Why This Man Is the Last of the Senate Conservatives
During my time in Washington, I have seen well intentioned people arrive on the Hill ready to challenge the Establishment. Yet, too often I witness those same individuals lured into a system that promises power and prestige.
Conservatives know this all too well. A quick scroll through the Conservative Review score card shows that a majority of “conservative” politicians are hardly distinguishable from their Democratic counterparts.
Perhaps there is no better example of this than the recent Senate vote on the energy and water spending bill. It is a bill that funds the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps or USACE), the Department of Interior and the Department of Energy. I know, this sounds really boring. My intent is not to bore you with what seems to be a hippie’s bawdy dream (no pun intended); instead, liberty-minded voters must understand why this bill is so important to the conservative movement.
(Here’s a short clip on the bill’s chief sponsor, RINO Lisa Murkowski:)
First, it’s important to remember that the energy and water bill is a Republican bill. Yet, it out-liberal’d the liberals and it increased the size of (bad) government.
In total, the bill increased the size of government by $355 million. Most shocking, this is $261 million more than Obama requested! Let me repeat: The liberal, environmentalist loving bill provides nearly $300 million more than Obama wanted to spend.
In addition, the bill increased funding for the Corps, a big government regulator, engaged in economically and environmentally “dubious” projects, most of which are wasteful. Furthermore, the Corps enforces a dangerous, liberal regulation known as the Waters of the United States (WOTUS). Conservatives have long championed proposals to defund this regulation; yet, none of the funds in this bill were blocked from enforcing it.
WOTUS is a regulation is part of the Clean Water Act, passed in the 1970s. At the time, the bill mandated that agencies were to regulate “waters” on any property. There was just one problem: Congress never adequately defined the term “waters.” Instead, rogue agencies have been left to define it themselves.
Needless to say, its’ been a disaster. The regulation has been used to imprison Americans, destroy lands and seize homes. Republicans correctly offered amendments to reduce Corps funds from being used to enforce this regulation. The amendment failed, but not because of liberals. Instead, it failed because of Mitch McConnell. Republican leader Mitch McConnell used his powers to crush his own party.
An amendment of this nature would normally only require a simple majority to pass. Instead, McConnell used Senate rules to require the amendment to pass at 60 votes. Had the amendment proceeded under normal circumstances, the vote tally of 56 in favor; 42 against, would have been enough for it to pass!
Ready for the most devastating news? This bill actually rejected a proposal by Obama to reduce Corps spending by $1.4 billion. That’s right – the Corps is an agency that promotes a liberal, environmentalist agenda; it stands alone on the pedestal of government inefficiency and lawlessness, so much so that even Obama wants to defund the damn thing.
The Republicans thought otherwise.
But there’s more. The bill also provides new money to “green energy” projects, including energy loans that have been used as a personal piggy bank for Obama’s buddies. Do you remember the “green energy” loans to Solyndra, Abound Solar, Beacon Power or Ener1? They all received DOE loans and are now bankrupt.
Republicans at least cut funding for climate change research, right? Wrong. Republicans actually increased funding for climate change research by $40 million.
In the end, this Republican bill spends more money on liberal priorities, and provides funding for regulations that are devastating the American people and conservative states.
So, here is why it matters that we pay close attention:
The Last of the Senate Conservatives.
This bill passed the Senate with overwhelming support, 90 in favor and eight against. Each of the eight Senators who opposed the bill were Republicans including members you would expect like Ted Cruz, Jeff Sessions, Rand Paul and Mike Lee.
Sadly, that’s the narrative that will fill press releases and voting records. But it’s not the entire story. See in the Senate, a bill never receives just one vote as you might believe. Rather, a bill must go through a web of votes in order for that final, pass or fail, vote to take place. The one vote that matters most, perhaps, is a vote called the “cloture” vote.
A cloture vote is basically an inquiry from all Senators as to whether they are prepared to move forward on a bill – it’s a vote in favor of ending debate on the bill and proceeding to a final vote.
However, a cloture vote requires 60 votes to pass, which means it often takes every Republican and a handful of Democrats in order for the bill to move forward.
The failure to receive the required 60 votes simply stalls the bill. This is crucial, because a 60 vote threshold is the most powerful vote for conservative members. Do the math, and it becomes clear that a simple majority, as is needed on final passage, never needs conservative votes – either to pass or deny a bill. Yet, a cloture vote provides much greater weight.
This gamesmanship is twisted into a convenient narrative. Conservative members can let the Republican establishment pass their liberal bills and act innocent by pointing to the weaker and less relevant vote for final passage. They do this by knowing an affirmative vote on cloture is moving them into a position where their vote becomes mathematically irrelevant.
During my time on Capitol Hill I routinely heard conservative members argue that a vote on cloture was a vote to end debate, even as they emphasized that it was not an affirmative vote for the bill. It should be noted, however, that for conservative members the cloture vote is the most important vote they cast – and they know it.
On a more principled argument, lets assume for a moment a cloture vote didn’t carry as much clout. It still begs the question: why would a conservative member ever agree to cease a continued debate on a bill that increases spending, especially for new climate change funding and environmental regulations?
Should we not perpetuate the debate on these conservative issues? Should the debate not continue indefinitely on the unsustainability of a growing government? Since when do conservatives surrender the debate to bigger government, more regulations and climate change funding?
Here is the Bombshell: Nearly every single conservative senator voted to end debate on this bill; nearly every single conservative member gave a hat tip for this to proceed to a final vote – a vote those members know would end in the bill passing the Senate.
There is one important exception: Senator Mike Lee.
Senator Mike Lee is the only truly conservative member to vote against cloture. He did so not once, but three time – or each time Republican Mitch McConnell tried to force a cloture vote on this liberal garbage.
He is the only conservative member who refused to end debate on these important issues. He is the only conservative member who refused to accept that this bill was ready to pass the Senate.
The energy and water bill may be boring. But it reflects the true nature of the Republican Party. It reflects the façade that we face in a party that prides itself on small government. To think that standing with Obama would have reduced spending to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by $1.4 billion, or standing against Mitch McConnell may have pushed us one step closer to defunding the worst, if not most anti-liberty, regulation that is WOTUS.
This bill is symbolic of what the Republican Party has become. More so, it truly reflects the one and final champion we have in the senate. He is the last of the conservative members, and his name is Senator Mike Lee. (For more from the author of “Why This Man Is the Last of the Senate Conservatives” please click HERE)
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