As he promised, Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell brought the Green New Deal up for a vote in the Senate. No one voted for it, with 57 against and 43 voting “present” out of protest.
The nonbinding resolution, which calls on the United States to make an ambitious effort to slash its use of fossil fuels to fight climate change, fell short in a procedural vote. The Senate did not proceed to debating the measure, as 57 senators voted against it and 43 Democrats and independents who caucus with them — nearly all of the
Democratic caucus — voted “present.” Four senators who vote with Democrats — Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Doug Jones and Alabama and independent Angus King of Maine — voted against the resolution.By voting “present,” Democrats hoped not to go on the record on a bill that had no realistic chance of passing, even if they support the concept of a Green New Deal. The six Democratic senators running for president next year — who co-sponsored the original resolution introduced by Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. — did not take a position on the measure Tuesday.
Democrats have pushed for drastic action to combat climate change as the planet warms and severe weather events such as recent Midwestern flooding have devastated U.S. communities. They say the U.S. has only a limited window to combat climate change and address an existential threat.
Republicans have gleefully criticized the Green New Deal, warning about Democratic efforts to take away anything from cars to hamburgers. They accuse Democrats of a drift toward socialism spurred in part by freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., a champion of the measure in the House.
“Republicans want to force this political stunt to distract from the fact that they neither have a plan nor a sense of urgency to deal with the threat of climate change. With this exercise, the Republican majority has made a mockery of the legislative process,” said Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Shumer (D-NY)
“This is nonsense, and if you’re going to sign on to nonsense, you ought to have to vote for nonsense,” said Sen. McConnell.
Well there is something we can all agree on this. This was nonsense. All the way around.
On the one hand, you’re right that this is total nonsense and we should all mock it.
On the other hand, it’s not like the Senate would actually be doing a ton of other useful stuff if it weren’t for this nonsense.Report
FairReport
How many of Hillary Clinton’s bills made it to a vote within a year or so of getting sworn in?Report
How many of anyone’s bills make it? Who cares? It was a resolution of intent, not, you know, and actual authorization or appropriation. But hey, lets keep pounding Hillary as the enemy two years on . . . oh wait, we are still supposed to be pounding Obama aren’t we?Report
AOC is a leader of the Democratic Party within a year of getting elected. Her Green New Deal set the stage in such a way that we knew it was a big deal within minutes of its announcement.
And we don’t remember a thing about Clinton’s accomplishments in the Legislative Branch other than that she checked off a box.Report
AOC is a leader, not the leader. She’s driving ideas many of us want to see driven, which the centerists in the old guard have avoided until now. I’m grateful she has.
And again, the resolution sent to the Senate was just that – an aspirational think piece. Real legislation is yet to come, and AOC is not likely to author all of it.
We don’t remember a thing about Obama’s accomplishments in the Senate or Bush the Younger’s accomplishments as Texas Governor, or Clinton’s accomplishments as Arkansas Governor or . . . .Report
I remember one thing about Obama’s election to the senate: his speech.
Bush the Younger put people in the electric chair.
Hey, so did Bill.Report
I am not quite sure what to think about AOC, but she seems to be much closer to Bill than Hillary when it comes to her political talents.
Indeed, she’s talented enough that I think she’ll be in a position to brutally disappoint her Leftist fans by selling out before we know it.Report
Very much this. She isn’t a Ted Cruz of the left. She is not making life miserable for leadership; indeed she’s been a tolerable team player.
Also implicit in Jaybirds observations is the negation of a favorite libertarian, media and conservative bugaboo; that the Democratic Party is controlled by and composed of deranged leftists. Far from it. AOC is so noteworthy because she’s a photogenic, influential left leaning member of the Democratic Party where there were not many previously. I don’t plan on holding my breath waiting for the regular suspects to acknowledge that of course.Report
Here’s a tweet I saw earlier today:
I think that she’s the most dangerous Democrat that the Dems have.Report
Time will tell. Her behavior so far suggests to me that she has good potential to moderate. So change “dangerous” to “high potential” then I’d agree with you.Report
@North,
Yeah, she seems to have ambitions (and. likely abilities) beyond representing a single Congressional district, and pursuing those ambitions will almost certainly require her to move to the center, no matter which tack she takes.Report
Yes, and her behavior, so far, has suggested that she knows it and that she is acting accordingly. Like I said, she isn’t behaving like a Ted Cruz who trashes his own party and leadership for his own self promotion. She definitely gives me the vibe of being a team player (within reason). I still don’t agree with her policy wise but I think it’s great (for her, for the nation and for the party) that she’s in the Democratic party.Report
Plus she can dance.Report
And what isn’t nonsense, is the changing climate and its effects.
IMO, even a “Shoot for the Moon Wishful Dream Statement” is superior to our current strategy which is…Do Nothing.Report
There’s also the non-trivial fact that business opportunities abound in the Green New Deal. Forbes reported back in December that building alternative energy facilities is cheaper then keeping coal plants open and fed (https://www.forbes.com/sites/energyinnovation/2018/12/03/plunging-prices-mean-building-new-renewable-energy-is-cheaper-than-running-existing-coal/#431ff8f631f3 and here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/energyinnovation/2019/03/26/the-coal-cost-crossover-74-of-us-coal-plants-now-more-expensive-than-new-renewables-86-by-2025/#34100a422d9f)
But hey, lets keep propping up fossil fuel burning plants instead of letting markets dictate what should happen . . . .Report
I distinctly remember all the hooting and jeering aimed at Jerry “Governor Moonbeam” Brown in the 1970s, for his wacky absurd, economically illiterate proposals for solar energy, because I was one of them.
The tree hugging hippies were right, and I was wrong. When people talk about the crazy cost of environmental protection, they always leave out the cost of doing nothing, which dwarfs cleanup cost by a magnitude.Report
More nonsense from the Senate:
http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2019/03/deep-thoughts-mike-leeReport
But remember, Mike Lee is the reasonable sane voice of the New Serious Conservatism, guys.Report
And yet he can’t be bothered to bring up the House resolution – passed 420 to 0 – demanding full release of the Mueller report. Since the math may be fuzzy – that means a LOT of House Republicans voted for it. Probably because they knew the Senate would kill it but still . . .Report
“Republicans want to force this political stunt to distract from the fact that they neither have a plan nor a sense of urgency to deal with the threat of climate change. With this exercise, the Republican majority has made a mockery of the legislative process,” said Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Shumer (D-NY)
“This is nonsense, and if you’re going to sign on to nonsense, you ought to have to vote for nonsense,” said Sen. McConnell.
Mitch McConnell once again shows that he’s better at politics than Schumer (who is just awful at politics, so the bar is pretty low).Report
Harry Reid should never have been Democratic Leader in the Senate, nor should he have been replaced with Chuck Schumer. Its part of why I am not happy that so many younger more charismatic and more strategic Senators in the Democratic Party are running for President. Some of that talent is needed on the Hill.Report