' in this situation are the liberal morons that continually vote for the domestic terrorists within the Democratic Party that forcibly steal taxpayers' income to fund their indigent constituents' welfare [since same are too lazy and stupid to work for their living and depend upon the government and Democrats to fund same]. The tea partiers are the only ADULTS in the room and are going to permanently TIME OUT the Democrats next November!!!!!!!

axbucxdu| 8.2.11 @ 7:30PM

Tea Part toddlers?...woo...hoo!

Your interest rate spikes are going to occur alright, but they will be caused by ratings downgrades after said raters get a snootful of this stinkbomb.

I recommend some remedial arithmetic for you. You're going to need it.

Southern_Comment| 8.3.11 @ 1:55AM

So are we toddlers or terrorists? Seems there is a world of difference between the two.

Ryan| 8.3.11 @ 8:32AM

Two issues:

There would have been no default, even if passed. We would have made interest payments with cuts in government expenditures.

There was going to be a downgrade anyway, unless massive spending cuts were made. The rating is currently tied to government spending, not the debt limit.

Trinacria| 8.3.11 @ 11:33AM

"They only care about casting symbolic votes and making whiny speeches."

My dear friend, is the gaping hole in your logic not obvious to you? If their votes were merely symbolic, how pray tell could they possibly have had any meaningful effect on the outcome? Indeed, it is a simple matter of arithmetic - a group of 70 individuals cannot by themselves block passage of legislation in a body that is comprised of 435 members. If said legislation were so fundamentally important to the economic survival of the country, surely the 193 democratic representatives should be willing to support it, thereby rendering the votes of TEA party members meaningless. Yet you've singled out this small group of reps who cast votes that you characterize as nothing more than symbolic (conveniently failing to mention the 2 bills that they voted FOR - the Ryan plan and cut, cap, and balance - that were subsequently killed by deems in the senate) and assign to them the extraordinary power to bring financial ruin to the country. C'mon, sport; surely you can do better...

Casey Abell| 8.2.11 @ 4:38PM

"Gee, it's strange that for a deal the Dems claimed the Republicans managed to get so much out of, most of the no voters are Republicans!"

Just the opposite from the House, which was the real vote, of course. That's where the Dems provided most of the no votes. The deal was sure to sail through the Dem-controlled Senate so more Repubs took the free chance to vote no.

Funny to read the wailings of both sides that they lost on the deal. Of course, a month from now the whole rumpus will be forgotten. The independents who will decide the 2012 election thought the spat was a farce and they'll soon forget about it.

What they won't forget about is the real economy out there. And it's bad and getting worse. That's why Obama is hurting right now and may well lose next year. It has nothing to do with this deal.

danny| 8.2.11 @ 5:49PM

Wonder what's up with Graham, Grassley, and Hatch. Think they might hear the Tea Party?

Ira Wilson| 8.2.11 @ 6:00PM

God bless all these good folks for realizing that this bill does not go far enough to cut spending now, cap spending in the future, or balance our budget. The left can whine all they want... but they got everything they wanted - an open door to more spending. I want adults in Washington that will do the difficult work needed to create sound, fiscal spending decisions!

John | 8.2.11 @ 6:05PM

We thank the magnificent 26 GOP senators who stood against the Obama machine and fought for America. The cause was noble and it's worthy. God bless you all.

Cpm| 8.3.11 @ 12:25PM

So I guess that applies to the magnificent democrat senators that voted 'no' too?

Lloyd| 8.2.11 @ 6:08PM

Ron Johnson voted 'No.' At last, a Senator who really represents ME, and not the DNC or RNC.

Jimmy Bulger| 8.2.11 @ 7:05PM

Kelly Ayotte is no Scott Brown. She has a pair.

axbucxdu| 8.2.11 @ 7:32PM

Go Toomey.

CrawfishsClaw | 8.2.11 @ 8:16PM

Darn,
neither of my Senators (Cornyn and Hutchison) are on this list. I guess I'll have to vote for real conservatives in the primaries.

Michael L. Hauschild| 8.2.11 @ 9:41PM

I see Mr. Nelson is on the no list, he and Hatch are holding hands while their other hands have their fingers crossed. Both of them turned right so hard they ran right up RINO McCain's back.

Clint| 8.2.11 @ 10:38PM

All Our Real Tea Party Senators Stayed Loyal To Conservatives , While The Phoney Tea Party Opportunist Piece Of Garbage Little Scotty Brown Sold Out Again.

We Tea Party Patriots Are Taking Names & Numbers.

Stand In Rebellion.

Tolerance| 8.3.11 @ 1:08AM

Would someone please tell me the difference between GETTING TAXED MORE and GETTING YOUR BENEFITS CUT? (Besides semantics, of course). You can call it what you like but IF IT QUACKS LIKE A DUCK, IT'S A DUCK!!! Both actions yield the same result – less cash coming in, either from paying a higher tax rate or from receiving less Medicare/Social Security benefits! There is no difference except that one is being protected by the Tea Party and Republicans while the other is being targeted by the Tea Party and Republicans. SOMETHING SMELLS! YOU DISINGENUOUS LIARS OUT THERE WHO CLAIM TO BE TRYING TO FIX OUR FINANCIAL MESS ARE BOUGHT AND PAID FOR! DON'T TELL US YOU HAVE SOME HIGHER GOOD IN MIND – IT DOESN'T FLY! YOU LIE, YOU LIE, YOU LIE!

DLB| 8.3.11 @ 7:18AM

The difference is obvious. The people who are getting taxed more are the ones pulling the wagon. The ones whose benefits need to be cut are riding in the wagon.

Whatever you reward, you get more of. Whatever you punish, you get less of.

squalis| 8.3.11 @ 12:09PM

As the value of the dollar erodes, as the economy, and with it earnings, decline, as disincentives to work and production continue to mount (all thanks to current regime), there will be no money available to finance your precious programs. This country can not survive a majority of freeloaders and takers with an ever dwindling supply of producers.

rendite| 8.3.11 @ 5:54AM

And Sen. John Kyl's vote? (Arizona Senator) How about the Republicans' "Breck Girl" from South Dakota? (Thune)

Please, folks. No one needs to be praising the Senators on this short list. They could all easily vote "no" and they did so for various reasons of their own political expediency. They knew the measure would pass in the Senate, so this was a "freebie" vote for them.

These are not principled votes to help save the nation.

If any of them had any principles, they'd have found some arcane, practically unknown U.S. Senate rule that permitted something akin to a filibuster to stall, thwart, and let the clock tick until 3 p.m. on Sunday the 7th (before collapsing).

1. This would show that the August 2d deadline was a crock.
2. It might have forced a return to Cut, Cap, & Balance, something like version 2, perhaps.
3. Many of the self-centered in Congress would "give up" and prefer their August/September vacations -- so we'd have had no bill at all (the best possible outcome).

None of these individuals on the list above deserves anything but our scorn and derision.

Mimi| 8.3.11 @ 7:17AM

It just came out ....It is the economical numbers going down...Not the drop-dead date after all that caused th stock market drop, and rating warning.
August 2nd was the date for "VACATION TIME "!

axbucxdu| 8.3.11 @ 9:57PM

All very true points rendite. However, there is still some pleasure to be gained in knowing that Specter would have been an obvious yes vote for their and soon to be our, "bill".

Wayne | 8.3.11 @ 11:40AM

What are the odds any of these men are on the 12 member debt panel (or is it death panel)?

Oldefarte| 8.3.11 @ 12:00PM

McCain etc maybe what is referred to as a ''''RINO'''', but he damned near died while defending this country in his military service in the Viet Nam War, which is more than many of us can lay claim to; and I'll take his RINOISM anyday compared to Reid, Pilosi, Conyers, Rangel, Schumer, Durbin, Clyburn ant eh rest of the socialist Democrats!!!!!!!!

Oldefarte| 8.3.11 @ 12:05PM

PS: It's still amazing that some are selectively complaining about McCain being a RINO, when the vice president of the country [who is representative of and expressing the political views of their entire party of '''''DEMOCRATS'''''] slanders the tea partiers as ''''''TERRORISTS'''''!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oldefarte| 8.3.11 @ 12:25PM

PSII: It wasn't John McCain [or any other Republican] the ''''RINO'''' that labeled the tea partiers as '''''TERRORISTS'''''; but it was the ''''DEMOCRAT''''' vice president that did so WHILE SPEAKING TO A LARGE GROUP OF DEMOCRATS!!!!!!!!!!

squalis| 8.3.11 @ 12:42PM

What do you expect from this practitioner of civil discourse?

Warrior | 8.3.11 @ 2:16PM

McCain is a terrible senator and "r"epublican. As a politician he is unprincipled and his positions on issues, votes and viewpoints put the survival of our country in danger. What he did after the war should be criminal, referenced here: http://www.amconmag.com/article/2010/jul/01/00010/

Nobody is questioning his military service.

james wilson| 8.3.11 @ 12:00PM

The great majority of these politicians were posturing with their vote. When a politician knows the outcome of a vote, he is free to vote the opposite. Only a handful of those listed would not have changed votes were the bill actually on the line and they were faced with the usual arm twisting.

Nick| 8.3.11 @ 12:51PM


John Boehner is a liar and broke his word. He promised in the
2010 Pledge to America (remember that GOP?) to give
Americans THREE DAYS to read legislation
before a vote.

"Americans should have three days to read all bills before
Congress votes on them."
- John Boehner, Oct. 30, 2010

He's only been Speaker of the House for seven months, and he is
already breaking his word. How is this any different than when
SanFran Nan Pelosi did the same thing?

It's not like Boehner is incapable of keeping his word. That is, for
democrats. Remember H.R. 1, earlier this year? He let democrats
offer hundreds of amendments to keep "the Pledge’s commitment to an
'open process that makes it easier – not harder' to cut spending
[...]."

I guess we conservatives can just go pound sand, huh?

By the way, this grand deal has cut $4.5 billion from
national security spending for Fiscal Year 2012. These are
real cuts, $4.5 billion less spending
than FY 2011, not the phony C.B.O cuts from baseline
budgeting, which only reduce the growth of spending.

Thanks to this cry-baby Oompa-Loompa, we no longer have a veto
over that incompetent boob in the White House. Thank
you, sir, may I have another!

Oldefarte| 8.3.11 @ 1:01PM

Okay, which is preferable, Boehner/RINOS or Biden/Democrats????? :
'....Biden, Carney deny reports of VP’s ‘terrorists’ statement3:53 PM 08/02/2011 White House spokesman Jay Carney and Vice President Joe Biden are refuting reports from Monday that Biden said Republicans “acted like terrorists” during the debt-ceiling debate.“He didn’t say those words,” said Carney during a Tuesday White House briefing. “Any kind of comments like that are simply not conducive to the kind of political discourse that we hope to have.”
On Monday evening, Biden himself denied the report, which was first published in Politico.
Biden told CBS News, “I did not use the terrorism word.” During a Capitol Hill meeting of Democrats on Monday, Biden said, “there were some people who said they felt like they were being held hostage by terrorists … I never said that they were terrorists or weren’t terrorists, I just let them vent.”Politico reported that Biden heard fellow Democrats complain about GOP legislators sympathetic to the Tea Party’s small-government goals, and that he responded by saying those Republicans “have acted like terrorists.”The Politico report and other reports prompted complaints from numerous GOP politicians, including Sarah Palin and Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee.“Vice President Biden more than crossed a line today when he called fiscal conservatives “terrorists,” Priebus tweeted on Monday. “I demand an apology.” (RELATED: Obama shifts focus to jobs and taxes, away from debt talks)Carney did say a congressman’s statement, to which Biden allegedly responded, “was the product of an emotional discussion, [of] very passionately held positions in this debate.”When pressed about Biden’s specific statements, Carney declined to comment, saying “lowering the temperature in general is a good thing … I think I’ve said all I can about that.”
In an impromptu press conference after the Monday meeting, Biden said Democratic legislators “expressed all their frustration … I thought it was a good meeting and I feel confident that this [frustration] will pass.”
But Biden also echoed some Democrats’ claims that GOP legislators threatened the nation while seeking spending cuts. “There is a sword of Damocles hanging over us [and] this is the debt limit and it was used as the means by which, unless certain compromises were made, we would default on our debt,” Biden told reporters.
The vice president also complained about the GOP’s use of a government debt default as negotiating leverage, comparing it to the employment of a weapon of mass destruction. He told CBS that during Monday’s meeting, “I said … you now have taken and paid the debt [so] the nuclear weapon’s been taken out of anyone’s hands.” ......'

Oldefarte| 8.3.11 @ 1:17PM

PS: Oh, another example of what the '''''DEMOCRATS'''''' are saying about the tea party Republicans:

'....Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner took a swipe at the tea party in a Washington Post opinion piece posted after the debt-ceiling law was signed by President Barack Obama."The agreement removes the threat of default and lowers the prospect of using the debt limit as an instrument of coercion. It should not be possible for a small minority to threaten catastrophe if the rest of the government decides not to embrace an extreme agenda of austerity and the dismantling of programs for the elderly and the less fortunate," Geithner wrote. "Beneath all the bluster, the prospects for compromise on broader and deeper reforms are better than they have been in years.".....'

Nick| 8.3.11 @ 2:09PM

"Okay, which is preferable, Boehner/RINOS or Biden/Democrats?????"

Neither, they both sicken me.

randyinrocklin| 8.3.11 @ 3:21PM

looks like Lindsey Gramnesty is going right, he must be runnin scared, since he said the Tea Party will fizzle out....he'll be eating his words in 2014 along with the est of the RINOs ....that means you too McConnell, we're gonna get you voted out come 2014!

Nick| 8.3.11 @ 7:57PM

"'The American people are in charge of this country, and they deserve a Congress that acts like it,' said Boehner. 'Americans should have three days to read all bills before Congress votes on them--something they didn't get when the "stimulus" was rushed into law. We should put an end to so-called 'comprehensive' bills that make it easy to hide wasteful spending projects and job-killing policies. Bills should be written by legislators in committee in plain public view--not written in the Speaker's office, behind closed doors.'" (All emphasis minne.)
- Penny Starr, CNSNews.com, quoting John Boehner

"'Americans have lost trust with their government, which has too often ignored the will of the people in favor of party loyalty and a desire to pass partisan bills at any cost,' said the introduction to that part of the Pledge to America. 'Backroom deals, phantom amendments, and bills that go unread before being forced through Congress have become business as usual. Never before has the need for a new approach to governing been more apparent than under Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her leadership [ARRRRRRRGH!]. Americans are demanding change in the way Congress works, and we are fighting to bring much-needed sunlight to the process and give the American people a greater voice in their Congress.'" (All emphasis mine.)
- Penny Starr, CNSNews.com, quoting the GOP's Pledge to America

$*@!#%*#! HYPOCRITE!!!!!!!!!

Am I the only one who is outraged by this betrayal?

joan darling svanoe| 10.14.11 @ 3:55PM

Shame on you all!!!!

More Blog Posts by W. James Antle, III

http://spectator.org/blog/2011/08/02/the-26-senators-who-voted-no

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